Evening star., 1885-10-05
A MISSING PATENT BILL.

A Measure COmferrine on the Ataornev
General Specific Powers Regardins
the Annulment of Patents Disappears
from the Senate Files.
The suit authorized by the Department o
Justice against the Bell Telephone company
and the comment and inquiry II has caused
have led to the discovery that q very importan,
bill giving the Attorney General certain spe
cifc powers in fnstituting suits to annul pat
ents rather mysteriously disappeared in tho
last Congress. The bill In question originated
in the House and provided that whenever Il
shall be made to appear to the satisfaction o
the Attorney General that there IL probable
cause for impeaching the validity OF any unex
pired patent, whether original, reissued or ex.
tended, which may have been or shall here
after be granted, on the ground that the same
nas ssa Il sSs Ss ns dass ,a
in the United states Circuit Court for the dis
signs reside, to have the patent vacated and
annulled; and the court on notice to the adverse
parties and In pursuance OF such proceedings
patent void in whole or In part and TO annu
ana vacate the same. The bill also provided
that II the party who instituted the suit failed
costs OF the suit should fall upon such party
Stso that appeals might be taken TO the Supreme
This bill was favorably reported to the House
py the committee on patents, with a report
winch set forth that "the law as II now stands
and has stood since 1886, provides no way in
upon the ground OF interference with some
other patent, and then only upon the suit o
Ing undsr dns ~ ess or OF some person claim
such adjudication Affects only the rights Of the
parties to that particular suit, and those subse-
To Ieae ns
prior to the act OF 1885 provisions were in force
whereby, upon proper complaint by any indi-
V1dual filed In any district court and other due
poceedings had, q patent could be declared void
on the ground that it was obtained surrepti.
uously and upon false suggestion; but at pres.
against harassment and vexation from invalid
patents, and the government no power to repeal
the grant OF the same, however strongly IL may
De convinced that O patent has thus been
wrongly granted. Interfering patentees and
individual parties, when sued as infringers
alone have the means Of showing that patsn,
1t has been ascertained that the engrossed
copy of this bill, together with all papers and
from the files of the Senate committee on pat
ents. The bill passed the House on the 1th o
June. 1884, and in due course went to the Sen
patents. It il asserted that friends Of the
measure made frequent efforts to get 1t copsd
cred in the Senate but could never succeed
The loss of the bill itself would not amount tO
anything material, as both houses Of Congress
have on flle printed copies of the measure, but
the disappearance of the bill and of all the pa
pers relating to it, such as opinions from gov.
ernment officials, letters from prominent par
ties whose opinions were asked for, ETC., il is
claimed, shows that some clandestine means
were used to make the final passage of the bill
impossible. Senator Platt, chairman OF the
Senate committee on patents, has written here
that he wants the matter prObed to the bottom.
At the Department of Justice this afternoon
STAR reporter was informed that, in the opin-
ion of the authorities there, the bill which
passed the House and was lost in the Senate
was altogether unnecessary. 1t was said there
that under existing laws and in accordance with
decisions of the u. s. Supreme Court, ii is not
only within the power ofthe Attorney General,
but that it is his Imperative duty to authorize
suits TO test the validity of patents when he is
called upon to do SO.