Norwich bulletin., 1913-11-26
NUTMEG STATE PATENT
 HOLDERS ARE DISTURBED
Danger Seen in Kahn Law by Man
 ufacturers and Others.

The manufacturers of Connecticut, and particularly the holders of pat ents, are aroused over the opportuni- ties given holders of foreign patents under the Kahn law. who may ex- hibit at the Panama Pacific exposi- tion at San Francisco in 1915, to ac- quire. proprietorship of all patent rights. A strict interpretation of the Kahn law it is claimed by manufac- turers who have examined the text will work acute injury to American patent holders.
 Section 1 of the law admits free of duty all articles imported for exhibi- tion at the Panama Pacific exposition and nobody objects to this. Section II establishes a branch copyright and patent office at the exposition and permits the proprietor" of any for eign patent, trademark. or copyright to obtain from said office free of charge, a certificate amounting to legal evidence of such "proprietorship.'
 Section 39 makes it unlawful to copy, initiate, reproduce or repub- fish" anything exhibited at the expo sition which is protected by a foreign patent, copyright trademark. etc, without the authority of the "proprie- tor thereof, whether he has a certffi- cate from the branch patent office or not.
 Four penalties are provided for unlaw- ful infringement whether innocent or not: (a) injunction: (b) damages and profits; Co surrender of alleged in ringing articles to be held during the suit; (d) surrender of articles found to infringe. and all means for making them all to be destroyed.
 Section 4 makes Wilful infringement penal offense, punishable by impris- onment for a year or less, or a fine of $100 to $1,0O0 or both
 Section makes applicable certain sections of the present copyright law such as conferring jurisdiction upon federal courts, enforcing an injunction in any circuit, allowance of costs, etc
 Patent Till 1918.
 The law in effect grants patent trademark, copyright, etc, to every exhibitor who holds a foreign patent, trademark, copyright, etc. from the time his goods are dumped on the exposition grounds to at least Dec. 4, 1918. This protection is granted with out application, without fee, without publication or notice of any kind to the public. The penalty for invading this right is far more severe than for infringement of a regular United States patent because it includes fine or inn prisonment, or both.
 lii-Considered, They Say.
 The protest prepared by Walter F. Rogers George P. Whittlesey, Arthur s. Browne, William w. DAdge and John NJ. Colt a committee on laws and rules of the Patent Law association of Washington, states that this is the most dangerous, considered, and in excusable law which has ever been enacted in relation to patent design, trademark and copyright property They claim:
 It grants protection to inventions which may be as old as the hills, or which may have been in public use for more than two years. or on which pat ents have been refused by our patent office, or which may have been pat ented and dedicated to the public, or on which a United States patentee holds a patent still in force.
 1t may create g right as of a patent for an invention upon what is merely the subject of a patent of importation in a foreign country.
 It creates property in designs or ar ticles of manufacture without refer ence to invention or novelty, and may include what has long been in prior use in this country or what has been before patented or described here or elsewhere, or what is not patentable in this country.
 It creates copyright property with out reference to novelty or original authorship and may cover things long before known or used, or things which are public property, or even things previously copyrighted.
 It provides for all the harsh restric- tions on the copyright act of March 1, 1909, without any of the amelioration of the limitations and safeguards of the copyright act.
 It gives trade-m rights to one who may have pirated the well known mark of a domestic manufacturer.
 The most extensively used and val uabIe American trademarks may be registered in many foreign countries by citizens of those countries and the foreign registrants can maintain their rights to such trade marks, in those countries, irrespective of the rights of the American preprietors, The ex- hibition of goods by such foreign reg istrants under such trademarks would give them a, right to bring suit to pre- vent American owners of the trade l marks from continuing their use, with 1 all the consequent embarrassment and l resulting from such litiga- 1 ton, and so far as the act is con | eerned there is no justification for the | belief that such foreign registrants l could not maintain such suits and en- | force their claims and the penalties l provided in the act, It grants pre-