Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-03-11
PATENTEE IS UPHELD
Supreme Court Rules He May
Restrict Use of Article.
DECISION is FAR-REACHING
Monopoly of Inventor Held Under
Law to Be Not Illegal.
THREE DISSENTING OPINIONS
Chief Justice Contends Patent Law
May Now Be Used as Screen
for Wrongdoing.
DECISION Is FAR-REACHING
THREE DISSENTING OPINIONS

The Supreme Court of the United States
today upheld the right of holders OF pat
ents to make license restrictions as to the
way the articles they sell may be used.
The Supreme Court decided that \. B.
Dick & Co. could sue Sidney Henry and
others for contributory infringement in
selling supplies to Miss Christina b. St>ou
OF New York, TO be- used on a rotary
mimeograph patented by the Dick COM
pany.
4 notice on the machine sold to Miss
Skou set forth that ii was sold on the re-
strction that it was TO be used only with
supplies made by the company.
In announcing the opinion Justice Lur-
ton said this conclusion resulted from the
proper construction of the patent stat
utes.
The very object OF this statute. he said.
was to give a monopoly to the inventor.
nopoly in his contracts disposing OF his
articles by charging such price as he
pleases was not illegal.
Law Itself Up to Congress.
The fact that he chooses to sell his
patent at cost on condition that he get
his profit on supplies necessary for Its
operation still did not constitute a viola
ton of the law.
If such conditions interfered with pub
lie policy, he sad, Congress alone must
change the patent law.
Chief Justice White and Justices Hughes
and Lamar dissented. The Chief Justice
said he diSSented because he hoped q dis
senting opinion might serve as an anti
dote to a poison that might enter in the
future into millions of transactions touch
ing every phase of society. Again he
said he hoped to call attention that this
was a question Of construction. and that
nnfntI follow IN.
gress must act
The Chief Justice declared that il there
had been a provision in the patent giving
d monopoly in ink the court would have
been compelled to hold the patent not
good. Yet, he said, the patentee was
given a monopoly in ink "a monopoly
which could not exist under the patent
laws
The Chief Justice said with a limited
patent the patent law, as construed by
the majority. could now reach out and by
contract include within the patent every
conceivable thing used in every American
household.
Patentee Law Unto Himself.
With unusual earnestness the Chief
Justice declared that now the patentee
may become a patent law unto himself,
monopolizing things not novel nor
new.
In emphasizing the extent to which
the decision would reach and how far
already restrictions were placed on tn !,
sale Of patented articles Chief Justic
White told Of buying razor recently.
when / got home found had become
an infringer of patent because l had
paid for the razor the price l had been
asked and nothing more" said he
The only safeguard the country had
possessed against this increasing evil.
he declared. had been the hope that the
Supreme Court would hold the restrictions
void.
At least, he declared, the majority
should have placed limit on its decision
by which public policy would not allow
the patent law to be used as screen to
commit wrongs and work monopoly in
articles not patentable.