18. AND whereas it is expedient that the Costs and Expenses of
obtaining Letters Patent for Inventions in England should be les-
sened; BE it Enacted, That the Fees payable at the Offices of the
Secretary of State, the Attorney-General, or Solicitor-General,
the Signet Office, the Privy Seal Office, and the Great Seal
Office. *[shall, and the same is hereby reduced to
of
the amount heretofore by custom paid when the Letters Patent are
granted for the term of Fourteen Years, and that the said Ex-
penses shall be reduced, and the same are hereby reduced to

of the amount heretofore by custom paid when the Letters Patent are granted for the term of Seven Years.]

Caveats, and no other legal objection exists, the Attorney-Gene-
ral or Solicitor-General shall then sign an approbatory Report to
his Majesty, recommending the grant of Letters Patent to the
Petitioner; the costs of every such hearing (not exceeding £5. 5s.)
to be paid by the opposing party.

XI. AND be it further Enacted, That if the Invention of the
on of the
Petitioner, and that claimed under an opposing Caveat, shall be
the same, or interfering with each other, in the opinion of the
Attorney-General or the Solicitor-General, and their Board of
Advisers, that then the Attorney-General or Solicitor-General
shall call further Evidence, in order to determine to which of the
Parties a priority of right shall be adjudged as to the whole or
to certain parts of the Invention; and he shall be empowered to
determine to whom the right of Letters Patent shall be granted
for any part or the whole of the said Invention; and the Attor-
ney or Solicitor-General shall order the costs of such hearing to
be paid by either or both parties, as he shall see fit.
XII.

*shall be and the same is hereby reduced to the sum of £.60 when the Letters Patent are granted for the term of Fourteen Years, and the sum of Thirty Pounds when the Letters Patent are granted for the term of Seven Years; and that all the Stamp Duties upon the same be included in those charges.

MR. GODSON'S BILL.

[248]

PROPOSED AMENDMENTS,

19. [And be it further Enacted, That the Fees payable at the
Offices of the Secretary of State, Signet, and Privy Seal, shall be
paid to some person authorised to receive the same at the Office
of the Secretary of State, at the time the Inventor leaves his
Petition there, and that the Fees payable at the Hanaper shall be
paid to a person authorised to receive the same at the Office of
the Great Seal.]

20. [AND whereas the Costs and Expenses of obtaining Letters
Patent are unnecessarily increased when taken out for Scotland
and Ireland by the Patentee of an Invention for England; BE it
further Enacted, That an Inventor who has obtained Letters Patent
for England may have Certificates of the grant of the same,
which shall be lodged with the Attorney-General or Solicitor-
General for Ireland, or the Lord Advocate for Scotland, [and be
advertised in the Edinburgh or Dublin Gazette;] and if no
Caveats are entered or opposition made, then the said Attorney-
General or Solicitor-General for Ireland, or the Lord Advocate
for Scotland, may at the end of Fifteen Days from the day of the*
[advertisement in the Gazette,] report the same, and make out
the Bill in the usual manner for the grant of Letters Patent in
Scotland or Ireland; but the Sign Manual of his Majesty is
hereby dispensed with as far as it has been required in the grant-
ing such Letters Patent for Scotland or Ireland.†

+And the Seal appointed by the Treaty of Union in Scotland, and the Great Seal of Ireland, shall be forthwith appended to the said Letters Patent, the whole charge of fees and stamps for the same in each country respectively not exceeding £20. And that the said grant be also extended to all our Islands, Colonies, and Plantations abroad, if so required by the Petitioner, at a charge of £10.

21. [AND whereas Persons living in Scotland or Ireland may be
desirous of obtaining Letters Patent for Scotland or Ireland,
without taking out Letters Patent for England, or at least before
they take out Letters Patent for England: BE it Enacted, That
the Sign Manual of his Majesty the King shall not be necessary
to warrant the proper Officer to fix the proper Seal to such
Letters Patent, but the same may be affixed upon the Report of
the Attorney or Solicitor-General for Ireland, or the Lord Advo-
cate for Scotland.]

22. [AND be it further Enacted, That when a Person in Ireland
has obtained Letters Patent in Ireland, or a Person in Scotland
has obtained Letters Patent in Scotland, he may obtain a Certi-
cate thereof.

23. And whereas the Property in Letters Patent is unnecessarily
abridged, without any corresponding advantage to the Public: BÉ
it Enacted, That the Person or Persons to whom Letters Patent
may have been granted, shall be at liberty to assign or transfer
his or their interest in Letters Patent, or grant Licences to make
or use the same, in any manner or to any number of persons he or
they may think best for his or their own advantage.

24. AND whereas it sometimes happens that Patentees do not
derive an adequate Profit from their Inventions during the Fourteen
Years for which the Letters Patent have been granted: AND
whereas there is no remedy but by an Act of Parliament, to
enlarge the Term for which they were granted: BE it Enacted,
That at any time* before that Term is expired, the Patentee, or
his Assigns, may obtain by Petition a Patent to extend the Term;
and His Majesty is hereby authorized and empowered to grant

XIX.

XX.

(See the concluding Clause.)

(See the concluding Clause.)

* not less than one year

† upon showing that he or they have not been enabled fully to carry the same Invention into effect, or to derive a reason able Profit from the same.

VOL. II.

2 K

MR. GODSON'S BILL.

[ 250 ]
Letters Patent of Extension, in the same manner as other Letters
Patent for Inventions are to be granted; but the Attorney-General
shall, with the assistance of the Examiners aforesaid, report upon
the fitness thereof, and the terms upon which they ought to be
granted, and all costs and expenses of making the necessary Report
shall be paid and discharged by the Persons obtaining the said
Letters Patent for an extension of the Term.

25. AND whereas great Delay, Inconvenience, and Expense,
have arisen in consequence of a Patentee being often obliged to sue
in a Court of Equity, whilst he has a Suit depending in a Court of
Common Law: BE it Enacted, That the Plaintiff to a Suit in a
Common Law Court may, by Motion in that Court, or from a
Judge thereof, obtain an Order to stay the Defendant from making
or using the Invention, unless an account be kept of the sale or
use thereof, and also may obtain an Order to inspect the thing sup-
posed to be a Piracy of the Invention.

26. And be it further Enacted, that the Defendant may plead
the General Issue, with which he is hereby bound to deliver a
Notice of all the Objections and defences upon which he intends
to rely at the trial of that Issue.

27. AND be it further Enacted, That the Venue in any Action
may be changed, on Motion to the Court, from the County of
Middlesex to the County in which the Witnesses reside.

28. AND be it further Enacted, That either Party may obtain an
Order of the Court, that the Sheriff do return, amongst the Spe-
cial Jurors to serve on the Trial, Twelve Men practically skilled
in the Arts and Sciences, and that each Party shall be at liberty

XXI.

XXII.

XXIII.

PROPOSED AMENDMENTS..

to challenge Six of them; and either Party may obtain an Order that the said Jurors may examine the Drawings and Models at least Two days before the day of Trial.

29. AND be it further Enacted, That every Defendant against
whom a Verdict shall pass for the Infringement of a Patent, shall
pay* Three times the amount of the Damages suffered by the Paten-
tee, as it may appear by the proofs of the Patentee, or by the Ac-
count rendered as aforesaid by the Infringer. †

30. [And be further Enacted, That Costs to be paid by either
Party to the other Party shall include the Costs of Scientific wit-
nesses, and also the Costs of making Experiments.]

31. AND whereas Actions at Law may be brought upon
Letters
Patent after the Patentee has been unsuccessful in one Action
and has had a Verdict recorded against him: AND whereas the
present mode of Cancelling Letters Patent for Inventions by Scire
Facias is dilatory and expensive; BE it Enacted, That if the
Defendant in an Action on Letters Patent obtain a Verdict, which
is not set aside by the Court in which the Action be depending,
then the Defendant shall be at liberty to apply to the said Court
for a Certificate, that the said Letters Patent ought to be cancelled;
and the said Court is hereby empowered, on Motion to them
made, if they think fit so to do, to grant a Certificate that the
same ought to be cancelled, and the said Defendant may take the
said Certificate to the Lord Chancellor, to whom it shall be a suffi-
cient authority that the said Letters Patent be by him cancelled.

32. [And be it further Enacted, That if the Patentee obtain a
a Verdict, the Court may in like manner, at its discretion, grant a
Certificate that the validity of the Letters Patent has been fully