PATENT LAWS OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND
PATENT LAWS OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. The patent laws of Great Britain and Ireland will be briefly considered by taking a view of the persons to whom patents will be granted; the different kinds of patents; the time for which they are granted; and the expenses attending them.
2. - §1. To whom patents are granted. Both foreigners and subjects may obtain letters-patent; but inasmuch as the applicant must accompany his petition by a declaration made before a master in chancery, or a master extraordinary in chancery, that he has made such an invention; that he is the true and first inventor thereof; or that it is new in the kingdom, according to the special circumstances of the case, the applicant must be present in Great Britain.
3. - §2 The different kinds of patents. This will be considered by taking a view, first, of the object of a patent, and secondly, the territory over which a patent extends.
4. - 1. The thing patented must be, 1. A discovery or invention made by the applicant himself, in the United Kingdom. 2. The introduction or importation of an invention known abroad, and in this case, the introducer is the true and first inventor, within the realm. 3. Though not absolutely the true and first inventor, by reason of some one else having made the same invention and kept it secret, yet the invention must have been made public by the applicant, and as the first publisher, the applicant will be entitled to letters-patent. Novelty and utility are essential conditions of the grant, but it is of no consequence whether the discovery was known or not, in a country foreign to the United Kingdom. Webst. on Pat. 11 and 70, note w. A recent act of parliament, passed July 1, 1852, (15 & 16 Viet. cap. 83,) amended the English patent' system in several important particulars. The cardinal features of the new system are: 1, protection from the day of the application 2, one patent for the United Kingdom; 3, moderate cost and periodical paywent; 4, printing and publishing of specifications; 5, one office of patents and specifications. Webster's New Patent Law, p. 41. By the 18th sec. of said act, letters patent are sealed with the great seal of the United Kingdom, and extend to the whole of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of man; also, to the colonies or plantations, or such of them as the applicant may designate in his petition for the letters patent and the law officer of the crown shall insert, in his warrant for the seal ing of the patent. The patent may bear date as of the, day of the application, or of the sealing, or of any intermediate day. The patent is granted for fourteen years, subject however to the condition that it shall be void at the expiration of three years and of seven years respectively from the date thereof, unless before the expiration of the said three years and seven years, stamps of the value of X50 and X100 respectively, be affixed to the letters patent. The cost of obtaining letters patent is, in the first instance, X20 if the patent is unopposed; if opposed, there are additional fees amounting to nearly X5. By sec. 26, letters patent obtained in the United Kingdom for patented foreign inventions are not to continue in force after the expiration of the foreign patent.