the two appellate bodies-that is, the board of examiners in chief and the commissioner and his two assistants into one board, three members of which will hear all appeals in the future. if this becomes a law.

Section 8 of the bill is changed to amend Section 4911 of the Revised Statutes to read as follows:

SEC. 4911. If any applicant is dissatisfied with the decision of the board of appeals he may appeal to the Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia, in which case he waives his right to proceed under Section 4915 of the Revised Statutes.

I might remark there that Section 4915 provides a proceeding in equity to determine the right of a rejected applicant to his patent. He has to exhaust his remedy by appeal from the Patent Office to the Court of Appeals of the District before he can invoke that remedy under Section 4915. Those two successive procedures have involved unnecessary complication, expense and delay, and they are replaced by an alternative procedure, a single procedure at the election of the rejected applicant. With respect to interference cases the portion which I will now read applies:

If any party to an interference is dissatisfied with the decision of the board of appeals, he may appeal to the Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia, provided that such appeal shall be dismissed if any adverse party to such interference shall, within 20 days after the appellant shal' have filed notice of appeal according to Section 4912 of the Revised Statutes, file notice with the Commissioner of Patents that he elects to have all further proceedings conducted as provided in Section 4915 of the Revised Statutes. Thereupon the appellant shall have 30 days thereafter within which to file a bill in equity under said Section 4915, in default of which the decision appealed from shall become final. If the appellant shall file such bill within said 30 days and shall file due proof thereof with the Commissioner of Patents, the issue of a patent to the party awarded priority by said board of appeals shall be withheld pending the final determination of said proceeding under said Section 4915.

That substitutes for the present two successive proceedings in review of the Patent Office decision an alternative of one or the other of those procedures in the future.

Section 11 of the bill, amending Section 4915 of the Revised Statutes, is amended so that the first part of that section shall read as follows, the insertions being indicated in italics, viz.:

SEC. 4915. Whenever a patent on application is refused by the Commissioner of Patents, the applicant, unless appeal has been taken from the decision of the board of appeals to the Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia, and such appeal is pending or has been decided, in which case no action may be brought under this section, may have

remedy by bill in equity, if filed within six months after such refusal; . . (The remainder of this section is the same as in H. R. 12368 without any change.)

Section 12 of the bill amending Section 4918 of the Revised Statutes is amended by inserting at the end "upon any ground," so that the amended clause will read as follows:

. . . . and the Court, on notice to adverse parties and other due proceedings had according to the course of equity, may adjudge and declare either or both of the patents void in whole or in part, upon any ground, 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. . . .

The bill as thus amended received the unanimous endorsement of the Section.

The bill for amending Section 129 of the Judicial Code, H. R. 11840, which is printed on page 172 of the program for this meeting, was unanimously approved by the Section at its meeting July 13, and recommended to the Association for its approval.

Accordingly, as Chairman of the Section on Patent, TradeMark and Copyright Law, I move the adoption of the following resolutions:

(1) Resolved, That H. R. 6248, 69th Congress, first session, being a bill to protect trade-marks used in commerce, to authorize the registration of such trade-marks, and for other purposes, with the amendments as heretofore approved by the Section of Patent, Trade-Mark and Copyright Law, be and the same is hereby approved and endorsed by this Association and recommended to Congress for enactment.

(2) Resolved, That the bill H. R. 12368, 69th Congress, first session, being a bill amending the statutes of the United States as to procedure in the Patent Office and in the Courts with regard to the granting of letters patent for inventions and with regard to interfering patents, with the amendments thereof as approved by the Section of Patent, TradeMark and Copyright Law, be and the same is hereby approved and endorsed by this Association and recommended to Congress for enactment.

(3) Resolved, That bill H. R. 11840, 69th Congress, first session, being a bill to amend Section 129 of the Judicial Code, which has been approved by the Section of Patent, Trade-Mark and Copyright Law, be and the same is hereby approved and endorsed by this Association and recommended to Congress for enactment.

President Long:

There are three of these resolutions. They will be voted upon together unless the Association, by majority vote, determines there should be a division, and in voting on this I wish to read a section of the by-laws:

No legislation shall be recommended or approved by the Association unless there has been a report of a committee thereon.

(and the Section on Patents is a committee reporting this, under the by-laws)

and unless such legislation be approved by a two-thirds vote of the members of the Association present.

The question is on the adoption of these three resolutions. The motion was duly seconded and carried and the resolutions adopted. (Complete text of Bill H. R. 12368, appears herein as Exhibit "A," Proceedings of Section of Patent, Trade-Mark and Copyright Law.)

The next order of business is the report of the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws, which will be made by its President, George B. Young, of Montpelier, Vermont; and the Chair requests that the Chairmen of the other Sections and committees, two or three at least, come to the platform so there will be no delay in the presentation of these reports. I introduce the President of the Conference, Mr. George B. Young.

Mr. Young:

Mr. President, Gentlemen of the Association: At the last meeting the committee submitted a very full and detailed report as to each of the subjects under consideration by the National Conference, and those interested in the detail of it will find everything there that is now before the Conference. This year your committee prepared a very brief report prior to the meeting, suggesting certain acts that would be probably approved by the Conference and recommending their final approval by this Association.

Since that was written the Conference has been in session and has approved five acts, including the Motor Vehicle Code, which consists of four separate acts. Treating them all as separate acts it makes eight acts which have been approved:

The act for the filing of federal tax liens, which is an act providing that the states by passing this act may have the benefit of the federal law giving tax liens of the federal government force only when recorded in the registry office of the different counties or registration districts of the state.

A Uniform Chattel Mortgage Act, which is the result of several years of careful consideration and conference with various bodies and associations and organizations interested in it.

A Uniform Extradition Act for the extradition of persons charged with crime, dealing with the substantive law and regulations for the interstate rendition of alleged criminals.

An act regulating the sale and use of firearms, and these acts have both been prepared after careful investigation and debate and several drafts before the Conference, and conference with various organizations interested. The Firearms Act follows in a general way the recommendations of the Revolver Association. It has been considered by the Attorneys-General, and has been submitted to various other people, and it is believed to be in a very satisfactory form. It is the result not only of the work of the Conference but of various other persons and organizations interested in the subject.

The last act is the Uniform Vehicle Code, which is in four divisions: (1) that relating to the registration of motor vehicles, (2) that relating to certificate of title, or anti-theft provisions, (3) that requiring the licensing of drivers and chauffeurs, and (4) the general rules regulating the use of the road and the equipment of motor vehicles.

All these acts have been prepared with the usual care of the National Conference. They have been prepared by special committees, aided by draftsmen expert on the subjects, and have been carefully canvassed by these committees and finally reported to the Conference for consideration, debated section by section on the floor of the Conference, recommitted to the committees, reconsidered by them, brought back to the Conference and redebated, until they have finally met the approval of the National Conference of Commissioners.

This year we had about 75 to 80 Commissioners present, representing between 35 and 40 states. It is believed that these acts are all in most excellent condition. The Uniform Motor Vehicle Code is the result not only of the work of the National Conference for a good many years but is due to the cooperation of the National Conference on Street and Highway Safety which has held two conferences during the past two years under the auspices of and called by the Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover. That conference, attended by something over a thousand men, in Washington last March approved this Motor Vehicle Code in the form in which it was then prepared, subject

to a reference to the Conference for completion and perfection as to any legal difficulties that might be found.

Mr. President, unless there is objection, I move that this Association approve each of these acts, eight in number, the Uniform Federal Tax Lien Registration Act, the Uniform Chattel Mortgage Act, the Uniform Act to Regulate the Sale and Possession of Firearms, the Uniform Act for the Extradition of Persons Charged with Crime, the Uniform Vehicle Code, consisting of four acts, namely, the Uniform Motor Vehicle Registration Act, the Uniform Motor Vehicle Anti-Theft Act, the Uniform Motor Vehicle Operators' and Chauffeurs' License Act, and the Uniform Act Regulating the Operation of Vehicles on Highways, copies of all of which will be found in the Supplemental Report herewith presented.

The procedure will be the same as on the report of the Patent Section. Unless the Association decides that it desires a division of the report, the vote will be taken on all these acts together. The motion was seconded and carried and the acts referred to duly approved. (For full text of report and Uniform Acts, see infra, p. 527.)

The President:

The next is the report of the Section on Public Utility Law. In the absence of the Chairman, the report will be made by the Vice-Chairman, Mr. J. F. MacLane, of Salt Lake City, Utah.

Mr. MacLane:

Mr. President, Members of the Association: There is nothing to report particularly on behalf of the Section of Public Utility Law other than that the Section held its regular meeting on Monday and Tuesday of this week, transacted its routine business, listened to a number of interesting addresses, and concluded its session with an informal dinner. The matter of particular interest to the Section, which is now before the Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws, is the proposed Uniform Public Utility Act, and that is still in the process of consideration and no action has as yet been taken upon it. I thank you.