The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-03-22

is comparatively seldom that the
American inventor takes such precau
lions, and these sharks reap a rich
harvest from their gudgeon-catching.
They generally really make applica-
ton for the patentee's English grant,
renting, however, only a fraction
of the fees sent them, and then for
ward the American the British Offices
refusal to issue.
The firm that has been foremost in
this sort of business fell into the
clutches of the law a month or so ago,
at which time its operations were thor
oughly aired. Surprising evidence was
given as to the amount of money
taken in by the Sharpers from Ameri-
can clients. AS a result of this trial,
the new bill will make it compulsory
on the part of the patent office to
annual these operators power for
future mischief by refusing to accept
business from one of them when once
he has been weighed in the balance
and found wanting. This course Is
rightly followed by the Washington
patent office.
The Terrible Trnde-Mark ONCE.
An American who has invented a
novelty which he wants to introduce
in England may be inclined to swear
over the ways of the British patent Of
flee. He must not however He
must save his breath to use in ex-
pressing his opinion of the British
trademark office when eventually he
goes up against 1T.
To begin with, the officials in charge
Mt this office seem to suffer from even
more than ordinary British conserva-
tism and -distrust of original ideas and
methods of procedure. In the second
place. the rules of governing the
granting of advertising devices are as
stern and unbending as the homely
building which houses this cumber-
some section of the patent office ma
chjneTy. Oddly enough, American
manufacturers have been probably the
greatest sufferers from this state of
things.
British trademark rules are a good
deal more arbitrary than those pre-
Vailing in America, where, practically
speaking, any device can be register
ed. IN England, to use the stiff word
Ing of the law, the trademark must
be divorced from any meaning in re-
spect to the goods advertised and
must be neither descriptive, common
datory nor geographical" To say
that this rule is enforced gives no hint
of the "reminiscences with which it is
hourly grasped by the hilt and brought
down upon the schemes of the luckless
marufacturer-English and foreign
alike.-who dares to try to get out of
the rut.
How Trade-Marks are Rejected.
Here are couple of instances.
When the inventor of a soap. in
the name of which the word sun
figures, applied for permission to use
the name, he was told sternly that he
mustn't even dream of such a thing.
Abashed, and little dumbfounded, he
ventured to ask why, and was ur-
banely informed that the suggested
name was descriptive" a fault with
which the Office had simply no pa
thence.
This is the way of it," they said
with the air of one unmasking a viii
liam, ''soap makes things clean, or
bright. Sun makes things bright, too,
| There! 1t can't be allowed"
The proprietor of the soap was.
however, an obstinate, determined
sort of person, and he took the matter
into court and won his suit
A kodac company had a somewhat
! similar, but even harder time. When
it applied for permission to use the
word 'solio" in advertising a sens-
tive paper, it was withheld Curiously
| enough, it seemed that the sun was
again the cause of all the trouble. The
! Trademark Office insisted that. as the
| paper was affected by the ravs Of
the sun, and as the suns most popu-
lar nickname was Sol, the companv's
| catch-name was Descriptive and
therefore, quite impossible.
! The company promptly appealed
\ from the decision to the Board of
/ Trade, who upheld the Trade Mark
| Office. From this body the case went
TO the first court, and still the verdict
was the same. Ditto in the second
court. 1t was not until the question
was argued before the House OF
Lords, sitting as the highest court of
! appeal, that the company won out.
| There the Lord Chancellor remarked
that such restriction was "absurd .
And the trainers of the new bill take
a similar view of the matter.
Myriad of Queer Devices.
The new home of the Patent Office
! finished only a few months ago
though IL does not compare with The
| vast and handsome building at Wash
| ington. is infinitely more up TO date
than the system IL shelters. II is big
| and airy and the library Is a handsome
! big room. with over three miles. OF
shelving on which repose over 100000
volumes
Among the specifications contained
therein are many relating 10 unusually
/ crack-brained devices. There Is one
/ Of a ship which its inventor Intended
70 run by means Of wind-mills f1ed al
the top ~ the masts There h. an
interesting process for extracting gold
which another genius felt sure. from
- beautiful yellow eolOr. must exist
IN straw. There Is q plan for a com
blnea gun ana piow-ihe handles OF