An Act to provide for an economical, efficient, and effective supply management organization within the Department of Defense through the establishment of a single supply cataloging system, the standardization of supplies and the more efficient use of supply testing, inspection, packaging, and acceptance facilities and services.
PL 82-436 (H.R.7405), enacted 07/01/1952

318 
PUBLIC LAW 436-JULY 1, 1952 
[66 
S T A T . 
"Attest: 
• 
" T H O M A S J. 
CURRAN, 
"Secretary of State of the State of New York. 
\ = < 
"ALFRED E . DRISCOLL, 
"Governor of New Jersey. 
"Approved December 11, 1950. 
"W. J. DOUGHERTY, for the State Comptroller. 
"Approved December 12, 1950. 
"THEODORE D . PARSONS, 
"Attorney General of the State of New Jersey. 
"By 
LEON S. MILMED, 
"Deputy Attorney General and Counsel to the Governor. 
"Approved December 12,1950. 
"J. LINDSAY DE VALLIERE, 
"Director, Division of Budget and Accounting 
and State Comptroller of the State of New Jersey. 
"By the Governor: 
"LLOYD B . MARSH, 
"Secretary of State of the State of New Jersey." 
SEC. 2. Without further submission of the compact, the consent of 
Congress is given to any State having a common boundary with either 
the State of New York or the State of New Jersey to become a party 
to it in accordance with its terms. 
SEC. 3. The right to alter, amend, or repeal this Act is expressly 
reserved. 
Approved July 1, 1952. 
July 1, 1952 
[H.R. 7405] 
Public Law 436 
CHAPTER 539 
AN ACT 
To provide for an economical, efficient, and effective supply management organi-
zation within the Department of Defense through the establishment of a single 
supply cataloging system, the standardization of supplies and the more efficient 
use of supply testing, inspection, packaging, and acceptance facilities and 
services. 
D e f e n s e Cata-
loging and Stand-
ardization Act. 
Agency. 
D i r e c t o r 
a n d 
Deputy Director. 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
United States of America in Congress assemhled^ That this Act may 
be, cited as the "Defense Cataloging and Standardization Act". 
SEC. 2. There is hereby established within the Department of Defense, 
the Defense Supply Management Agency, hereinafter referred to as 
the "Agency." This Agency shall develop a single catalog system and 
related supply standardization program. 
SEC. 3. There shall be a Director of the Agency and a Deputy 
Director, wiio shall act as Director in the absence or disability of the 
Director, and who shall perform such other duties as are prescribed 
by the Director. The Director shall be appointed for a four-year term 
by the President, by and wdth the consent of the Senate. The Deputy 
Director shall be appointed by the Secretary of Defense. Both the 
Director and the Deputy Director shall be appointed from civilian 
life without regard to the civil-service laws, with due regard being 
given to the background and qualifications of each appointee to these 
positions on the basis of his experience in the conduct of major supply 
operations, cataloging, standardization, engineering, and civilian 
industrial practices. The Director shall receive compensation at the 
rate of $14,800 a year and the Deputy Director shall receive compen-
sation at the rate of $13,000 a year: Provided^ That the present Director 
of the Munitions Board Supply Management Agencies shall be eligible 
for appointment under this section. 
Duties of Direc-
tor. 
66 S T A T . ] 
PUBLIC LAW 436-JULY 1, 1952 
319 
SEC. 4. (a) In cataloging, the Agency shall name, describe, classify, 
cataloging, 
and number each item repetitively used, purchased, stocked, or dis-
tributed, by the Department of Defense or any of the departments 
thereof, by such methods and in such manner that only one distinctive 
combination of letters or numerals or both will identify the same item 
either within a bureau or service, between bureaus or services, or 
between the departments. The single item identification shall be used 
for all functions of supply from original purchase to final field or area 
disposal. 
There shall be a single catalog, which may consist of a 
number of volumes, sections, or supplements, in which all items of 
supply shall be included and in which there shall appear information 
on each item needed for supply operations such as descriptive and per-
formance data, size, weight, cubage, packaging or packing data, a 
standard quantitative measurement unit, and such other related data 
as is determined by the Director of the Agency to be necessary or 
desirable. 
(b) In supply standardization, it shall be the duty of the Agency to i^lt^m^ standard-
achieve the highest practicable degree possible in the standardization 
of items used throughout the Department of Defense, through the 
development and use of single specifications, in the elimination of 
overlapping and duplicating item specifications, and in the reduction 
of the number of sizes, kinds, or types of generally similar items. The 
greatest practicable degree of standardization of methods of packing, 
packaging, and preservation of such items shall be achieved, together 
with the most efficient use of services and facilities concerned with the 
inspection, testing and acceptance of such items. 
SEC. 5. The Director shall under the direction of the Secretary of 
Defense— 
(a) establish, develop, and maintain the single supply catalog 
and standardization program herein established; 
(b) provide for, direct, and coordinate the progressive utiliza-
tion of the single supply catalog provided for herein in all supply 
functions within the Department of Defense, its departments, 
bureaus, and services from requirements determination through 
ultimate disposal; 
(c) provide for, direct, review, and approve all item names, 
item descriptions, and description patterns, the screening, con-
solidation, classification, and numbering of item descriptions and 
the publication and distribution of the single supply catalog; 
(d) establish and maintain liaison with industry advisory 
groups to coordinate the development of the single supply catalog 
and standardization program herein established with the best 
practices of industry in order to obtain to the greatest extent 
practicable the cooperation and participation of industry in the 
program; 
(e) review, amend, revise, promulgate, and establish within the 
Department of Defense military specifications, standards, and 
qualified product lists and resolve differences between military 
departments, bureaus, and services with respect to the same; 
(f) assign among the military departments, bureaus, and serv-
ices within the Department of Defense when practical and con-
sistent with their capacity and supply interest, the responsibility 
for portions of the cataloging and standardization programs 
herein established, and establish time schedules for the completion 
of such assignments; and 
(g) make final decisions in all matters concerned with the cata-
loging and standardization authority established in this Act, 
subject to review and modification by the Secretary of Defense. 
320 
PUBLIC LAW 436-JULY 1, 1952 
[66 S T A T . 
Catalog distribu-
tion. 
Procurement 
supplies. 
of 
R e q u i r e d 
ports. 
G S A and De • 
fense 
coordina-
tion. 
SEC. 6. When portions of the single supply catalog provided for 
herein are complete and ready for use they shall be distributed by the 
Agency and all existing catalogs shall be replaced according to 
schedules established by the Director. 
Thereafter all departments, 
bureaus, and services within the Department of Defense shall use such 
single supply catalog and no other. All property reports and records 
shall use the nomenclature, item numbers, and descriptive data as 
published in the single supply catalog. 
SE€. 7. Following the publication and promulgation of the single 
supply catalog or portions thereof as provided herein only those items 
of supply listed therein shall thereafter be procured for repetitive use 
in the departments, bureaus, and services of the Department of 
Defense: Provided^ however^ That items so cataloged may be changed 
from time to time to include new items and to delete obsolete items: 
Provided further^ That nothing in this section shall be construed to 
prohibit the military departments in the Department of Defense from 
acquiring new" items required to carry out their missions: And provided 
further^ That such new items when and if acquired shall be immediately 
submitted to the Director of the Agency for inclusion in the cataloging 
and standardization program established in this Act. 
SEC. 8. The reports required by sections 9 and 10 of this Act may 
at the discretion of the Director be combined into one report. 
SEC. 9. The Director of the Agency shall transmit to the Committees 
on Armed Services of the Senate and House of Representatives on 
January 31 and July 31 of each year, progress reports on cataloging 
from each of the military departments within the Department of 
Defense for the previous six months between July 1 and December 31 
and January 1 and June 30, respectively. These reports shall contain— 
(a) the number of single supply catalog sections or portions 
published and the titles; 
(b) the number of item identification numbers developed under 
the single catalog system which have replaced, for all supply pur-
poses, former item identifications, stock or catalog numbers; 
(c) the reduction in the number of separate item identifications 
achieved; and 
(d) such other information as the Director considers will best 
inform _the Congress of the status and progress of the cataloging 
program herein established. 
SEC. 10. The Director of the Agency shall transmit to the Committees 
on Armed Services of the Senate and House of Representatives on 
January 31 and July 31 of each year, progress reports on standardiza-
tion within the military departments in the Department of Defense for 
the previous six months between July 1 and December 31 and January 
1 and June 30 respectively. The report shall contain— 
(a) the number of separate specifications which have been con-
solidated into single specifications for the use of all of the military 
departments, bureaus, and services; 
(b) the reduction achieved in the number of sizes, kinds, or 
types of generally similar items; 
(c) duplications eliminated in services, space, and facilities; 
and 
(d) such other information as the Director considers will best 
inform the Congress of the progress of the standardization pro-
gram herein established. 
SEC. 11. The Administrator of General Services and the Secretary of 
Defense shall coordinate the cataloging and standardization activities 
of the General Services Administration and the Department of Defense 
so as to avoid unnecessary duplication. 
66 
S T A T . ] 
PUBLIC LAW 439-JULY 3, 1952 
321 
SEC. 12. There are hereby authorized to be appropriated such sums 
of money as may be necessary to accomplish the purposes of this Act. 
Approved July 1, 1952. 
Appropriati on. 
Public Law 437 
CHAPTER 540 
AN ACT 
To amend the Act entitled "An Act to provide for the extension of the term of 
certain patents of persons who served in the military or naval forces of the 
United States during World AVar II", 
July 1, 1952 
[S. 1537] 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
United States 
of America 
in Congress assembled, That the Act 
entitled "An Act to provide for the extension of the term of certain 
patents of persons who served in the military or naval forces of the 
United States during World War II", approved June 30,1950 (Public 
Law 598, Eighty-first Congress), is amended by adding at the end 
thereof the following new section: 
"SEC. 5. (a) No person shall be held not to be the sole owner of 
a patent within the meaning of this Act, by reason of any interest 
of his spouse in such patent. 
"(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of the first section fixing the 
time for filing application for an extension under this Act, such 
application, in the case of any patent held by the applicant and his 
spouse may be filed at any time within six months following the date 
of enactment of this section." 
Approved July 1, 1952. 
E x t e n s i o n of 
certain patents. 
64 Stat. 316. 
35 u s e 115-118, 
Public Law 438 
CHAPTER 547 
AN ACT 
To amend section 709 of title 18 of the United States Code, 
July 3, 1952 
[S. 2214] 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
United States of Amenca in Congress assembled, That section 709 of 
title 18 of the United States Code is amended by inserting immediately 
before the last paragraph thereof a new paragraph as follows: 
"This section shall not make unlawful the use of the w^ord 'national' 
as part of the name of any business or firm engaged in the insurance or 
indemnity business, whether such firm was engaged in the insurance or 
indemnity business prior or subsequent to the date of enactment of this 
paragraph." 
Approved July 3, 1952. 
False 
ing, etc. 
62 Stat. 
advertis-
733. 
Public Law 439 
CHAPTER 
AN ACT 
To amend the Military Personnel Claims Act of 1945. 
548 
July 3, 1952 
[H. R. 404] 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 1 of 
the Military Personnel Claims Act of 1945, approved May 29, 1945 
(59 Stat. 225), be, and it is hereby, amended to read as follows: 
SEC. 1. (a) That the Secretary of the Army, the Secretary of the 
Navy, and the Secretary of the Air Force, and such other officer or 
Military Person-
nel Claims Act of 
1945, amendment. 
31 u s e 
2 2 2 c 
note.