Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-01-30


In his report sent to Congress TODAY United
States Patent Commissioner W. E. Simonds
says: The most pressing and urgent need Of
the patent Office is moro room. Every division
OF the Office needs itand calls for il daily. From
week to week ingenuity is taxed to the utmo,s
to find space wherein to dispose the printed
copies of the patents as they are issued.
More than 600,ooo OF these printed copies
are sold each year, bringing In an in.
come OF more than 100000, and more
than 100000 other copies are selected each year
Tor tie use OF the examiners and tke various
departments of government They are now
disposed in separate and disconnected parcels
upon hre different floors, partly under stair
waEs ana IN every sort OF an out-of-
the-way place that great building
can furnish. The selection OF two copies which
stand next TO each other serially not rarely
takes the person who is selecting them from
the lowest Of these five floors TO the highest
and from one extremity of the building 10 the
other Where these weekly issues OF copies are
TO be put in the near future no one at present
can possibly tell.
"As regards the rooms occupied by the ex-
aminers. the need is almost as urgent These
rooms. emitting two store rooms and two hear
ing rooms, arc forty-eiglt in number. Their
combined capacity in cubic feet, deducting the
space occupied by cases and the like, is pa. AL
feet. The lumber Of occupants is go. The
cubic feet OF space per occupant is. there
fore sl6 feet DR.; John 5. Billings.
of Ventilation and Heating. gives 400
cubic feet necessary for each person in a
room with ordinary ventilation for two con-
secutye hours OF occupancy. These exam
iners rooms occupied seven consecutive
hours each day. with the exception OF half an
hour for luncheon. These rooms hardly at
tain what might be called ordinary
ventilation for all Of them are do
pendent upon the doors and windows
Tor free air, except that one OF them has
small yentila;ing register, which cannot be
used and five of them have CRATE fires which
to a degree assist the ventilation. The heath 4
Is attained in some rooms by the steam pipes,
In others by hot-ar registers and IN still others
by stoves. 1t Is the rule rather than the ex-
ception in these rooms that the floor
space is occupied by desks and
for papers that the occupants move about
in them through tortuoas lanes. Cases of
drawings belonging to the patented files are
necessarily located in large number along the
sides Of the corridors, where the public passes
to and fro. This rs unsafe and unsightly.
This state of affairs not only puts unnecessary
discomfort upon the examiners. but il also IN
faYoraoly effects their health and. TO a degree
| that is more than noticeable, prevents them
from doing work to their iull capacity.
MORE FORCE NEEDED.
that the present examining corps may possibly
be able to keep the work from falling behind 10
a greater degree than i is at present although
that is by no means sure. 1t is certain that a
| substantial addition ought 10 be made 10 the
| examining corps and the clerical force OF the
patent Office, not only TO bring the
work OF examining applications Tor pat
| erts up to date and readily keep il there,
but also to provide for tho needs
| OF the immediate future. At the close of the
calendar year 1891 the patent Office had issued
416,21l patents, constituting vast field. some
| particular line in which has to be explored
| from first to last in connection with every one
of the 5000 applications for patents which are
| made each year. Twenty-Five Thousand new
| patents are added to this field OF exploration
yearly. There are thirty-two examining divis-
| Ions in the Office ana recommend that one
examiner, of the rank of fourth assistant, be
added to each of these divisions for the pur-
poses pointed ou.-
IMPORTANCE OF THE OFFICE WORK.
II is believed that the patent system and the
patent Office deserves generous treatment by
Congress, and that it is Of the highest i'm
| portance to the material interests OF the whole
| country that the Office should have the COM
pletest facilities for tee transaction of the
public business intrusted TO it The patent
office stands in close touch with the
vast business interests of the country.
The vast majority of our great manufactur-
| ing industries we're originally based upon in
ventions recorded in the United States patent
! Office. The patent law does not exist for the
! benefit of inventors. 1t exists for the benefit
Of the public The magnihcen. degree in
which the progress Of science and the useful
arts has been promoted in America by wise
patent laws ought to be clear to the dullest
comprehension.
DESIRED LEGISLATION.
The following amendments to the patent law
and the trademark law are recommended:
That no Improvement shall be patentable
which has been for more than two years before
application for patent thereon Disclosed IN any
patent or printed publication issued in this
country.
That patent shall not expire with the OK
piration of u prior foreign patent for the same
invention.
That an applicant. shall be compelled to take
action upon his application at least once in
every six months. in lieu Of once in two years.
as at present; and that patent shall in no case
live for more than twenty years from the date
of the first application therefor.
That patent licenses shall be required to be
| recorded the same as assignments and grants
That aliens shall be put upon the same foot
ing as citizens as TO the fling of caveats.
That interference contests in the patent Office
| shall be abolished and relegated to the courts
That an amendment of the patent law shall
require a fee OF $40 FOR every appeal or petit
ton taken from primary examiner directly
| to the commissioner of PATENTS.
| That no damages profits shall be recov-
| cred in a suite for infringement, except such
as accrue within the six years last preceding
| the bringing Of tbs suit.
That courts of equitable jurisdiction shall
have power 10 pass title to letters patent in a
proper case without any action on the part Of
| the defendant.
That the commissioner OF patents shall be
permitted by law to refund to the payer money
| paid into the patent Office by mistake.
That an amendment 10 the trade mark law
shall be made permitting registry OF trade
marks which are used in commerce between
| the states.
MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS
The commissioner goes on to ssy: The need
of q laboratory for the patent Office has been
specified in former annual reports; that need
continues and grows. An increase Of the salary
of the assistant commissioner and Of the salaries
of the examiners-in-chief, the principal ex-
aminers and the assistant examiners has been
recommended in former annual reports; such
increase is again recommended.
The total number Of applications received by
the Office during the last calendar year, iuclud.
ing mechanical applications. designs and re-
| issues was 40, $50. The total number of patents
granted, including mechanical patents, designs
and reissues, was %. IA The total number
of registrations was 1888. The total
receipts were 81 ,27l ,2s57s; total expenditures,
q, l3S. 1885, leaving a surplus of SlSl 572 43
to be turned into the treasury Of the United
States, making total balance in the treasury