Mr. Wharton to Mr.
Phelps.
Department
of State,
Washington, June 15,
1892.
No. 435.]
Sir: In connection with the Department’s recent
instructions concerning the nonpublication for the benefit of American
inventors in the Imperial Gazette as required by the German patent law of
October 1, 1891, I have now to inclose for your information a copy of a
letter from Messrs. Richards & Co., international patent solicitors,
dated New York, the 11th instant, in relation to the injustice experienced
by our citizens in consequence of the necessary publication not having been
made. They very justly observe:
This privilege of three months’ priority being offered to countries
granting a reciprocal privilege to Germans, and it being a fact that
the United States grants two years after the introduction of an
invention into the United States within which to apply for patent,
thus granting more than the Germans demand, there would appear to be
no good reason why the privileges granted by this law should not be
enjoyed by citizens of the United States.
If before the arrival of this instruction the required publication in order
to secure our citizens the advantages of this law has not been made, you
will take early opportunity to impress upon the German Government the
desirability of its immediately doing so.
I am, etc.,
William F. Wharton,
Acting Secretary.
[Inclosure in No. 435.]
Messrs. Richards &
Co. to Mr. Wharton.
New
York, June 11, 1892.
(Received June 13.)
Sir: We have the honor to bring to your notice
a matter of injustice suffered by American inventors applying for
patents in Germany. The facts are as follows:
On October 1, 1891, a new German patent law came into force, in which it
is provided (Art. i, sec. 2.):
“That an invention shall not be considered new if at the date of filing
the same has been described in public prints within the last century, *
* * The official foreign patent specifications are only considered equal
to public prints after the lapse of three months from the date of
publication, in so far as the patent is applied for by the foreign
patentee or his legal successor.
“This exception refers, however, only to the official publications of
those States in which, according to a publication of the Imperial
chancellor in the Imperial Gazette, reciprocity is guaranteed.”
From the above it will appear that the privilege of three months after
official publication here within which to file an application for German
patent will only be granted after an official publication in the German
Gazette of the names of the States to which this privilege is
accorded.
So far as we can learn there has as yet been no publication to secure to
citizens of the United States the advantages of this law, and we are
informed by an agent in Berlin that the Imperial German patent office
has recently declared that “United States citizens do not enjoy the
privilege offered by paragraph 2 of the new law.”
This privilege of three months’ priority being offered to countries
granting a reciprocal privilege to Germans, and it being a fact that the
United States grants two years after the introduction of an invention
into the United States within which to apply for patent, thus granting
more than the Germans demand, there would appear to be no good reason
why the privileges granted by this law should not be enjoyed by citizens
of the United States.
Respectfully,
Richards & Co.
