The morning times., 1897-02-11

Office attorneys in preparing and present.
ing their cases, promulgated Tuesday by
Hon. John s. Seymour, commissioners of
Patents, has precipitated u warm and
vigorous discussion, and no little antaeon-
ism among the local corps Of patent at
torneys, as well as attorneys i'll other cities.
The Patent Office holds that the old rules
We're OF a conflicting and too technical
nature, that they We're the accumulation of
m3ny years, being patched up and amended
with little system, and in many cases were
ambiguous In their language, and difficult
OF Interpretation. The present code, it is
set forth, is the fruit OF the labOrs of
Commissioner Seymour, and those under
him who have been at work on IL a long
time.
Tne fact that the change was being made
leaked out among the patent attorneys in
this city, and in open meetings they pro-
tested against the action, charging tnat
the commissioners was acting in high
handed manner, and a committee of lawyers
was talked of to insist upon hearing.
| They contended that changes heretofore
made by the commissioners OF patents We're
decided upon only after consultation with
representative attorneys, and after their
views on the matter had been explained,
and a conference with the commissioner at
which the rules should be gone over in
| eXtenso was demanded as their right.
4 special committee of the Patent Bar
Association was appointed To confer with
| the Commissioners concerning the changes.
This committee consisted of Gen. Ellis
Spear, William Cranch McIntire, James
7 n
Ioolittie, and William G. Henderson To
this committee the commissioner eX-
| planned the proposed rules, stating that
! he had talked with leading attorneys OF
| the oountry before making up his mind,
| and sct forth that the revision i S of i'm
mensc advantage 10 the profession and
/ liberalization of the spirit of the patent
| laws.
At the request OF the committee, the
rules were refer red to it Tor consideration,
and on February / reroIt was made to
| the commissioner TO the effect that it was
! the opinion OF the association that it
| would hc the best policy to adhere To The
| existing form of rules and to make no
! changes. excepting such as the practice
| of the office might absolutely require in
/ particular cases.
| the result of many years experience on
! the part of the office, and were the out
| growth of that experience. Any change in
! the rules in the forms OF the rules w ould
! be considered by them as an evil. 1t
! would he matter of convenience to pre-
/ serve even the familiar numbers of the
rules. Any defect in order OF arrange
ment OF lack of condensation, or any in
Z faliriry- of q ~
| the ass Dciation a of small Importance com
! pared with the certainty, stability and
! uniformity of practice as well as familiar
| ity acquired by long study.
| The committee stated that it could not
recommend the changes made by the Com
sioner, by which an applicant is required
to amend his case within six months after
! official action on the sane, owing to the
| fact that they. as a committee, could
! not sanction the adoption of a practice
| which the association believed to be in
| conflict with the statute This conclusion
was reached by the committee. partly be-
cause of the fact that legislation is now
! pending before Congress, to harmonic the
| statute with the present requirement of
| the rules, and until such consideration is
| given by Congress, as shall result in the
passage of a law relating to the matter, it
would be unwise, from the committees
standpoint. TO incorporate such a provision
| in the rules OF the office.
The old rules occupied sixty pages of
| pamphlet form. and the mass OF verhiage
| and useless stuff stated to have burdened
the old system is shown 10y the fact that
the new code will take up only one-thrd
| as much room Mr.. W +. Boulter when
asked his opinion as TO the change of
| code, by Times reporter yesterday, said
| that he had not as yet carefully examined
| the revised code. and could not say whether
| Commissioner Seymour had remedied de
| fects in the old code or not. There
| were 229 rules in the old CODE said
Mr. Boulter, land 81 in the new code
| and it seems to me that the Commissioner
| has not departed from the old rules, but
rather has made the new code a con-
| densation of the old one. There were
defects in the old one, and If the COM
| missioner has remedied those defects /
| am heartily in favor of the change"
Mr. Julian C. Dowell of the firm of
ButteIworth & Dowell, said that he had
| not as yet examined the revised code,
and therefore could not speak authorita-
| lively on the subject. IF the commits
sioner has repaired the evils existing in
the old code-and there were many de-
fects-I am in favor Of the change. l
think that the Condensation, if it is
condensation of the Old code, will lie bene-
ficial to patent attorneys. OF course,
the old rules were the result of many
years experience on the part OF commits
sionerS and practicing attorneys, but there
does not appear to be grounds for objec-
ton if the old rules are condensed and set
forth in n more convenient manner
Mr.. Joseph l.. Atkins is on the other
side Of the fence as regards the revision.
| II condemn the change said Mr.. Atkins,
1--WE had precedcnts before, but now we
are in measure at sea. We cannot know
n law until it has been ruled upon by a
judge. 1 was present at the meeting on
February l. at which the matter was first
discussed by patent attorneys here, and l
condemned the policy of changing the code
then and am no less in favor of it now"
MI W. 4. Fitzgerald, of the firm of
Fitzgerald & Co., said that he had not ex.
amined the revised code as yet. He ad-
Initted that the old code was defective in
many points. IF the Commissioner has
done away with all the old defects ne
said, ~ think he has done wise thing in
promulgating the new rules
Interviews with other leading patent at
torneys elected the fact that there is a
wide divergence of opinion in regard to
the matter. The opinion seems general
that the revision will entail a certain
. amount of embarrassment at first, but the