Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1892-05-20
MONT PHOENIX, BRATTLEBORO, FRIDAY, MAY 20 1892.
The Telephone Patents.


]
Great Monopoly In Force.
A few days ago, says the New York sun.
the American Bell Telephone company
drew from the patent office three patents
for parts Of telephone which have been
used by the company for years BY means
of these patents and the so-called Berliner
patent, which was issued last year. the
company hopes to extend the term of its
monopoly for II years. 1t will be recalled
that the Berliner application was kept in
the patent office for - years by sham in
reference proceedings. The company
owned two or more opposing applications
and played them against each other to de-
lay the granting of a patent Owing to
these proceedings, which we have described
heretofore, II years passed before the pa
tent Office could be induced to decide as to
which one Of two interfering applications
was entitled to patent The company
used the device i'm question for the greater
part of that time. and was glad to see a
delay which might almost double the term
of its monopoly.
The Berliner application was II years
old when the present commissioner issued
patent upon it, Now come out three more
similar patents, all of them based upon APP
plications II years old. They cover prin-
cipes and devices which the Bell company
has used in its telephone system for more
than 10 years, and now it expects to be
protected in the use of them for II wears
more.
There is a marked difference of opinion
among experts as to just how much these
three patents will be worth to the company
after the Bell patents shall have expired
next year, but the authorities appear to be
in substantial agreement so far as opinions
about the scandalous delay in the patent
office are concerned. We take the follow
ing from the Electrical World. a high au-
thority in this field:
1T has long been known that the applications
Tor these patents existed in the Office, being kept
there under the preteuse Of repeated interfer.
ences, and that the Bell company owned all the
applications which were m Interference. and that
ny conducting sort of sham battle in the Office
between them u kept the applications there for
10 wears The object is evident. if the patents are
rei ly valid, they would give the Bell company
practically monopoly Of the telephone for an
additional wears. as The fundamental Bell pa
tent expires next year. They have nov been is
sued, whether at the request of the owners or in
accordance with the demands of the patent office
9tlcals Is not known. At all events, the sham
battle is Nv r.
But it appears that patents upon appl-
cations that were duplicates of these were
issued II years ago in England and France.
where delay was not caused by a sham in
reference. These foreign patents have
run their course of II wears our laws
say that a patent granted here expires on
the date of the expiration of any foreign
patent previously granted for the same in
vention. In this ease the patents obtained
in Great Britain expired on july 80. 1891
If the patents recently taken out by the
Bell company had been issued before july
30, 1891, they would have expired on that
date. They seem, therefore. to have been
void before they were issued, so to speak
but the fact that they have been issued in
dicates that the company will make a de-
termined effort to sustain them and will
have in this the assistance of the patent
office. Concerning this the Electrical
World says:
The Bell company may put in the plea that it
has, through no fault of its own, been deprived
of the patent protection for this patent for II
years, and that II ought therefore. to he allowed
protection for Il years from date This plea
however, would be "A mere farce, for in the first
place these people Kept IL there in the patent Of
fee themselves, and II was therefore a trick if
not fault, of their own: in the second place
they have had protection from the very begin.
ming, as no one has had the right 10 use this de-
vice. Every citizen who pays for the use Of a
telephone has paid them royalty for this inyen-
ton; they have made too much money from it al
ready, as the patent really expired some time
ago.
The Electrical World cynically suggests
that the Bell company may cause this law
concerning the terms of foreign and Amer
lean patents to be changed. 1t is true
that in spite of the clearest evidence as to
such abuses of the patent system As were
disclosed in the Berliner case, Congress has
refused foryears to enact laws for the proven
ton of such jobbery. Possibly it would
receive with more favor proposition from
the Bell company for revision of the
statutes in accordance with that greedy
corporations desires.