Mr. Blaine to Mr. Phelps.

No. 105.]

Sir: I inclose for your information a copy of a letter from Messrs. Howson & Howson, dated the 11th inst., stating that patents issued to Americans in Germany are of doubtful validity, owing to the fact that there has not as yet been published in the German Imperial Official Gazette the specific notification required as to the reciprocal rights granted by the United States to German inventors.

I will thank you to bring the subject to the attention of the proper authorities and to inquire as to what steps this Government should take for the proper protection of the rights of American inventors in Germany.

I am, etc.,

James G. Blaine.
[Inclosure in No. 405.]

Messrs. Howson & Howson to Mr. Blaine.

Sir: We take the liberty of drawing your honor’s attention to a matter of considerable importance to American inventors who take out patents in Germany. As the shortest way of getting at the point we inclose a translation of a German letter received in the past day or so from our correspondent in Berlin, the firm of C. Kesseler, one of the leading patent soliciting firms there.

From this it appears that an American inventor applying for a German patent within three months from the issue of the American patent, in reliance upon the terms of the new German patent law is, to say the least, running considerable risk as to the validity of the German patent, because there has not as yet been published in the German Imperial Official Gazette the specific notification required as to the reciprocal rights granted by the United States to German inventors.

The initiative from our Government is apparently needed, and we presume this matter belongs to the State Department.

We need only add that we place all confidence in the statements of our correspondent.

We are, very respectfully,

Howson & Howson.
[Page 186]
[Inclosure to inclosure in No. 405]

Mr. Kesseler to Messrs. Howson & Howson .

Gentlemen: The negotiations which were carried on recently between the German Empire and several other states—such as Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, and Italy, for the purpose of concluding new commercial treaties, also províding for mutual concessions regarding patents and useful designs—give me occasion to make the following remarks:

The new German patent law says, in paragraph 2, clause 2:

“Officially published patent specifications of foreign countries will not be considered to be publications after a period of three months from the day of the issue of the patent, provided that the German patent is applied for by the original inventor who has made the application in the foreign country or by his legal successor. This advantage is, however, only extended to the official specifications of those countries which, according to a previous publication in the Official Imperial Gazette, grant reciprocal favors.”

Though the laws of your country provide for a similar favor to foreign applicants, the special notification in the Imperial Gazette has not been published up to this date.

The new German law for useful designs contains, in paragraph 13, clause 1, the following:

“One who does not have a domicile or some residence in Germany can only then take advantage of this law if the laws of the country in which he resides or has his domicile grant a similar protection for useful designs, and are so recognized by a special publication in the Imperial Official Gazette.

This also presupposes the reciprocal protection, in obtaining useful designs in foreign countries by German citizens.

As this law is intended to fill a gap between the patent law and the design law, it offers to citizens of foreign countries the opportunity of obtaining patents for useful designs in Germany only in case German citizens can obtain in the country of the foreign applicant similar protection for their designs.

There is in your country a law for protecting useful designs, but so far no publication has been made in the Imperial Gazette that the United States belong to that class of states which grant reciprocity. It is therefore doubtful whether American citizens can obtain a valid protection for their useful designs in Germany, as long as such a publication has not been made in the Gazette.

I desire to draw attention to the fact that the requirements of paragraph 2 of the German patent law and paragraph 13 of the useful design law have not been complied with yet on the part of the United States, so that you can agitate the matter with the proper parties if such an agitation has not already been started, with a view to have the representatives of the United States present the matter to the Imperial chancellor and cause the required publication in the Imperial Gazette, so that citizens of the United States can be enabled to obtain the advantages of the paragraph above mentioned.

I should be pleased to obtain a reply from you if you deem such steps proper, and eventually what results your efforts in this direction might produce.

Yours truly,

C. Kesseler.