subject-matter for Patent in the United States, although United States. a similar provision to that made in our recent Act exists with reference to the duration of the Patent where the subject-matter is patented in foreign states. Patents, in point of fact, are constantly granted for inventions in use elsewhere, and also for such as have during a considerable period been sold by the inventor previous to his application."

Patents are granted to citizens of the United States, Patentee. to aliens who have resided one year next preceding and who shall have made oath of their intention of becoming citizens, and also to foreigners who are the inventors or discoverers of the subject-matter. The distinction hitherto made to the prejudice of British subjects will, we may hope, now that the assigned cause has been removed, soon cease to be observed. The Patentee must be the meritorious inventor or his assignee. He is required to make an affidavit that he believes himself to be the inventor. Corporations may become Patentees. In the case of the death of the inventor his personal representatives may take out a Patent.

Although, as in other states, the Specification of a Specification. Patentee is required to contain a full description of the invention and the means employed by the inventor, yet

y By the Act of Congress of March 3 (1839), chap. 263, s. 3, it is enacted, that no person shall be debarred from receiving a Patent by reason of the invention having been patented in a foreign country more than six months prior to the application.

See, as to previous user in the United States by the Patentee, Evans v. Weiss, 3 Evans, Law J. 180, per Washington, J..

a The fee for citizens or inchoate citizens is

for British subjects.

for any other foreigner

30 dollars.

500 39
300

The reason assigned for this exception was the high cost of British Patents. (1851) Evid. 642. In the event of the Patent being declared invalid, if the Patentee be a foreigner, two-thirds of the money paid is returned. Godson, 277.

b Act of March 3 (1839), chap. 88, s. 7.

Act of August 29 (1842), chap. 263, s. 3.

A A

United States. in the absence of an intention to deceive, a defective Specification will not avoid a Patent. Explanatory models and drawings must, where necessary, be added to the Specification.

Duration of the grant.

Legislation.

Property.

f

The term of the Patent is for fourteen years, renewable for five or six years upon evidence adduced that the inventor has not benefited sufficiently by the use of his invention. If the Patent be for subject-matter previously patented abroad, the American Patent expires with the foreign Patent.s

AUSTRIA.

The Laws of Austria with respect to Patents are,—an Ordinance of December 8th, 1820; the Supreme Decree of July 16th, 1829, published together with the Decree of the Upper Chamber of July 24th of the same year (No. 32661-1327); the Supreme Patent of March 31st, 1832, Sections 70 (No. 1) and 206 of the Stamp and Tax Law of January 27th, 1840; the Decree of the Upper Chamber, March 30th, 1840 (No. 13084); the Decree of the Justiciary Court of May, 1840 (No. 2273); and the Law of August 15th, 1852. The last, although intituled an Amendment of the Law of 1832, has in reality repealed or re-enacted almost every provision of preceding

enactments.

The Patent extends over the whole empire.h The right is assignable by deed or will. The deed of assign- . d See Whittemore v. Cutter (1813), 1 Gallison, 429, per Story, J.; Phillipps, 60.

e The following rule with respect to models was issued in 1852 from the American Patent Office:-"The model must be of durable materials and firmly constructed, so as to bear the frequent handling to which it is necessarily exposed. If of any soft wood, it should be painted, stained or varnished. It is not to exceed, if practicable, one cubic foot. The name of the inventor or of the assignee, if the Patent issue to him, should be permanently affixed to it, either by engraving or otherwise."

ment, properly certified, is required on each assignment Austria.
to be forwarded with the Patent to the Office of the
Minister of Commerce. The assignment is recorded in
the register, and a notice of it indorsed on the Patent.
A special certificate is issued on the assignment of a
partial interest under the Patent.' All registered assign-
ments are published without delay." It also confers the
power of licensing others to use the invention." The
Patent must be worked within a year, and must not
during the term be suspended for two whole years.

Grants and prolongations of Patents are officially published by the President of the Board of Trade. A monthly report of new Patents, prolongations, &c., is made to the minister, who communicates it to the provincial governments and chambers of commerce throughout the empire. An annual report on the same subject is published. Descriptions of inventions or discoveries which are no longer patented, affecting important or useful manufactures, are published annually."

A register of Patents, open to public inspection, is Register. kept at the Board of Trade. Copies of the Specifica

t

tions of expired Patents, or those which are not decreed

to be kept secret, may be taken."

X

The application (which must be addressed to the re- Obtaining the spective provincial governments, or to the prefectures, grant. &c.) is by petition, stating, (1) the description of the petitioner or his representative in Austria, and the house of business in which the manufacture is to be carried on; (2) the title of the invention; (3) the period for which the Patent is desired; and (4) whether or not the

Austria.

Specification is desired to be kept secret. The petition must be accompanied by (1) a receipt for the duty payable for the term demanded; (2) a legal authorization where the application is through an agent; (3) the foreign Patent, or an authenticated copy, in the case of an imported invention; (4) the Specification under seal, having inscribed the title of the invention and the residence of the petitioner or his agents, together with the drawings, models, &c., if necessary, to render the description intelligible.

The date, day and hour of the presentation of the petition, &c., is endorsed, by the authority applied to, on the Specification, and signed by the petitioner or agent. A certificate (the date of which is decisive on the question of priority) is also issued to him, containing the name and residence of the petitioner, the day and hour of the presentation of the petition, &c., the payment of the dues and the title of the invention.a

Where the application is not directly to the government authorities, it must be notified within three days at the latest to the provincial governments.b

The government examination is conducted with reference to two considerations only,-first, whether the article is capable of being patented; second, whether the accompaniments of the petition are conformable to the conditions prescribed. If the subject-matter be found not patentable, notice is given to the petitioner that the description under seal and the dues already paid by him will be restored to him on application, or that he must address himself to the Minister of Commerce within the time prescribed by the Law.

The Minister of Commerce, to whom the entire articles deposited are forwarded, is the only person authorized to open the sealed description and decide whether all the

formalities and conditions of the Law have been faith- Austria.
fully complied with. The grant is without the guarantee
of the government either as to novelty or utility. The
Patent is issued and signed by the Minister of Com-
merce. If refused, the grounds of its refusal are com-
municated to the petitioner, and the amount of the dues
paid returned.f

The Minister of Commerce is the sole judge of the nullity of a Patent, both with respect to the novelty of the invention or the identity or similarity of two Patents.

Infringement consists in imitation or manufacture of Infringement. the article patented, as described in the Specification (even by the grantee of a subsequent Patent for the article), in the importation of counterfeits for the purpose of sale, and in undertaking to sell such articles or expose them for sale. If the Specification be not kept secret, the penalty for the first infringement, in addition to the confiscation of counterfeits, is a fine of from 25 to 1,000 florins, or, in default of payment, imprisonment at the rate of five florins per day on the fine pronounced. The fine is paid to the Poor-box of the parish where the infringement is committed. The apparatus used by the infringer is displaced or destroyed, unless an arrangement be otherwise made with the Patentee. Abuse of confidence by the infringer is considered a circumstance of aggravation. If the Specification be kept secret, the Patentee is entitled to an injunction to restrain the manufacture and sale, and to an undertaking that the counterfeits shall not be sold or employed in Austria during the Patent, and that those imported shall be re-exported.* Proceedings are taken in the Courts of First Instance. An appeal from their decision lies within a fortnight to the Provincial Government-a final appeal to the Mi