The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1891-12-12
Telephone Pa.en. Juoalery.

: Telephone Patent Juoalery.
Notwithstanding the sharp practice OF
the Bell Telephone Company in delay
ing the Berliner niicrophonic transnlit-
ter patent in order to secure an extcn-
sion Of its monopoly, there is strong
probability that the Bell rcople have
ovcrreacliei themselves, and that, after
al, the monopoly will he broken at the
expiration Of the basic Bell patents.
The original Bell patent, rs construed
by the courts, IL extremely comprehen-
sive. 1t covers every possible method
ofelectrical trantmisson Of speech. The
assertion is safe that no sort Of device
for the electrical transmission OF sound
could be patented without infringement
upon the Bell patent, during the life OF
the lattsr. No such device has ever.
been patented which Is not owned by
the Bell Telephone Company. II the
Befhner microphonic tr .nsmitter had
not been owned by that corporation, il
would have been pronounced an infringe
ment upon the Bell patent, I'D the
courts would undoubtedly have no held.
Moreover, every feature Of the Berlincr
microphone has been used Ivy the Bell
Telephone Company since 1878 in the
Blake and Hunnings transmitters. The
patents on these transmitters afe owned
by the Bell people, who have always
held that they were infringemsnh upon
the origin Il Bell patent. Thus the Bell
Telephone Company Is now seeking tho
extension OF its monopoly by means 81 q
new patent on an old device, which it
has repeatedly held to be an infringe
ment upon the Bell patent. There
Is indubitsble evidence to this
effect in the records of numerous suits
brought by the Bell Telephone Com
pany against infringers upon its patent
rights. In these suits il was proved
that the Berliner and Blake transmitter
were micropl,ones and covered by the
Bell patent, that the contact elect ode
method OF creating variation in the
of the current by varying the
contact OF the electrodes (Berliner's
was old. and that this method
was known long before ever the issue OF
the Bell patent itself" In the testimony
OF one Of the experts OF the Bell com
pany tlis Blake transmitter is thus des-
cribed @The microphonc consists
Of two electrodes, placed
in contact with slight pressure
and forming part OF a circuit, supplied
with current from battery. A speak
ing telephone on this principle was de-
soribed in papers fled in the patent
Office by Mr.. Berliner and by Mr.. Edison
in 1877" This is plain admission
that the Berliner and Edison devices
were similar in principle to the Blake
which has been in use since
1873. An a matter Of fact the method
Of electrical transmission of speech en-
ployed bS Berliner and Blake was known
IS early as 1856 and was used by Philip
iteis in the construction of telephone
in 1854.
The Berliner device is therefore not
new and, OF course not patentahle. Il
is SIMPLY the Blake transmitter under
another name, and the latter is an
of still older device, which
was public property. These assertions
have been made and proved
by the Bell Telephone Com.
pany itself. They sffectually dis
prove the claim OF originality for the
Berliner patent. The Bell Telephone
Company has procured that patent
merely to hsten its hold upon the public
and to extend its monopoly. HhAs not
the shadow OF right to the principle
Of electrical transmission Of sound by
or otherwise, after 1893.--
Detroit Tribune.