Evening star., 1942-04-05

at war. The parties to such contracts
must therefore find some way of getting
along with their own business while the
contracts are SO suspended"
About 1000 patents were involved in
the combination, and the patent licens-
ing business had been conducted through
two American corporations-Standard-
I. G. and Jasco-in one of which Stand
ard owned 80 per cent and the other so,
with the remainder in German hands.
Most of the patents had originated with
Fanaen, and legal title to them, espe-
cially the foreign patents, had been left
with I. G. to avoid expense of transfer.
With Germany blockaded and neces-
sary contaBtS with Farben cut of1-and
the possibility that the United States
might be drawn into the war-Mr Parish
explained, the problem that confronted
the company was to get legal title to
every patent anywhere In the world "in
which we had an important interest"
and to get rid of the German interest
in the American corporations. A trustee
ship which took care of the interests OF
both parties (the German holding now
is subject to the account Of the Alien
Property Custodian) was arranged for
the patent assignment; then the Ger
man interest in the two companies was
acquired by a cash payment and trade
OF claims on processes which left Jasco
controlling everything in the United
States. France and England, and Farben
the rest of the world.
The negotiations, Mr.. Parish pointed
out, were conducted with the permis-
sion OF the British Foreign Once, in
line with a request from Ambassador
Joseph P. Kennedy, while the American
State Department facilitated the ex-
change of papers that was necessary.
Monopoly Move Denied.
AS to rubber, Vice President Frank A.
ment was a move toward a production
monopoly. At one stage, he told the
committee that "the agreement was q
cooperative arrangement to share
in research and patents" At another he
said that "the interest of Standard Oil
in patents is primarily to benefit its
own operations; licensing Is secondary"
At the outset, he said, little impor-
tance was attached to the rubber patents,
because of the cost Of production.
Standard, he said, believed at that time
that the hydrogenation process 1t ac-
k,a
up to the present, it has so proved.
BY this process, oil may be made from
coal, and 1t also Is used to convert crude
petroleum into gasoline or 1ubricating
OIL
Germany, no doubt looking forward
to day when it might have to depend
on synthetic rubber while at the same
time being shut OF from Oil imports,
developed a process for making rubber
from coal. This is buna, which reputedly
today is supplying Germanys military
and industrial needs. Buna also can be
produced from oil, and 1t Is this type
that now Is in production over here.
After buna came butyl, the oil product
Standard developed.
These two synthetics have caused most
of the shooting since the case against
Standard broke.
One-Sided Exchange Charged.
One OF the Arnold charges was that
Farben was refusing to turn over its
buna process to Standard, but that the
latter was giving the Germans all the
information needed on butyl. This was
denied, despite efforts of members Of
the Senate committee to wiring such an
admission from the two Standard wit
nesses Mr.. Parish said that as late
as 1885, Farben was so dissatisfied with
the results Of the buna experimentation
that consideration was being given to
the purchase Of synthetic rubber de-
veloped by Du Pont. Mr.. Howard said
that even in 1887 the buna outlook was
poor.
According to Mr.. Parish, the public
patents gave all the information on the
process that any one needed. Commit
tee members were skeptical.
Mr.. Parish said that Standard had
asked for details on synthetic plant
construction, being desirous of taking
advantage of any economies effected by
the Germans but that was after the
war had started, and the answer was no.
Questioning of Mr.. Howard by Sena-
tor Kilgore, Democrat, Of West Virginia
developed that Farben had held off in
giving Standard the go-ahead to exploit
buna-presumably on instructions from
higher up-and as late as April, 1888.
according to memorandum put into the
record, Mr. Howard was seeking to have
this policy reversed. AS that official
explained to the committee, mo matter
how strong your position may be, un-
less you make some use OF a patent,
some one will take it away from you, !"
and Standard, he continued, had an
investment in the buna patent that it
wanted to protect by development II
possible. As he explained 1t, however,
control over what to do with the patent
reposed in Farben until the trade in
1899, Standard being only a minority
owner.
Says Patent Public Record.
So far as giving Farben all details on
butyl, Mr.. Howard said, that company
was in no different position than others
all over the world, for Standard filed
its patents in 1898, and they conse-
quently were a matter OF public record.
Standard officials also have pointed
out that, as practical matter, butyl
is Of no help to Germany. for the coun-