directed. Even when the amendment consists in striking out a portion of the specification, or other paper, the same course should be observed. No erasures are allowed. The papers must remain forever just as they were when filed, so that a true history of all that has been done in the case may be gathered from them. The following are forms proper to be observed in such cases:

Form of Amendment of Specification.

TO THE COMMISSIONER OF PATENTS.

in

filed

in the

In the matter of my application for letters patent for an improvement serial number "I hereby amend my specification by inserting the following words after the word line of the page thereof" (here should follow the words that are to be inserted); or, "I hereby amend my specification by striking out the page thereof;" or, "by striking out the first and fourth clauses of the claim appended thereto;" (or whatever may be the amendment desired by the applicant.)

line of the

In each case the exact word to be stricken out or inserted should be clearly described, and the precise point indicated where any insertion is to be made. When more than one alteration is made, a separate paragraph should be devoted to each.

WITHDRAWALS.

Although an application be rejected, no money paid thereon, nor for a design, nor for a re-issue, can be withdrawn from the Patent Office by the applicant.

APPEALS.

After an application for a patent has been twice rejected by the examiner having it in charge, it may, at the option of the applicant, be brought before the board of examiners-in-chief, on payment of a fee of ten dollars.

For this purpose, a petition in writing must be filed, signed by the party or his authorized agent or attorney, setting forth the points of the decision upon which the appeal is taken.

(247.)

Form of Appeal to the Examiner

TO THE COMMISSIONER OF PATENTS.

SIR, I hereby appeal to the examiners-in-chief from the decision of the principal examiner in the matter of my application for a patent for an improvement in (here state the subject of the invention) filed

points of the decision on which the appeal is taken.

The following are the

(Place and date of signing.)

Respectfully,

(Signature.)

The appeal must be submitted to the primary examiner, who will, if he finds it regular in form, furnish the examiners-inchief with a written statement of the grounds of his decision, with copies of the rejected claims and the references applicable thereto. The appellant must, before the day of hearing, file a brief of the authorities and arguments on which he relies to sustain his appeal. If he desires to be heard orally he must so indicate when he files his appeal.

The examiners-in-chief will consider the case as it was when last passed upon by the primary examiner, merely revising his decisions so far as they were adverse to the applicant.

All cases which have been acted on by the board of examinersin-chief may be brought before the commissioner in person, upon a written request to that effect, and upon the payment of the fee of twenty dollars required by law. A decision deliberately made and approved by one commissioner will not be disturbed by his successor. The only remaining remedy will be by appeal in those cases allowed by law to the judges of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia.

The mode of appeal from the decision of the office to the judges of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia is by giving written notice thereof to the commissioner, filing in the Patent Office, within thirty days after notice of the decision, reasons of appeal, and paying to him the sum of twenty-five dollars. Printed forms of notice of appeal, of the reasons of appeal, of the petition, and also the rules of practice of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia respecting appeals, will be forwarded from the Patent Office to any one wishing to make an appeal, on his request

INTERFERENCES.

When each of two or more persons claims to be the first inventor of the same thing, an "interference" is declared between them, and a trial is had before an officer called the examiner of interferences. Nor does the fact that one of the parties has already obtained a patent prevent such an interference; for, although the commissioner has no power to cancel a patent already issued, he may, if he finds that another person was the prior inventor, give him also a patent, and thus place them on an equal footing before the courts and the public. If an applicant for a re-issue embraces in his amended specification any new or additional description of his invention, or enlarges his claim, or makes a new one, and thereby includes therein anything which has been claimed in any patent granted subsequent to the date of his original application, as the invention of another person, an interference will be declared between the application and any unexpired patent, or pending applica tion, in which the same thing is claimed; but not where such pending application for re-issue claims only what was granted in the original patent.

In cases of interference, patentees have the same remedies by appeal as applicants in pending applications.

Each party to the interference will be required to file a concise statement under oath showing the date of his original conception of the invention, of its illustration by drawing or model, of its disclosure to others, of its completion, and of the extent of its use.

The parties will be strictly held in their proof to the dates set up in their statements. These statements must be sent under seal, and the name of the party, title of the case, and nature of the invention endorsed on the envelope.

Neither party is allowed to see the statement of the other until both have been filed.

An applicant involved in an interference may, before the date fixed for filing his statement, disclaim over his own sig nature attested by two witnesses, the invention of the particular

matter in issue, and upon such disclaimer and the cancellation of any claims involving such interfering matter, judgment shall be rendered against him and the disclaimer shall be embodied in and form part of his specification.

In cases of interference, the party who first made oath to the invention will be deemed the first inventor in the absence of all proof to the contrary. A time will be assigned in which the other party shall complete his direct testimony, and a further time in which the adverse party shall complete the testimony on his side; and a still further time in which the first party shall close his rebutting testimony, but shall take no other. If there are more than two parties, the times for taking testimony shall be so arranged that each shall have a like opportunity in his turn, each being held to go forward and prove his case against those who made oath to their applications before him. If either party wishes the time for taking his testimony, or for the hearing, postponed, he must make application for such postponement, and must show sufficient reason for it by affidavit filed before the time previously appointed has elapsed, if practicable; and must also furnish his opponent with copies of his affidavits, and with seasonable notice of the time of hearing his application.

In contested cases, whether of interference or of extension, parties may have access to the testimony on file, prior to the hearing, in presence of the officer in charge; or when practicable, copies may be obtained by them at the usual charges.

RE-ISSUES.

A re-issue is granted to the original patentee, his heirs, or the assignees of the entire interest, when, by reason of an insufficient or defective specification, the original patent is inoperative or invalid, provided the error has arisen from inadvertence, accident, or mistake, without any fraudulent or deceptive intention.

Unless applied for immediately after the issue of the original patent, a re-issue will not be allowed for the purpose of expanding or enlarging the claims of the original, even though the invention, as thus claimed, was described or shown in the origi

nal specification and drawings, and might properly have been embraced in the original patent. Two years has been indicated as the extreme limit within which re-issues for this purpose will be allowed.

The courts have recently construed re-issued patents very strictly in this respect, and it is therefore very important that the inventor should carefully examine his patent as soon as pos sible after its issue to ascertain that it embraces everything to which he is justly entitled.

Re-issued patents expire at the same time that the original patent would have done. For this reason, applications for re-issue will be acted upon immediately after they are com pleted.

A patentee may, at his option, have in his re-issue a sepa rate patent for each distinct part of the invention comprehended in his original application, by paying the required fee in each case, and complying with the other requirements of the law, as in original applications. Each division of a re-issue constitutes the subject of a separate specification descriptive of the part or parts of the invention claimed in such division; and the drawing may represent only such part or parts. One or more divisions of a re-issue may be granted, though other divisions shall have been postponed or rejected. In all cases of applica tions for re-issues, the original claim is subject to re-examination, and may be revised and restricted in the same manner as in original applications.

The petition for re-issue must be signed and sworn to by the inventor if he be living, and must be accompanied with a certified copy of the abstract of title, giving the names of all assignees owning any undivided interest in the patent; and with the written assent of such assignees.

The applicant must also file with his petition a statement setting forth particularly the defects or insufficiencies in the specification which render the patent inoperative or invalid, and how such errors arose, and in cases where more was claimed and allowed than he was entitled to claim as new, such part or parts must be distinctly pointed out. At the same time the original patent must be surrendered, or if that be lost an affidavit to