Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-06-15
| MR.. EDISON,S CHARGES
vrnruA1 ArpAq9An OF ASSIST
ANT coMM1ss1bNERs FINDINGS.
Opinion of the Assistant Attorney Gem
eral for the Interior De-
pa1tment.

| Interior DeparIUleHt mas reported tUdt ITO
can find nothing that calls for the exercise
of supervisory authority by the Secretary
| of the Interior in the matter of the report
of the investigation of the charges OF
Thomas A. Edison against two examiners
| in the patent office, and that the commits
sioner of patents should be left to his own
discretion In dealing with the matter. Sec
rotary Hitchcock has approved the opinion
| of Assistant Attorney General Campbell
and has ordered the case sent back to the
patent Office. The two examiners in queS-
| ton will be transferred to other divisions
| from those over which they now preside
This decision of the Secretary is the out
come of the investigation which was instt-
| tuted in the patent office several weeks ago
| by order of the President, to determine
whether or not there was collision between
| the examiners in the patent office and an
inventor named Ernest w. Jungner in the
case of patent granted to Jungner for
| reversible galvanic battery.
Mr. Edison's Charges.
Mr. Edison charged incompetency, neglect
| of duty and maladministration of office.
! The charges were filed before Commissioner
! Allen of the patent office before he left
| for his summer vacation and after investi-
| eating the case the commissioner refused
| to grant a hearing to Mr.. Edison on the
ground that the evidence did not warrant
an investigation.
The case was taken to the President and
| hearing Of the case was ordered from
| the White House. In the meantime Com
missioner Allen left the city for his sum-
mer vacation and Assistant Commissioner
E. B. Moore heard the case. Mr.. Moore S
opinion was forwarded to the acting secre-
tary of the interior, Judge Ryan, about
three weeks ago and after carefully con-
sidering it Judge Ryan forwarded it to the
Secretary, on his return to Washington
last week, The papers were then sent TO
the assistant attorney general for his
opinion and report, which was rendered
yesterday. The report of Assistant Attor-
ney General Campbell was in conformity
with the findings of Assistant Commissioner
Moore and was virtually an approval of
them. Mr.. Moore's findings, summarized,
follow:
Mr.. Moore's Findings.
"The examiners are charged by Thomas
A. Edison with incompetency, neglect of
duty and maladministration of office in
| connection with teh grant of United States
patent to Ernst w. Jungner for reversible
galvanic battery, No. 1885, 40, dated Septem-
Der l, 1903. The specific charges are three
in number
The substance of the first charge is that
the examiners allowed the Jungner patent
to issue as a division of Jungner's prior
application, when they knew, or should
have known, that this issue was fraudulent,
for the reason that IN Jungner's Original
application a certain narrow invention in
storage batteries was disclosed, whereas in
the patent issued to- him the specification
was amended by the addition thereto of new
matter and claims were granted based upon
the amended application.
THE substance of the second charge is
that the examiners allowed uatent No. 13S, ITO
to issue to Jungner containing claims which
they knew were unpatentable, which they
had admitted We're eunpatentable. and
which Jungner himself acknowledged We're
unpatentable. H. 81
''Of the twenty claims allowed in the
Jungner- patent but four of them are spe
officially referred to, in this charge
THE substance of the third charge is
that the examiners, granted the Jungner
patent on an imperative combination, OF
which fact they had full knowledge.
In connection with the three charges.
Mr.. Edison complained. of the declaration
of an interference between one of mis- APP
plications and the parent application of
Jungner, and asserted that the declaration
of this interference was improper and as
sists in showing that the examiners were
incompetent. He further complained that
il deprived him of the opportunity Of show
ing that Jungners invention was inopcra-
tive.
THE findings were that there was abso-
lutely no evidence of malfeaSance or inten-
tional wrong-doing on the part of the eX-
aminers and that the second and third
charges were not sustained and should be
dismissed. AS to the declaration of the in
reference it was found that the examiner
in view of all the circumstances did not
depart from custom. and acted in accord
ance with the dictates of common sense,
and that Mr.. Edison was not deprived there
by of an opportunity of making a further
showing as to what was contained in the
Jungner application. but. on the contrary,
was expressly given that opportunity, and
failed to take advantage of it.
las to the first charge, it was found that
the examiners failed to appreciate the ma
ture of the enlarged description of the
Jungner patent and that they should have
appreciated the effect of this enlarged de-
Scription, and it was sustained only as to
this particular.