Evening star., 1923-12-02
JAM AT PATENT OFFICE
CLOGS NATIONS INDUSTRY
Work Now Five Years Behind, With
Million Dollars Needed for Ade-
quate Facilities.

radio division Ghere now being sew
eral radio divisions) is swamped. It
has 2.607 cases awaiting action The
oldest case in that division was filed
March 1, which shows that this di-
I vision is practically nine months be-
hind in its work On the metalurgi-
cal division they have 1.100 cases
| awaiting action and the oEhest case
was Sled five and half months ago.
Much Work Caught Up.
Chairman Lampert of the House
committee fathered legislation last
year which give the patent office
eighty-five additional employees AS
| result it is now gradually catching
up with its work. On November / a
year ago some of the technical work
was sixteen months behind. Now no
branch is more than ten months be-
hind and the clerical work is not
| more than thirty days in arrears
The patent Office now has on hand
awaiting action 67,7O9 patent cases.
| where at the end of December last
year there We're 71,173 cases awaiting
i action. There are now 1907 design
| cases awaiting action, where on the
| first of the year there were 2.37o de-
| sign cases. There are now 23-5
| trademark cases awaiting action,
| where on the first of the year there
| were 4,1S5 trademark cases.
| This shows that the patent office Is
| making progress with the additional
! force it has had since July /. Repre-
sentative Lampert points out.
| Nevertheless. working with all
| rapidity possible, the patent office,
! even with its increased force, can
gain only about 1000 cases per month.
So. with nearly 10000 cases on hand,
| it must take four or five years to
| catch up.
| Right here it must be remembered
that these patent cases are the very
corner stone Of American industry"
Representative Lampert said
| Cost of Printing.
1t is not generally known that
| Uncle Sam runs the biggest 10-cent
store in the world. Printed copies
of patents are sold all over this coun-
| try at 10 cents apiece. to the number
of 100000 month il costs cents
each TO print these patents, which is
one of the biggest jobs done by the
government printing office, Public
| Printer Carter testifies. He says that
fifty linotype machines are kept busy
| eight hours day all through the
year on this work alone. The print
! ing for the patent office costs around
| S1.O0O,000 year, every cent of which
comes back into the Treasury. with
at least 100000 profit
| In addition to the 200. 900 copies
of patents distributed every month,
! 100000 copies are sent to libraries
all over this country and to foreign
| countries in exchange. There are in
the patent office, subject to sale,
50,000,000 copies of patents, which
makes this the most valuable store
In the city of Washington. These
| have a cost value to the government
of 100000 and a sale value of
| $4,000, ,O00.
! Some little 10-cent store" COM
| ments Chairman Lampert.
! With the exception of patents
| granted since the Harding admins
! tration came into office, all of these
| paper copies are on wooden shelves
making the biggest fire risk in the
| city, Representative Lampert points
| out, emphasizing the need for a
| proper store room, with steel stacks
Fireproof Storage.
| "One of the prime needs of the
| patent Office is a ffre-proof place to
| store these copies where they will
| not be subject to fire, but where they
| can be housed for sale in the quick
| est possible manner" Representative
| Lampert insists. They are now in
| accessible on six different levels. from
the basement to the attic" he eX-
| plains.
Suppose man in Detroit gets half
| q dozen friends to put up a quarter
| of g. million of dollars for manufac-
| turing device for the automobile
| industry. After financing the con-
! Germ over six months while the build
| ing is being made ready and the ma
| chinery installed, just about the time
| profits begin to come in he gets a
! letter from Chicago or Hartford or
| dering him to stop manufacturing
! that device because it infringes on
| another patent. 1t is very important
! for him to get a copy of the patent
! as soon as possible. For this reason
no patent should be allowed. to get
! out of print.
Now when he gets copy of the
patent his lawyer may say that it looks
as if he might be infringing on the
other patent. Then he must have his
lawyer make an investigation. 1t may
be found that a device similar to the
| one he wants to manufacture is shown
| in some older patent, possibly an ex-
pired patent. If what he wants to
make is nearer to the expired patent
than to the newer patent under which
he is threatened with suit, it is all
| important that the manufacturer should
get a copy Of the expired patent to
prevent Judgment against himself,
| closing his factory. This illustrates
why old patents must not be allowed to
get out of print.
! Value in Suits.
| 1t may also be that the patentee is
| claiming his patent is basic one when,
| in fact, it is merely an improvement
patent. The patent Office has in its
archives the original proceedings lead
so that any person threatened with
suit may see the original proceedings
and get certified copies Of them.
Frequently these certified copies alone
will prevent the patentee from fore
ing payment of royalties.
! Within the patent office building and