General Revision and Amendment of the Patent Law

[H. R. 11018, Seventy-second Congress, first session. Amending H. R. 10152] A BILL To empower assignee of inventor to file divisional, continuation, renewal, or reissue application

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 4895 of the Revised Statutes (U. S. C., title 35, sec. 44) be, and the same is hereby, amended to read as follows:

"Patents may be granted and issued or reissued to the assignee of the inventor or discoverer; but the assignment must first be entered of record in the Patent Office. And in all cases of an application by an assignee for the issue of a patent the application shall be made and sworn to by the inventor or discoverer unless the application is based entirely on matters disclosed as a part of the invention by a previously filed application made by the inventor, in which event the application may be made by the assignee of the entire interest, if any; and in all cases of an application for a reissue of any patent the application may be made and signed and sworn to by the inventor or discoverer; or such application may be signed and sworn to by the assignee of the entire interest, if any, provided the matter claimed in the reissue application has been disclosed in the application for the original patent as a part of the invention; and when the application is made by such assignee the statements required to be made in the application shall be so varied in form that it can be made by him."

[H. R. 10153, Seventy-second Congress, first session. Reintroduced after being amended as H. R. 11016]

A BILL To limit the life of a patent to a term commencing with the date of the application

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 4884 of the Revised Statutes (U. S. C., title 35, sec. 40) be, ad the same is hereby, amended to read as follows:

"Every patent shall contain a short title or description of the invention or discovery correctly indicating its nature and design, and a grant to the patentee, his heirs or assigns, of the exclusive right to make, use, and vend the invention or discovery (including in the case of a plant patent the exclusive right to asexually reproduce the plant) throughout the United States and the Territories thereof, referring to the specification for the particulars thereof. The term of such patent shall begin with the issuance thereof and shall terminate at a date not more than twenty years from the date of filing by the applicant in the United States Patent Office of his earliest application disclosing the invention covered by any of the claims of said patent: Provided, That for cause shown in the case of applications which have been involved in interferences or in which appeals have been taken, the Commissioner of Patents, or any court which may have had jurisdiction of the application, may, in passing on the case before the patent issues, extend such period by adding time not to exceed two years to compensate for delays during pendency of the application not caused by applicant; but in no case shall such term be more than seventeen years. A copy of the specification and drawings shall be annexed to the patent and be a part thereof."

[H. R. 11016, Seventy-second Congress, first session.

Amending H. R. 10153]

A BILL To limit the life of a patent to a term commencing with the date of the application

"Every patent shall contain a short title or description of the invention or discovery, correctly indicating its nature and design, and a grant to the patentee, his heirs or assigns, of the exclusive right to make, use, and vend the invention or discovery (including in the case of a plant patent the exclusive

right to asexually reproduce the plant) throughout the United States and the Territories thereof, referring to the specification for the particulars thereof. The term of such patent shall begin with the issuance thereof and shall terminate at a date not more than twenty years from the date of filing by the applicant in the United States Patent Office of his earliest application disclosing the invention covered by any of the claims of said patent: Provided, That for cause shown the Commissioner of Patents, or any court which may have had jurisdiction of the application, may, in passing on the case before the patent issues, extend such period by adding time not to exceed two years to compensate for delays during pendency of the application not caused by applicant, but in no case shall the term of any patent be more than seventeen years. A copy of the specification and drawings shall be annexed to the patent and be a part thereof."

[H. R. 10154, Seventy-second Congress, first session. Reintroduced after being amended as H. R. 11017]

A BILL Permitting single signature in patent applications and validating joint patent for sole invention

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 4888 of the Revised Statutes (U. S. C., title 35, sec. 33) be, and the same is hereby, amended to read as follows:

"Before any inventor or discoverer shall receive a patent for his invention or discovery he shall file application therefor in the Patent Office, which application shall give the name, citizenship, residence, and address of the inventor and shall include a written description of the invention or discovery, and of the manner and process of making, constructing, compounding, and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art or science to which it appertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make, construct, compound, and use the same; and in case of a machine he shall explain the principle thereof, and the best mode in which he has contemplated applying that principle, so as to distinguish it from other inventions; and he shall particularly point out and distinctly claim the part, improvement, or combination which he claims as his invention or discovery; and said application shall conclude with a statement that the applicant does verily believe himself to be the original and first inventor or discoverer of the invention for which he solicits a patent; that he does not know and does not believe that the same was ever known or used before his invention or discovery thereof, and that to the best of his knowledge and belief the invention has not been in public use or on sale in the United States for more than two years prior to his application, or patented or described in any printed publication in any country before his invention or more than two years prior to his application or patented in any foreign country on an application filed by him or his legal representatives or assigns more than twelve months prior to his application in the United States. The application shall be signed at the end thereof by the inventor and sworn to by him. No plant patent shall be declared invalid on the ground of insufficient description if the description is made as complete as is reasonably possible. If the application includes an oath and specification separately signed it shall be a compliance with this statute.

"Whenever without any fraudulent or deceptive intention two or more persons have heretofore made or hereafter make application for letters patent as joint inventors, when the subject matter defined by the claims of the patent in whole or in part is the invention of a lesser number of said parties applicant, any patent heretofore or hereafter granted on such an application shall not be invalid because of such misjoinder of parties applicant and shall have the same force and effect as if the patent had been granted to the grantee or grantees on an application or applications executed by the true inventor or inventors of the subject matter defined by the claims thereof."

SEC. 2. That section 4892 of the Revised Statutes (U. S. C., title 35, sec. 35) be, and the same is hereby, amended to read as follows:

The application may be sworn to before any person within the United States authorized by law to administer oaths, or, when the applicant resides in a foreign country, before any minister, chargé d'affaires, consul, or commercial agent holding commission under the Government of the United States, or before any notary public, judge, or magistrate having an official seal and authorized to administer oaths in the foreign country in which the applicant may be, whose

authority shall be proved by certificate of a diplomatic or consular officer of the United States."

SEC. 3. That section 4896 of the Revised Statutes (U. S. C., title 35, sec. 46) be, and the same is hereby, amended to read as follows:

"When any person having made any new invention or discovery for which a patent might have been granted, dies before a patent is granted, the right of applying for and obtaining the patent shall devolve on his executor or administrator, in trust for the heirs at law of the deceased in case he shall have died intestate; or if he shall have left a will disposing of the same, then in trust for his devisees, in as full manner and on the same terms and conditions as the same might have been claimed or enjoyed by him in his lifetime; and when any person having made any new invention or discovery for which a patent might have been granted becomes insane before a patent is granted the right of applying for and obtaining the patent shall devolve on his legally appointed guardian, conservator, or representative in trust for his estate in as full manner and on the same terms and conditions as the same might have been claimed or enjoyed by him while sane; and when the application is made by such legal representatives the statements required to be made in the application shall be so varied in form that it can be made by them. The executor or administrator duly authorized under the law of any foreign country to administer upon the estate of the deceased inventor shall, in case the said inventor was not domiciled in the United States at the time of his death, have the right to apply for and obtain the patent. The authority of such foreign executor or administrator shall be proved by certificate of a diplomatic or consular officer of the United States."

[H. R. 11017, Seventy-second Congress, first session. Amending H. R. 10154]

A BILL Permitting single signature in patent applications and validating joint patent for sole invention

"Before any inventor or discoverer shall receive a patent for his invention or discovery he shall file application therefor in the Patent Office, which application shall give the name of the inventor and shall include a written description of the invention or discovery, and of the manner and process of making, constructing, compounding, and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art or science to which it appertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make, construct, compound, and use the same; and in case of a machine he shall explain the principle thereof, and the best mode in which he has contemplated applying that principle, so as to distinguish it from other inventions; and he shall particularly point out and distinctly claim the part, improvement, or combination which he claims as his invention or discovery; and said application shall conclude with a statement that the applicant does verily believe himself to be the original and first inventor or discoverer of the invention for which he solicits a patent; that he does not know and does not believe that the same was ever known or used before his invention or discovery thereof, and that to the best of his knowledge and belief the invention has not been in public use or on sale in the United States for more than two years prior to his application, or patented or described in any printed publication in any country before his invention or more than two years prior to his application, or patented in any foreign country on an application filed by him or his legal representatives or assigns more than twelve months prior to his application in the United States. The application shall be signed at the end thereof by the inventor and sworn to by him. No plant patent shall be declared invalid on the ground of insufficient description if the description is made as complete as is reasonably possible. If the application includes an oath and specification separately signed it shall be a compliance with this statute.

force and effect as if the patent had been granted to the grantee or grantees on an application or applications executed by the true inventor or inventors of the subject matter defined by the claims thereof."

SEC. 2. That section 4892 of the Revised Statutes (U. S. C., title 35, sec. 35) be, and the same is hereby, amended to read as follows:

"The application may be sworn to before any person within the United States authorized by law to administer oaths, or, when the applicant resides in a foreign country, before any minister, chargé d'affaires, consul, or commercial agent holding commission under the Government of the United States, or before any notary public, judge, or magistrate having an official seal and authorized to administer oaths in the foreign country in which the applicant may be, whose authority shall be proved by certificate of a diplomatic or consular officer of the United States."

SEC. 3. That section 4896 of the Revised Statutes (U. S. C., title 35, sec. 46) be, and the same is hereby, amended to read as follows:

When any person, having made any new invention or discovery for which a patent might have been granted, dies before a patent is granted, the right of applying for and obtaining the patent shall devolve on his executor or administrator, in trust for the heirs at law of the deceased in case he shall have died intestate; or if he shall have left a will disposing of the same, then in trust for his devisees, in as full manner and on the same terms and conditions as the same might have been claimed or enjoyed by him in his lifetime; and when any person having made any new invention or discovery for which a patent might have been granted becomes insane before a patent is granted, the right of applying for and obtaining the patent shall devolve on his legally appointed guardian, conservator, or representative in trust for his estate in as full manner and on the same terms and conditions as the same might have been claimed or enjoyed by him while sane; and when the application is made by such legal representatives the statements required to be made in the application shall be so varied in form that it can be made by them. The executor or administrator duly authorized under the law of any foreign country to administer upon the estate of the deceased inventor shall, in case the said inventor was not domiciled in the United States at the time of his death, have the right to apply for and obtain the patent. The authority of such foreign executor or administrator shall be proved by certificate of a diplomatic or consular officer of the United States."

SEC. 4. Nothing in this act shall validate any patent held invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction prior to the passage of this act.

A BILL To abolish the statute permitting renewal of patent applications Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 4885 of the Revised Statutes (U. S. C., title 35, sec. 38) be amended by adding the following: Provided, That during the said period of six months from the notice of allowance other claims may be presented by applicant upon the payment of a fee of $25 for the first claim and $5 for each additional claim, and the claims shall be given immediate consideration and action by the examiner as provided by section 4903 of the Revised Statutes, but no claim so presented shall be included in the patent granted on such application unless such claim shall have been duly allowed by the examiner before two months after payment of the final fee, and no examination or reexamination may be had after two months after payment of the final fee."

SEC. 2. That section 4897 of the Revised Statutes (U. S. C., title 35, sec. 38) be, and the same is hereby, repealed: Provided, That this shall not prohibit the renewal of patent applications allowed prior to the passage of this act.

[H. R. 11087, Seventy-second Congress, first session. Amending H. R. 10155]

"but the fee may be accepted within twelve months from the notice of allowance and the patent issued upon the filing of a petition, accompanied by a fee of $10, showing to the satisfaction of the Commissioner of Patents that such delay beyond the said six-months period was unavoidable: Provided, That during the said period of six months from the notice of allowance other claims may be presented by applicant upon the payment of a fee of $25 for the first claim and $5 for each additional claim, and the claims shall be given immediate consideration and action by the examiner as provided by section 4903 of the Revised Statutes, but no claim so presented shall be included in the patent granted on such application unless such claim shall have been duly allowed by the examiner before two months after payment of the final fee, and no examination or reexamination may be had after two months after payment of the final fee."

SEO. 2. That section 4897 of the Revised Statutes (U. S. C., title 35, sec. 38) be, and the same is hereby, repealed: Provided, That this shall not prohibit the renewal of patent applications allowed prior to the passage of this act.

[H. R. 10156, Seventy-second Congress, first session.

as H. R. 11019]

Reintroduced after being amended

A BILL To limit inventors to priority of two years before filing applications for patent

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 4886 of the Revised Statutes (U. S. C., title 35, sec. 31) be, and the same is hereby, amended to read as follows:

"Any person who has invented or discovered any new and useful art, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvements thereof, or who has invented or discovered and asexually reproduced any distinct and new variety of plant, other than a tuber-propagated plant, not known or used by others in this country before his invention or discovery thereof, and not patented or described in any printed publication in this or any foreign country before his invention or discovery thereof or more than two years prior to his application, and not in public use or on sale in this country for more than two years prior to his application, unless the same is proved to have been abandoned, may, upon payment of the fees required by law and other due proceeding had, obtain a patent therefor.

"If in any proceeding involving an application for patent, or in any suit in law or in equity involving an application for patent or a right arising out of the grant of a patent thereon, there shall be submitted satisfactory proof of invention or discovery of the subject matter patented or sought to be patented by such applicant or patentee at a date more than two years before the filing of the earliest application for patent upon which such applicant or patentee may rely for constructive reduction to practice of the invention, such proof shall be held to establish invention or discovery no more than two years prior to the filing of such earliest application: Provided, however, That there shall be excepted from the operation of the foregoing provisions all patents heretofore granted, all applications heretofore filed, all applications filed after the passage of this act wherein the applicant is entitled to rely for constructive reduction to practice upon an application heretofore filed, as well as patents granted on any such applications."

[H. R. 11019, Seventy-second Congress, first session. Amending H. R. 10156]

A BILL To limit inventors to priority of two years before filing applications for patent

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