Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-04-27
RADIO DECISIONS
HELD IMPORTANT
Court Rulings Affect Both
Transmitting and Receiving
in Broadcasting.

Both ends Of broadcasting-trans-
hitting and receiving-hgured in i'm
portant legal actions in Washington
last week.
The sweeping shift in assignments of
two dozen stationS-most of them Of
top rank-ordered by the Federal Radio
Commission with the aim Of Kidding
listeners Of cross-talk interference, was
all but toppled over, for the time being,
by the issuance Of an injunction against
the commission.
One of the most important patent
cases in radio history, involving the
basic "plug-in" receiving set patents,
popped into being again with the filing
OF unexpected suits by the Justice De-
partment against the two young in
ventors who only q few months ago
won a decisive victory over the Radio
Corporation Of America In the same
case. The court held that r. G. A.,
and through 1t practically 80 per cent
OF the radio industry, had infringed
these patents, and 1t was estimated
that the successful plaintiffs would get
about $2o,000,o00 in back royalties
alone.
In the cleared channel reallocation
preme Court Of the District Of Columbia
granted a temporary Injunction re-
strain1ng the commission from placing
into effect on May the proposed shift
as 1t relates to Station WHAM. the
5,OO0-watter at Rochester, N. Y, oper.
ated by the Stromberg-Carlson Tele-
phone Manufacturing Co. Because of
the lnterlocking nature of the shifts.
however, which would see 26 stations
swap assignments on 10 cleared chan
neis overnight, the injunction really
ties up practically all of the changes.
All eyes were turned to the Court of
preme Court in this reallocation case.
Two other stations involved In the
Snlfts, kYW, at Chicago, and WHAS, at
Louisville, had asked this court for stay
orders to prevent the commission from
carrying out its plan. Consequently the
injunction from the lower court took
the commission completely by surprise.
The "plug-in" set case reads almost
like fairy tale. Two engineers, Francis
w. Dunmore, radio physicist at the
s 81 rea OF Standards. drawing about
chief engineer of the A. H. Grebe
Radio Co. of New York, invented the
A. G. circuit in 1921, while both were
working at the bureau. The industry
adopted the "plug-in" or battery-less
set In 1925, and the following year be-
gan marketing it. r. G. A. claimed the
patent rights and cross-licensed the
device to practically all other receiving
set manufacturers, collecting tremen-
dous royalties.
In 1927, the two engineers and their
hackers, the Dublier Condenser Cor
poration and the Morkrum Co., brought
suit against r. @. A. Last August
Judge Morris Of the Circuit Court at
Wilmington rendered the decision adj
verse to r. G. A. and awarding back
royalties to the men. In addition, un-
der the patent laws they are allowed
royalties until 1898, since the legal life
Of q patent grant is II years.
The Justice Department, in q series
Of suits on the same case, now seeks to
recover the patents from the engineers
and their hackers, on the ground that
they are the property Of the Govern
ment since they made their investiga-
tons at the Bureau of Standards labor
atories.
lcopyr.ght. 1880 By the Consolidated Press,