Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-02-15
LARGER PATENT OFFICE
FACILITIES OF THE BUREAU DE-
CLARED INADEQUATE.
It is Expected That the Matter VIII
Be Discussed at Tonight's Din
ner Of Patent Lawyers.

More than the usual interest is attached
to the annual dinner Of the Patent Law
Association of Washington. to be held this
evening at Rauscher's. The efforts Of those
persons who are interested in a better
and more commOdious patent office, and
who have recently succeeded in getting
together for the purpose Of furthering their
ideas will be manifest, 1t is said. in the
addresses to be made on this occasion.
Among those who will be present, besides
the members Of the association, are Com
missioner Allen of the patent ONCE and As
sistant Commissioner Moore and Chief
Clerk Irelan Of that office, the members of
the committees on patents of the House
and the Senate. Justice Shepard of the
District Court of Appeals and other men
prominent In governmental affairs.
1t Is said that all of these men are agreed
that there should be an improvement in the
accommodations of the patent Office, In or
der to facilitate the large amount of work
that must be done there and which Is in
creasing In volume every day. The law
association. 1t Is understood, advocates an
Immediate appropriation by Congress of
*oooOo for the rental of additional rooms.
Storage Room Nearly Exhausted.
That within two months the space in the
present patent Office building for the stor-
exhausted is said to be a fact, and when it
IS remembered that these copies come in at
the rate of about $4,000 a week and are of
great value to attorneys and inventors all
over the country the Importance Of this
state OF affairs Is said to be made ap-
parent. 1t is expected that these things will
De touched upon in the speeches tonight
Recently cracks were discovered in the
galleries on the third floor used for files
In the classification division The examiner
became alarmed and called the matter to
the attention of the commissioner who
mentioned it to the Secretary of the In
terror. Levi r. Whitfield. a civil engineer
from the office of the supervising architect
OF the treasury. was sent to investigate and
made large opening in the plastering to
examine the Orders. 1t is understood that
ne found faulty construction but did not
feel justified in reporting at once that the
galleries were not strong enough to carry
the weight upon them. 1t is expected that
he will do some figuring before giving his
final opinion.
Files Almost Inaccessible.
The condition of the file cases in this
part of the patent office has been matter
of wide comment for years. At present the
boys who go after files have to be nearly
agile as monkeys in order to get at the
the statements of officials, these boys will
mark 'EX' on the application slips from
attorneys and inventors. rather than make
the perilous ascent of the cases that Is
necessary to reach the copies desired By
"Ex'' the boys convey the impression that
the particular file is exhausted. when 1t may
not be. While every effort, Of course. is
made to correct this negligence. it is never
theless considered by the officials to be
largely the fault of the poor facilities.
All of these matters have been under
consideration by patent attorneys. inventors
and patent Office officials for years and 1t
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Congress has been interested sufficiently to
do something"