Journal OF THE Patent Office Society Published monthly by the Patent Office Society Office of Publication 3928 New Hampshire Ave., Washington, D. C. Subscription $2.50 a year EDITORIAL BOARD Single copy 25 cents R. L. Glass, Case editor. G. P. Tucker E. R. Cole E. C. Reynolds, Chairman and Editor-in-chief. W. I. Wyman M. C. Rosa M. L. Whitney, Business Manager (Room 182, U. S. Patent Office.) 3928 New Hampshire Ave., Washington, D. C. N. E. Eccleston, Circulation. Entered as second class matter, September 17, 1918, at the post office at Washington, D. C., under the act of March 3, 1879. Publication of signed articles in this journal is not to be understood as an adoption by the Patent Office Society of the views expressed therein. The editors are glad to have pertinent articles submitted. VOL. VII. APRIL, 1925. No. 8. COMMENT. The fourth of March has come and gone and it is gratifying to learn that no changes are contemplated in the position of Commissioner or in that of either of the Assistant Commissioners. An International Conference for the Protection of Industrial Property will be held at the Hague, beginning Oct. 8, 1925. The following delegates have been appointed by the Secretary of State and approved by the President: Mr. Thomas E. Robertson, Commissioner of Patents, Mr. Wallace R. Lane of Chicago, Ill., and Mr. Jo. Bailey Brown of Pittsburgh, Pa. A gain of 1257 new and 1217 old cases was made during February. The oldest date for the Office on March 1st was under 7 months; there were 43 divisions under 6 months, 34 under 5 months, 11 under 4 months, 3 under 3 months and one under 2 months. Legislation. House Bill 21 designed to give statutory authority for the issuance of certificates of correction and certain other matters became law and is printed in full elsewhere in this issue. Favorable reports were made by the House Committee on Patents on a bill providing for a general revision of the copyright laws, a bill revising the trademark laws, and a bill granting protection to designs by copyright instead of by patent as at present. None of these bills, however, was reached for action. Another bill which was favorably reported but which failed to come up was House Bill 5790 for the prevention of fraud etc., in connection with business before the Office. The report on this bill is also printed in full in this issue. It should be noted that the new Sec. 4 vaich is given in the report was added by the Committee and was not proposed by the Patent Office Officials. EXAMINATIONS. The first entrance examination since last fall will be held on April 22 and 23. If a sufficient number of eligibles are secured as the result of this examination it is probable that no more will be held for about six months. In view of the large number of eligibles who qualified in Chemistry, General Chemistry has been omitted as an optional subject in the forthcoming examination. Committee. The Committee which is considering plans for simplifying procedure in the Patent Office has issued a preliminary report which is published in the Official Gazette for Mar. 3, 1925. Suggestions and criticisms along the lines set forth therein are invited and will be considered at the April meeting of the Committee. Gourick's Washington Digest. The death of Mr. Gourick recalls to mind the useful and well known "Gourick's Washington Digest" of which he was editor and publisher during the twenty-one years of its publication. Started January 1, 1889 as a monthly pamphlet but afterwards changed to a bi-monthly, it continued up to December 31, 1909. The purpose of the Digest, as stated in its first number, was to bring before the legal profession the decisions and opinions of general value and importance emanating from the Executive Departments, committees and courts of the United States relating to Public Lands, Patents for Inventions, Pensions, Trade Marks, Labels, Copyrights, Internal Revenue, Customs, Interstate Commerce and Claims against the United States Government. At first the larger part of its space was occupied by Land and Pension Office rulings as the legal business of these offices was then flourishing, and only a small part to decisions of the Commissioner of Patents. As time passed, however, these positions were reversed. Decisions of the Patent Office were digested and published, by specific permission, soon after their rendition under the injunction that no information as parties, dates and inventive subject matter should be given out. Their publication in the Digest often anticipated by months their appearance in the Official Gazette. For some years the Digest exclusively occupied this particular field but |