The maximum duration of the patent was lO years. On application
a fee of $5 was payable, the commissioner of patents received $20
for his examination, and a fee of $5 was payable when the patent was
issued. No further payments. Now the United States law applies.
Honduras.—No. 177 of March 10, 1898. Term not to exceed 20 years. Annual tax 5 to 10 silver pesos; in the case of foreigners 10 to 50 gold pesos.
Hungary.—The law in force is that of July 7, 1895. The duration of the patent is 15 years. The period for compulsory working is ordinarily 3 years. The annual taxes range from 40 kroner for the 1st year to 500 for the 15th.
Italy.—The law is still governed by that of January 31, 1864, extending the Sardinian law of October 30, 1859 to the whole kingdom. There is no preliminary examination into novelty, and there is no provision prohibiting the importation of patented articles. Patents are subject (i.) to a proportional tax of as many times 10 lire as the years for which the patent is applied for, and (ii.) to an annual tax of 40 lire for the first 3 years; 65 lire for the following 3; 90 lire for the 7th, 8th and 9th; 115 lire for the 10th and 11th; and 140 lire for the remaining 3 years.
Japan.—Patents are issued under an act which came into operation on July 16, 1899. The law as to subject matter resembles that of England and the United States. The term of a patent is 15 years from the date of registration. The patent may be annulled if the patentee has not worked his invention within 3 years from the date of the certificate of grant, or if, having discontinued such use for 3 years, he has refused a reasonable request by a third party for an assignment or a licence. An applicant not domiciled in the empire must appoint within 6 months a duly qualified agent by power of attorney. There is apparently a preliminary examination into novelty. The patent owner must affix his mark to the patent. The fees are calculated on a gradually ascending scale.
Liberia.—Patents are issued under a law of December 23, 1864. The maximum term is 20 years. There is a preliminary examination as to novelty. A sum of $25 or $50 is payable on application, according as the applicant is a citizen or an alien. An invention patented by an alien must be put in practical operation within 3 years. There is no prohibition of the importation of patented articles.
Luxemburg (law of June 30, 1880).—The term of the patent is 15 years. There is no preliminary examination as to novelty, and the importation of patented articles is not prohibited. An annual and progressive tax, commencing at 10 francs and increasing by 10 francs annually, is payable in advance. The period for compulsory working is 3 years, and after the expiration of that period compulsory licences may be ordered.
Mexico (law of Oct. 1, 1903).—The duration of a patent is 20 years, with possible extension for another 5 years. The act defines what is patentable and what is not patentable. There is on request of the interested party, an examination without guarantee as to novelty. There are no provisions as to compulsory working (but compulsory licences may be ordered) or prohibiting the importation of patented articles. The ta.x ranges from $50 to $150. The patentee must also at the end of each 5 years of the grant, in order to keep the patent in force for another 5 years, pay 50 pesos at the end of the first 5 years, 75 pesos at the end of 10 years, and at the end of 15 years, 100 pesos. The Patent Office publishes a special gazette—La Gaceta Oficial de Patentes y Marcas.
Nicaragua.—Patents were, as a general rule, until 1899, granted only by special Act of Congress. But see now supplement 720, No. 15, Patent Laws of the World.
Norway (law of June 10, 1885).—The term of the patent is 15 years. There is a preliminary examination into novelty. The invention must be worked within 3 years, and the working must not be discontinued for a year on pain of forfeiture. For each patent an annual tax is payable amounting to 10 crowns for the 2nd year and increasing by 5 crowns each year.
Panama.—Law 88 of 1904 adopts the rules prescribed by the laws of Colombia. The fee is an annual one of $20.
Peru (law of Jan. 28, 1869 and law of Jan. 3, 1896).— The maximum term of the patent is 10 years, and the tax is an annual sum of 100 dollars. There is no preliminary examination into novelty. The period for compulsory working is 2 years, and the importation of patented articles from abroad (except models of machinery whose introduction is authorized by the government) is prohibited.
Portugal (law of Dec. 15, 1894).—The maximum term is 15 years. The patent tax is 3000 reis, payable in advance, for each year of the term for which the privilege is granted or renewed. There is no preliminary examination into novelty. The period for compulsory working is 2 years, and discontinuance of working for any 2 years at a stretch forfeits the patent unless the inaction can be justified. The importation of patented articles from abroad is not prohibited.
Russia (law of May 20, 1896).—The maximum term is 15 years; the tax ranges from 15 roubles for the first year to 400 roubles for the fifteenth. There is apparently (see Arts. 3 and 13) a preliminary examination into novelty, but none into utility. The period for compulsory working is 5 years. There is no prohibition of importation of patented articles.
Spain.—Patents are issued under the law of June 7, 1902. There is no preliminary examination as to novelty, and the importation of patented articles is not prohibited. The duration of a patent is 20 years, and it is subject to an annual and progressive tax, as follows: 10 pesetas for the 1st year, 20 for the 2nd, 30 for the 3rd, and so on successively to the 5th or 20th year, for which the tax is respectively 50 and 200 pesetas.
Sweden (law of May 16, 1884).—The term is 15 years. The annual tax is 25 crowns for the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th years; 50 crowns for each of the following 5 years; and 75 crowns for each of the remaining 5 years. There is a preliminary examination as to novelty, the period for compulsory working is 3 years, and discontinuance during any entire year entails forfeiture. There is no prohibition of the importation of patented articles.
Switzerland.—Federal law of June 21, 1907. The term of the patent is 15 years. There is an annual and progressive tax, rising from 20 francs for the 1st year by an annual increase of 10 francs up to 160 francs for the 15th. There is no preliminary examination as to novelty. The patent is forfeited if the invention has not been carried into practice by the end of the 3rd year, or if patented articles are imported from abroad, while at the same time the proprietor has refused applications on equitable terms for Swiss licences.
Tunis (law of 22nd Rabia-et-Tani, 1306; Dec. 26, 1888). — The term is either 5 years (fee 500 piastres) or 10 years (fee 1000 piastres) or 15 years (fee 1500 piastres). There is no preliminary examination as to novelty. The period for compulsory working is 2 years, and two consecutive years' discontinuance of such working, unless justified, forfeits the patent. So also does the importation of patented articles, but the introduction may be authorized (i.) of models of machines, and (ii.) of articles, made abroad, intended for public e.exhibitions or for trials.
Turkey.—Patents are still granted under the law of the 2nd of March 1880. There is no preliminary examination as to novelty, and a patentee who mentions his title as such without adding the words " without guarantee of government, " is liable to a maximum penalty of 45 Turkish pounds.
United States.—The American law may be considered at greater length. The Federal Constitution empowered Congress " to promote the progress of science and useful arts by securing for limited times to . . . inventors the exclusive right to their . . . discoveries." The existing American patent law is based on a series of Acts of Congress passed in virtue of this provision in the constitution, and on the judicial interpretation of these statutes. Between American and English patent law there is, as will appear in the course of this sketch, a considerable degree of similarity. The fact is not surprising when it is remembered that the Statute of Monopolies (21 Jac. I. c. 3) was, except in limiting the maximum duration of letters patent for inventions at fourteen years, only declaratory of the common law, and therefore formed part of the original common law of America. The English and American patent systems further agree in this, that they contain no provision as to compulsory working, and no prohibition of the importation of patented articles. But there are important differences between the two systems, not merely in points of detail, but in matters affecting the theory and practical working of the law. In England the consideration for the grant of a patent has all along been mainly the benefit which the public derives from the introduction of a new manufacture. In America greater emphasis is placed on the right of an inventor to have his merits rewarded. Again, under the Statute of Monopolies an inventor's exclusive privilege arises only in regard to inventions not known or used at the date of the grant, although it should be observed that under the modern Patents Acts the date of a patent, once granted, relates back to the date of the application. In the United States, on the other hand, the right is conferred on inventors to an exclusive privilege in such inventions as were not known or used before their discovery by the patentees. The practical bearing of this difference is explained in an admirable note on “The Statute of Monopolies” in Ruling Cases, sub tit. “Patent” (xx. 5): “It shifts the point of view in the important question of novelty. Many good American inventions have been given away in England by the premature publication in America of the inventor's proceedings. He is interviewed, and an article in the New York Sun, or some other paper, in due time finds its way to England. This does no harm in America; on the contrary, it is good evidence of the date of the actual invention. But it is fatal to a subsequent application in England.”
The definition of patent ability in American law is contained in sect. 4886 of the Revised Statutes of the United States as amended by an act of the 3rd of March 1897. In the following passage the amendments are indicated by italics:—
“Any person who has invented or discovered any new and useful art, machine, manufacture or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, 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
