GERMAN PATENTS

Greymouth Evening Star, 23 March 1945, Page 2

GERMAN PATENTS

DUPLICITY EXPOSED.

(Rec. 10.20 a.m.) , k LONDON, March 22. The Germans used a patent system as a means of preventing or discouraging manufacture research in _ the countries of her intended victims, thereby stepping up her own preparations for aggression, saidnord Vansittart in the Lords. Lord Vansittart, who was asked why enemy patents were not vested in the custodians of enemy property and how many enemy patents were still secret said the Germans described inventions for which they wanted patents so vaguely that they gave away nothing. When British inventors sought patents and described inventions the Germans blocked the applications by pretending that their own covered them. He had known of cases where it had taken British firms__lB months’ protracted litigation to esiaolish, against obstructive and treacherous opposition, claims for licences which ought never to have been doubted. He would deny a neutral the right to act as a receiver of stolen goods or to perpetuate a system which had contributed so much to two wars. No neutral country had a right to shelter German patents any more than it had a right to shelter German arms. Lord Vansittart recalled that the Swedish firm, Boforts, after the last war, took in Krupps. He hoped that Britain would not tolerate anything more of that kind. Lord Maugham suggested an inquiry to find out who were really the owners of patents which were sought here from abroad. Steps should be taken to checkmate the operations of future applications for patents and take property from its real German owners. The vagueness of the descriptions of many German inventions were fraudulent and there ought to be an invests gation to see whether some Germanheld patents were valid. Lord Simon in reply, said an inquiry was proceeding on some matters raised. A committee was considering what changes were desirable in patents law and Patents’ Office practice and also for the prevention of abuse of monopoly rights through patents law. The Controller' of Patents was authorised early in the war to grant licences for the use of enemy patents, designs and copyrights. There had been great use of these. Many enemy patents ceased to be patents because our enemies could : not pay renewal fees. The Government was not blind to the things Lord Vansittart had pointed out and Britain was unlikely to allow enemy patents to revert after the war to the defeated enemy. That industry was using enemy patents and Germany was unlikely to. get them back. : Our industrialists were using what was useful in some 400 enemy applications still with the Patent Office. The Patents Committee was to report on changes desirable in patent law by' the abuse of monopoly rights through patent law.