Beginnings of The Merit System in The Civil Service.

An interesting historical fact is the institution by Commissioner of Patents Fisher, in 1869, of the competitive examination system for entrance into the examining corps, thus anticipating by many years the general introduction of the merit system for government appointments. This is believed to be the first appearance of this feature in the history of our civil service. The requirements of the position of examiner were such as to make it dangerous to the rights of inventors and manufacturers to place in control of the technical and legal administration of the work untrained men selected by haphazard appointment through favoritism. Thus, force of circumstances compelled the establishment and retention in the Patent Office of the merit system long in advance of its endorsement by public sentiment and its general adoption through legislation.

Influence of Invention on History of United States.

Apart from her material resources the United States owes her commanding position in the economic sphere more to the inventive genius of her people than to any other single factor. The development of those material resources is due mostly to the processes and mechanisms which have resulted from invention. Unaided labor, that is, primal human energy, would have been of but little avail in extracting the enormous wealth from the bowels of the earth, in gathering the immense crops, in producing the stupendous output of steel and other metals in the mills and refineries, in fabricating the huge quantities of manufactured articles that come from the factory and shop, and in transporting the raw and finished materials that make up our almost unlimited tonnage of rail and shipping. Without the influence of invention we could not conceive of the modern world as developed from the old world of manual operations. Without such inventions as the steam engine, the locomotive, the steamship, the telegraph, the telephone, the automobile, the trolley car, the electric light, the dynamo, the motor, the reaper,

the cotton gin, the printing press, the smelting furnace, our present civilization could not exist. To invention alone do we owe vastly increased production of the fruits of the earth and of the materials of manufacture; to invention alone must we look for such further increment of wealth that the reasonable aspirations of every civilized being may be provided for.

As the world must depend on the solution of social and economic problems for the proper and equitable distribution of the products of labor, so it must be through th agency of invention that sufficient wealth in the aggregate shall be produced to make possible a high average of comfort and well-being. Not only is invention the means by which the increased productivity necessary for the betterment of the economic state must be accomplished, but it is the medium through which the worker may express his ideas in the way of improving processes and machines. Invention is the direct means for advancing the worker's state, and many of the greatest inventors have come up from the ranks at the bench, the lathe, in the shop and the laboratory. It is the most democratic of opportunities, and its rewards (where the intent of the system is attained) are the most equitable.

Of all the countries in the world the United States has benefited most by invention. Her inventors form the most notable list in the sphere of applied science, and their contributions are the wonder and the envy of her competitors for industrial supremacy. To the cotton gin the South largely owes her prosperity, and the Northern textile mills a sufficient supply of raw material; to the McCormick reaper the West owes in no small degree her development and the country a plentitude of food products. To the patent system as instituted in this country, which has most encouraged and protected and thus stimulated invention, do we owe this advantage primarily. In a recent address by Sir Robert A. Hadfield of Sheffield, England, one of the world's greatest inventors, a leading authority on metallurgy, and a steel manufacturer of world-wide reputation, he said:

As showing how Patents for Inventions strike a "new" nation, it

may be mentioned that the Japanese Government, when considering the establishment of a patent system on the lines of that created by the American Patent Act of March 1, 1899, appointed Mr. Takanashi their special commissioner to Washington, D. C. On being asked why the people of Japan desired to have a patent system, he replied: "It is only since Commodore Perry in 1854 opened the ports of Japan to foreign commerce that the Japanese have been trying to become a great nation, and we have looked about us to see what nations are the greatest, so that we can be like them, and we said: "There is the United States not much more than 100 years old, and America not discovered by Columbus until 400 years ago.' We said, 'What is it that makes the United States such a great nation?' and we investigated and found that it was patents, and we will have patents.'" The writer in every way agrees with this wise statement by the Japanese representative and wishes his countrymen would insist upon a British Parliament giving to the British empire a patent law as liberal and as equitable as that of the United States of America.

PROMOTION EXAMINATIONS, QUESTIONS
AND ANSWERS.

Examination for Third and Fourth Assistant Examiners,
January 19, 1923.

Question 1 (a). What is an "assignment of the entire interest", and of an "undivided part interest"?

(b) What rights, if any, under the Rules has one of these assignees that the other does not have?

Answer (a). An "assignment of an entire interest" is an instrument in writing which conveys the whole patent, comprising the exclusive right to make, use, and vend the invention throughout the United States. R. S. 4898; 3 J. P. O. S. 79; Rule 184 (a).

An "assignment of an undivided part interest" is an instrument in writing which conveys an undivided part or share in that exclusive right. R. S. 4898; 3 J. P. O. S. 79; Rule 184 (a).

(b). The assignee of the entire interest may prosecute the case to the exclusion of the inventor. Rules 5, 20. He may also make application for reissue of a patent. Robinson, Secs. 700 and 701. These things the assignee of an undivided part interest may not do, but he may be authorized to control the prosecution if the inventor has disappeared and abandonment is imminent, or he may to

some extent be authorized to control the prosecution upon a showing that the inventor is hostile to his interests. Ex parte Fitzhugh, 1906 C. D. 29.

Ques. 2. (a). The drawing is objected to as faulty in several particulars; an amendment is filed directing correction of some only of the defects. Should the examiner approve the entry of these corrections?

(b). May the original drawing in a patented case be used in lieu of a new drawing in the reissue application, and, if so, under what conditions?

(c). If a new drawing is filed with the reissue application in the case of a machine, what are the requirements for such drawing in addition to the requirements for the original drawing?

Ans. (a). The entry of these corrections should be approved if their entry does not introduce anything which would need to be undone in correcting the remaining defects. Ex parte Humphrys, 1920 C. D. 70.

(b). The original drawing in a patented case may not be used in lieu of a new drawing in the reissue application. Formerly it was the practice to use the original drawing in the reissue case where the reissue was due to an office mistake.

(c). Such drawings shall be made upon the same scale as the original drawing, or upon a larger scale, unless a reduction of scale shall be authorized by the Commissioner. Rule 53.

(Continued)

CURRENT COURT DECISIONS.

BROS.

DAVID BELAIS INC. v. GOLDSMITH SMELTING & REFINING CO. C. C. A. 2nd March 1, 1926 Hough Circuit Judge 10 F. (2d) 673..

Belais patent 1,330,231 claim for a white gold alloy held invalid for lack of invention.

Claim 3 reads as follows:

"As a composition of matter, a white gold alloy, composed of gold, nickel, and zinc, the proportion of the gold ranging from 75 to 85 per cent., the nickel from 10 to 18 per cent., and the zine from 2 to 9 per cent."

The only novelty over the prior art appeared to be a slight change in degree and no really new or unexpected results were achieved by slightly changing the proportions of the ingredients. Held invalid for lack of invention.

The invention met with wide commercial success due to the lack and high cost of platinum and the wide demand for a suitable substitute. But held that commercial success is not a safe guide to invention, particularly unless prior efforts have been made to fill the space.

HARRY PRICE,

Division 6.

DONOVAN CHEMICAL CORPORATION v. CORONA CORD TIRE CO. 10 F. (2nd) 598, Dist. Cor. W. D.

Suit was brought for infringement of process and product claims of the patent to Weiss No. 1,411,231. The improvement alleged in the patent involved the use of diphenylguanidine as an accelerator in rubber vulcanization. The mono-phenyl and the triphenyl derivatives of guanidine were long known as accelerators, and the question as to invention in the use of the diphenyl derivative although raised was not passed on by the court.

The defense of that Weiss was not the first inventor was interposed on the basis of a paper read by one Kratz before a chemical society and published in a journal prior to the filing date of the application of the patent in suit, and also on the basis of the actual work done by the said Kratz prior to the reading of the paper. These contentions of lack of priority were sustained.

The journal article was cited by the examiner during the prosecution of the application and was overcome by