of the District of Columbia, sitting in banc. [See Revised Statutes, Section 4911.]

SECTION 49. And be it further enacted, That when an appeal is taken to the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, the appellant shall give notice thereof to the commissioner, and file in the Patent Office, within such time as the commissioner shall appoint, his reasons of appeal, specifically set forth in writing. [See Revised Statutes, Section 4912.]

SECTION 50. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of said court, on petition, to hear and determine such appeal, and to revise the decision appealed from in a summary way, on the evidence produced before the commissioner, at such early and convenient time as the court may appoint, notifying the commissioner of the time and place of hearing; and the revision shall be confined to the points set forth in the 'reasons of appeal. And after hearing the case, the court shall return to the commissioner a certificate of its proceedings and decision, which shall be entered of record in the Patent Office, and govern the further proceedings in the case. But no opinion or decision of the court in any such case shall preclude any person interested from the right to contest the validity of such patent in any court wherein the same may be called in question. [See Revised Statutes, Section 4914.]

SECTION 51. And be it further enacted, That on receiving notice of the time and place of hearing such appeal, the commissioner shall notify all parties who appear to be interested therein in such manner as the court may prescribe. The party appealing shall lay before the court certified copies of all the original papers and evidence in the case, and the commissioner shall furnish it with the grounds of his decision, fully set forth in writing, touching all the points involved by the reasons of appeal. And at the request of any party interested, or of the court, the commissioner and the examiners may examined under oath, in explanation of the principles of the machine or other thing for which a patent is demanded. [See Revised Statutes, Section 4913.]

be

SECTION 52. And be it further enacted, That whenever a patent on application is refused, for any reason whatever,

either by the commissioner or by the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon appeal from the commissioner, the applicant may have remedy by bill in equity; and the court having cognizance thereof, on notice to adverse parties and other due proceedings had, may adjudge that such applicant is entitled, according to law, to receive a patent for his invention, as specified in his claim, or for any part thereof, as the facts in the case may appear. And such adjudication, if it be in favor of the right of the applicant, shall authorize the commissioner to issue such patent, on the applicant filing in the Patent Office a copy of the adjudication, and otherwise complying with the requisitions of law. And in all cases where there is no opposing party a copy of the bill shall be served on the commissioner, and all the expenses of the proceeding shall be paid by the applicant, whether the final decision is in his favor or not. [See Revised Statutes, Section 4915.]

SECTION 53. And be it further enacted, That whenever any patent is inoperative or invalid, by reason of a defective or insufficient specification, or by reason of the patentee claiming as his own invention or discovery more than he had a right to claim as new, if the error has arisen by inadvertence, accident, or mistake, and without any fraudulent or deceptive intention, the commissioner shall, on the surrender of such a patent and the payment of the duty required by law, cause a new patent for the same invention, and in accordance with the corrected specification, to be issued to the patentee, or, in the case of his death or assignment of the whole or any undivided part of the original patent, to his executors, administrators, or assigns, for the unexpired part of the term of the original patent, the surrender of which shall take effect upon the issue of the amended patent; and the commissioner may, in his discretion, cause several patents to be issued for distinct and separate parts of the thing patented, upon demand of the applicant, and upon payment of the required fee for a reissue for each of such reissued letters-patent. And the specifications and claim in every such case shall be subject to revision and restriction in the same manner as original applications are. And the patent so reissued, together with the corrected speci

fication, shall have the effect and operation in law, on the trial of all actions for causes thereafter arising, as though the same had been originally filed in such corrected form; but no new matter shall be introduced into the specification, nor in case of a machine patent shall the model or drawings be amended, except each by the other; but when there is neither model nor drawing, amendments may be made upon proof satisfactory to the commissioner that such new matter or amendment was a part of the original invention, and was omitted from the specification by inadvertence, accident, or mistake, as aforesaid. [See Revised Statutes, Section 4916.]

SECTION 54. And be it further enacted, That whenever, through inadvertence, accident, or mistake, and without any fraudulent or deceptive intention, a patentee has claimed more than that of which he was the original or first inventor or discoverer, his patent shall be valid for all that part which is truly and justly his own, provided the same is a material or substantial part of the thing patented; and any such patentee, his heirs or assigns, whether of the whole or any sectional interest therein, may, on payment of the duty required by law, make disclaimer of such parts of the thing patented as he shall not choose to claim or to hold by virtue of the patent or assignment, stating therein the extent of his interest in such patent; said disclaimer shall be in writing, attested by one or more witnesses, and recorded in the Patent Office, and it shall thereafter be considered as part of the original specification to the extent of the interest possessed by the claimant and by those claiming under him after the record thereof. But no such disclaimer shall affect any action pending at the time of its being filed, except so far as may relate to the question of unreasonable neglect or delay in filing it. [See Revised Statutes, Section 4917.]

SECTION 55. And be it further enacted, That all actions, suits, controversies, and cases arising under the patent laws of the United States shall be originally cognizable, as well in equity as at law, by the circuit courts of the United States, or any district court having the powers and jurisdiction of a circuit court, or by the Supreme Court of the District of Colum

bia, or of any territory; and the court shall have power, upon bill in equity filed by any party aggrieved, to grant injunctions according to the course and principles of courts of equity, to prevent the violation of any right secured by patent, on such terms as the court may deem reasonable; and upon a decree being rendered in any such case for an infringement, the claimant [complainant] shall be entitled to recover, in addition to the profits to be accounted for by the defendant, the damages the complainant has sustained thereby, and the court shall assess the same or cause the same to be assessed under its direction, and the court shall have the same powers to increase the same in its discretion that are given by this act to increase the damages found by verdicts in actions upon the case; but all actions shall be brought during the term for which the letters-patent shall be granted or extended, or within six years after the expiration thereof. [See Revised Statutes, Section 629, 9, and Section 4921.]

SECTION 56. And be it further enacted, That a writ of error or appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States shall lie from all judgments and decrees of any circuit court, or of any district court exercising the jurisdiction of a circuit court, or of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, or of any Territory, in any action, suit, controversy, or case, at law or in equity, touching patent rights, in the same manner and under the same circumstances as in other judgments and decrees of such circuit courts, without regard to the sun or value in controversy. [See Revised Statutes, Section 699.]

SECTION 57. And be it further enacted, That written or printed copies of any records, books, papers, or drawings belonging to the Patent Office, and of letters-patent under the signature of the commissioner or acting commissioner, with the seal of office affixed, shall be competent evidence in all cases wherein the originals could be evidence, and any person making application therefor, and paying the fee required by law, shall have certified copies thereof. And copies of the specifications and drawings of foreign letters-patent, certified in like manner, shall be primâ facie evidence of the fact of the granting of such foreign letters-patent, and of the date

and contents thereof. [See Revised Statutes, Sections 892 and 893.]

SECTION 58. And be it further enacted, That whenever there shall be interfering patents, any person interested in any one of such interfering patents, or in the working of the invention claimed under either of such patents, may have relief against the interfering patentee, and all parties interested under him, by suit in equity against the owners of the interfering patent; and the court having cognizance thereof, as hereinbefore provided, on notice to adverse parties, and other due proceedings had according to the course of equity, may adjudge and declare either of the patents void in whole or in part, or inoperative, or invalid in any particular part of the United States, according to the interest of the parties in the patent or the invention patented. But no such judgment or adjudication shall affect the rights of any person except the parties to the suit and those deriving title under them subsequent to the rendition of such judgment. [See Revised Statutes, Section 4918.]

SECTION 59. And be it further enacted, That damages for the infringement of any patent may be recovered by action on the case in any circuit court of the United States, or district court exercising the jurisdiction of a circuit court, or in the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, or of any Territory, in the name of the party interested, either as patentee, assignee, or grantee. And whenever in any such action a verdict shall be rendered for the plaintiff, the court may enter judgment thereon for any sum above the amount found by the verdict as the actual damages sustained, according to the circumstances of the case, not exceeding three times the amount of such verdict, together with the costs. [See Revised Statutes, Section 629, ¶ 9, and Section 4919.]

SECTION 60. And be it further enacted, That whenever, through inadvertence, accident, or mistake, and without any wil[1]ful default or intent to defraud or mislead the public, a patentee shall have (in his specification) claimed to be the original and first inventor or discoverer of any material or substantial part of the thing patented, of which he was not the