THE KAHN BILL. COMMITTEE ON PATENTS, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Washington, D. C., January 28, 1914. The committee met at 10 o'clock a. m. Present: Representatives Oldfield (chairman), Morrison, Callaway, Metz, Oglesby, Paige, and Nolan. The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Townsend, you may proceed. STATEMENT OF CHARLES E. TOWNSEND-Resumed. Mr. TOWNSEND. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, before proceeding to the answer to Mr. Morrison's question, and with the permission of the chairman, I would like to briefly refer to one or two points that I discussed the other day, as some of the gentlemen are present who were not here then; and what is said now preliminarily will have more or less bearing on what is said later in answer to the various questions that have been propounded. The other day I referred, for one thing, to the rules and regulations at the Panama Pacific International Exposition as having a bearing on the matter here in defining what is an exhibit and what is a foreign exhibit, and I have called particular attention to article 7 which defined that in section 3. [Reading:] The country where an exhibit is produced and not the citizenship of the exhibitor will determine the nationality of the exhibit. Wherever the article is produced, primarily, and not the place of residence of the exhibitor decides what nationality that exhibit is. An article manufactured, then, in the United States, as proposed in the hearings had heretofore before you, by a noted speaker, who said it could be shipped to Juarez, Mexico, and then covered by a Mexican patent and imported and exhibited at San Francisco, would not in any sense be a "foreign exhibit," nor would the proprietor of that be a "foreign exhibitor"-and this act was passed for the benefit of "foreign exhibitors "-and manifestly that man primarily would be outside of the pale of the act. It was never passed for any such purpose; it was passed for the purpose of "foreign exhibitors," and the rules define that a foreign exhibit determines the nationality by reason of the place of manufacture of the article itself. One word more in regard to these rules Mr. MORRISON. May I ask a question just at that point? Suppose, now, the question instead of being framed as it was had been framed after this fact, that an American manufacturer about to put on the market an article which could not be patented under our laws goes into a city in Mexico, and there manufactures that article; obtains in Mexico, or whatever country it may be, a patent; comes to San Francisco and complies with the Kahn law; will he then be protected in the American market? Mr. TOWNSEND. That is really your question, Mr. Morrison. Mr. MORRISON. The question to which you referred was one asked by another gentleman, who said if it were manufactured here and taken abroad. Mr. TOWNSEND. Oh, yes. Mr. MORRISON. I asked the question the other way. Mr. TOWNSEND. I am not attempting to anwser your question at this moment. Mr. MORRISON. I thought you were. I thought that was meant for an answer to my question. Mr. TOWNSEND. No; it was suggested in the hearings of some weeks ago that an article which could not be patented here might be sent from New York to Juarez, Mexico, and then reimported. I have specific reference to that and that these rules determine specifically that that is not a foreign exhibit. Now, these are the rules. Mr. BRADFORD. May I make a suggestion there? Mr. TOWNSEND. Those rules were originally adopted by the Louisiana Exposition Commission, a Government commission, and were embodied in a report and sent in to the United States Senate on February 8, 1906, were read, and were referred to the Committee on Industrial Expositions, ordered printed, and became Senate Document No. 202. Therefore they have the sanction of legislative and governmental authority. These rules were promulgated to the world before the Kahn Act was thought of, and I shall ask Mr. OGLESBY. Pardon me. You refer to "those rules." This act specifically says that the Librarian of Congress and Commissioner of Patents are authorized and directed to establish a branch office, etc., and the proprietor of any certificate of registration, copyright, trade-mark, or patent issued by any foreign Government protecting any pattern, model, etc. Do you think that those rules would govern, rather than the plain reading of the law? Mr. TOWNSEND. Prima facie, a foreign proprietor, whoever he may be, has the right to register and to exhibit, but whether or not he is within the intent of the act we have got to take in other considerations, and that is right where we get to. When I come to Mr. Morrison's questions I have to answer that question, because Mr. Morrison has framed a question which brings the matter squarely within the letter of the act. Mr. OGLESBY. This does not say "foreign exhibitors." This says the proprietor of a certificate of registration, copyright, trademark, or patent issued by a foreign Government. Mr. TOWNSEND. Very true, and that is technically within the letter of that statute. There is no getting away from the fact that that foreign proprietor-the New Yorker with a New York article-may say, "I am a foreign registrant and a proprietor of a foreign registration," and he would go there and he would register. Now, that does not make rights for him. He has complied, we will say, with the letter of the law. In answering Mr. Morrison's questions I must meet that very question, Mr. Oglesby, squarely, and rather than anticipate just at this moment, if you will permit me, I will go on and then answer it all in one statement. Mr. OGLESBY. Sure. The CHAIRMAN. Suppose we permit Mr. Townsend to proceed until he gets through and then ask him questions. We will never get through these hearings if we stop in the middle of sentences and ask questions. Mr. TOWNSEND. I will ask that those rules might be filed as part of the record. (The rules and regulations of the Panama Pacific International Exposition are as follows:) UNIVERSAL EXPOSITION, 1915, CELEBRATING THE OPENING OF THE PANAMA CANAL. RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR THE INFORMATION AND GUIDANCE OF INTENDING PARTICIPANTS. [Panama-Pacific International Exposition, San Francisco, United States of America, Feb. 20 to Dec. 4, 1915.] RULES AND REGULATIONS OF THE PANAMA-PACIFIC INTERNATIONAL EXPOSITION TO BE HELD AT SAN FRANCISCO IN THE YEAR 1915 IN CELEBRATION OF THE COMPLETION OF THE PANAMA CANAL. [As finally amended and approved by the President.] Opening February 20, 1915; closing December 4, 1915. By order of the board of directors of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition Co., the following general rules and regulations are promulgated for the information and guidance of foreign and domestic participants: ARTICLE I. SECTION I. Under the proclamation of the President of the United States, signed February 2, 1912, and authorized by an act of Congress approved February 15, 1911, all nations and all peoples are invited to take part in this exposition and share in the celebration of the opening of the Panama Canal. SEC. II. The site of the exposition is established upon the harbor of San Francisco, which, including an area from the adjoining military reservations of the United States Government, granted to the uses of the exposition by an act of Congress dated January 18, 1912, comprises 625 acres, with a frontage upon the bay at Golden Gate of 15,000 feet. In addition to this site, the general plan includes certain exposition structures to be erected in Golden Gate Park and in Lincoln Park, and the erection of an auditorium in the center of the city. SEC. III. All administrative branches and executive divisions and departments of the exposition are under the authority of the president of the corporation. The members of the executive committee of the corporation and the comptroller of the company constitute the administrative cabinet of the president. The executive staff of the president consists of the following officers: Director in chief of foreign and domestic participation. Director of division of exhibits. Director of division of exploitation. Director of division of works. Director of division of concessions and admissions. Under these officers, subordinate departments for the supervision of exhibits, of construction, and of maintenance are provided for, each department having its individual head or chief. Other executive officers may, from time to time, be appointed by the president, subject to the approval of the board of directors. |