Classic Mode

Music Trade Review

Issue: 1912 Vol. 55 N. 7

Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE:
TO REORGANIZE PATENT OFFICE.
House of Representatives Passes Bill Introduced
by Representative Bulkley and Directing
That an Investigation Be Made Into the Ef-
ficiency of the Patent Office and Various De-
sirable Reforms Introduced—Some Condi-
tions That Might Be Improved.
(Special to The Review.)
Washington, D. C, Aug. 13, 1912.
The House has passed a bill directing an in-
vestigation to be made into the efficiency of the
Patent Office and a reorganization upon sound busi-
ness methods. The investigation is to be made by
the Cleveland Efficiency Commission, for which
work $10,000 was appropriated. Representative
Bulkley, explaining the bill, said:
"A complaint often made against the Patent
Office is that patents are frequently issued on ap-
plications that do not state real inventions. Is-
suance of patents of doubtful validity and occa-
sionally of no validity cast a bad effect on the in-
dustrial development of the country in two ways.
On the one hand, the owner of a questionable
patent has a color of right to prevent others from
using some machine device, combination or proc-
ess which may, in fact, have been more or less
widely known before the patent was ever applied
for; and this may result in the manufacturer,
through fear of infringement, abandoning the use
of an idea which, in justice, he should have had
the right to use.
"It may result in his paying a royalty which he
ought not to have been obliged to pay, and it may
result in his being subjected to the expense of de-
fending an infringement suit based upon a patent
which never should have been issued.
"On the other hand, the issuance of a large num-
ber of patents of questionable validity creates in
the public mind such a distrust of patents that the
real inventor finds his patent to some extent dis-
credited in public opinion and finds in the courts
no such presumption of validity as to allow him an
injunction for infringement until after the merits
of his patent have been fully passed upon by the
.court.
"Our patent system can far better serve its pur-
pose of stimulating invention and industry if the
examinations in the Patent Office can be made so
rigid as practically to prevent the issuance of
patents except for real inventions.
"It is the purpose of this investigation to ascer-
tain to what extent this can be done by improve-
ment of the administration of the Patent Office.
"The Patent Office for some years has been a
self-sustaining institution; that is to say, the fees
collected have been more than sufficient to pay
every expense of the bureau. Inasmuch as the
office now receives only $15 for the preliminary fee
on an application for a patent and $20 for^final fee
on the issuance of a patent, it is confidently be-
lieved that every expense necessary to bring the
office to the highest efficiency, even including the
cost of erecting a new building, should that prove
desirable, can be met by a comparatively slight in-
crease in Patent Office fees.
"This would not be in any sense a burden on the
inventor, since he would be fully compensated by
the better quality of patents which could be issued
after more rigid examination. The resolution
directs the attention of the investigating body to
this phase of the problem and calls for recom-
mendations to meet all proposed expense out of
increase of fees, so that the improvement can
be made without any expense whatever to the
Treasury."
If you are a salesman, tuner or traveler, and
desire a position, forward your wants in an ad-
vertisement to The Review in space not to ex-
ceed four lines and it will be inserted free of
charge and replies sent to you.
A Polisher that cleans: a cleaner
that polishes. Saves time, effort
and money. An article of con-
venience and profit for the deal-
er; a gold-mine side line for the
tuner. Will outsell "liquid" ten
to one. Don't oil pianos, polish
them. Price 50 cents. Big prop-
osition for the trade.
Perfection Polishing Pad Co.
Toledo, Ohio
MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
DEALER AND MANAGER "SNAPPED."
BRIGHTENING SKIES.
Frank B. Long, of Los Angeles, and F. G. A Glance Around the Business Horizon at
Chicago—General Activity in Industrial
Smith, III, Caught by the Camera's Eye in
Circles Means a Greater Buying Capacity.
Brooklyn — F. G. Smith Business Good.
Frank B. Long, the well-known piano dealer from
Los Angeles, was recently a visitor at^the factory
of F. G. Smith, maker of the Bradbury pianos and
player-pianos in Brooklyn. Just as The Review
man arrived at the plant one day last week Mr.
Long and F. G. Smith III, son of F. G. Smith,
head of the house and manager of the retail de-
partment of the firm, emerged from the door-
way of the wareroom at 774 Fulton street. As
will be seen they were snapped in a happy frame
Frank B. Long, of Los Angeles Cal., and F. G.
Smith III, "Snapped" in Brooklyn.
of mind, even though they hadn't had their
lunch.
As was stated in The Review last week the
retail business of the F. G. Smith interests has
been exceedingly good this summer and is con-
tinuing to be so. Mr. Smith III has been con-
tinually on the job and has ^booked a large vol-
ume of business himself, which has greatly
swelled the summer statement of business.
BUSY TIMES WITH VOSE.
Ambassador Harlow Tells a Story of Increasing
Appreciation of Vose Values Wherever He
Visited—Preparing for Active Fall.
Fred. C. Harlow, traveling representative of Vose
& Sons Piano Co., Boston, Mass., was in New
York this week, calling on George W. Morgan,
manager of the piano department of Gimbel
Brothers. Mr. Harlow expressed himself as being
pleased with the outlook for the succeeding fall
months, and he also said something that proves
the widespread reputation of the Vose, and that is,
the factory is behind its shipping schedule and
has been for several weeks. "The Vose factory
shut down a week in July to make repairs as is
customary," commented Mr. Harlow, "and the
factory has not yet caught up with shipping, which
is a remarkable achievement for a factory in the
'dull' summer months." It is hardly necessary to
comment upon Vose popularity.
Mr. Harlow is making a short trip through this
Eastern territory and will return to shape matters
for a fall trip in the near future.
TO MOVE TO LARGER QUARTERS.
(Special to The Review.)
Uniontown, Pa., August 12, 1912.
The business of the W. F. Frederick Piano Co.,
which was established in this city in 1861 and since
that time has moved several times to keep up with
the growth of the business, will move again in a
few days to a large store in the Thompson Ruby
Building, at the corner of Main and Morgantown
streets. The new quarters have been elaborately
decorated for the use of the piano company.
NEW KANSAS CITY CONCERN.
The New England Piano Co., Kansas City, Mo.,
has been incorporated with capital stock of $10,000.
by A. T. Kirk, R. E. Rice and H. F. Hurxthall.
(Special to The Review.)
Chicago, 111., Aug. 14, 1912.
That there is expansion in business interests
all over the country is unmistakable. The im-
proved demand for money and advance in inter-
est rates, as well as the enlarged bank clearings,
as compared with last year, and with earlier months
this year, show it for one thing. Mills are busy,
and the steel interests are so well sold ahead that
they are able to decline good-sized orders unless
they suit their ideas of prices and time of de-
livery, and a majority are sold up to the first of
the year, with indications that they will be able to
run at full capacity for another six months, and
possibly for a longer period. Labor is well em-
ployed, and there is general complaint about the
difficulty in securing help for the commonest kind
of work, even at higher wages than have been
paid in former years.
Railroad construction and betterments are de-
layed by the scarcity of help, and the same com-
plaint is made regarding all industries. Car shops
are all busy and will be for months to come in
repairing old and building new cars. The loco-
motive factories are full of orders, and will be for
months to come. Automobile factories have had
the best season in their history, and the people
have gone auto crazy, regardless of expense, and
more cars are being bought than ever, and bene-
ficial results as a time-saver in traveling as well
as in regular business are being secured.
Big crops mean lower prices than last year,
liberal purchasing power on the part of the agri-
cultural classes, and more employment for all.
They also mean large transportation business for
the railroads, and it is the belief of best-informed
people in the West that there will be enough busi-
ness in grains and merchandise to keep the rail-
roads busy handling it throughout the next twelve
months. A car shortage is expected by the middle
of autumn, which is likely to last all winter.
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE
8
MU31C TRADE
REVIEW
OLDFIELD REPORTS PATENT REFORM BILL.
Places Revised Measure Before House—Bill Reduced in Scope but Makes Important Changes—
Summary of New Points—Enumeration of Illegal Acts—Change in Applioation of the Sher-
man Law—Rights and Protection Granted Patentees Defined.
(Special to The Review.)
Washington, D. C, Aug. 10, 1912.
Representative Oldfield, chairman of the House
Committee on Patents, has reported the revised
patent reform bill on which he and his committee
have been working for some time past. The Old-
field bill in its new form, as already referred to in
an extended analysis which appeared in The Re-
view, recently, while not nearly as inclusive as the
former measure which is now discarded, would
make some extensive changes in the patent law of
the United States. There is no chance of its be-
coming laws at this session of Congress and very
little of its passing even a single house.
The chief provisions of the bill are as follows:
1. I t places restrictions imposed by patentees selling their
rights upon the footing of common law contracts, their
validity to be tested on the same principles as other trade
contracts.
2. It provides that a patent shall not be used to restrain
trade and prohibits the use of a patent as a part of a com-
bination.
3. I t enumerates the acts in connection with business in
patented articles which are ordinarily harmless, but which
experience has shown to be dangerous when used to re-
strain trade.
• 4. I t provides for the temporary protection of those who
have become dependent upon illegal trusts for their bttsi-
. jipss existence.
- } 5. It seeks to accord redress in cases where violations of
the Sherman law have been judicially established.
The most elaborate work in the bill is devoted to the
enumeration of unlawful acts as above referred to. This
is found in Section 5, which may be summarized as follows:
'•••'. Clause (a) is designed to prevent any vendor engaged in
a combination in restraint of trade from pursuing the prac-
tise of fixing prices at which patented articles shall be sold.
Clause (b) is designed to prevent any vendor of a patented
article who is engaged in a combination in restraint of
trade from using his patent as the means of suppressing
competition in some other article to which his patent does
not "apply. I n other words, a patent is. so dangerous an
'instrument that its mere, use in such a combination should
be held conclusive evidence of the unreasonableness of the
restraint exercised. Clause (b) undertakes further to make
clear in the tight of our experiences certain specific ways by
which such a perverted use of the patent should not be
made, namely, the owner of a patent shall not make any
express agreement against a customer purchasing any article
from some other person; he shall not make his sale of the
patented article condtional upon the customer purchasing
other articles from him; he shall not prohibit the articles
sold from being used in connection with articles purchased
from some other person; he shall not indirectly accomplish
these restrictions upon the purchase of, other articles by any
discount or discrimination in price based upon whether or
not the customer purchases other articles from others.
Clause (c) undertakes specificially to prevent those com-
bining in restraint of trade from acquiring any other patent
with a view to preventing competition in the patented arti-
cle. This provision is designed to prevent the acquisition of
patents not for use, but for the purpose of "shelving" the
same, and thereby preventing competition.
Clause (d). Trusts owning an article necessary for the
trade of a dealer have frequently endeavored to compel its
exclusive use by ascertaining the probable amount of the
article which could possibly be used by the merchant and
by making the use of that amount a condition of receiving
the usual discount. This provision does not, of course, pre-
vent the fixing of lower rates for sales by wholesale. I t is
operative only when the fixing of a requisite quantity or
aggregate price to secure a discount is made for the pur-
pose of preventing competition a a d , by those engaged in
restraining trade.
Clause (e). This clause is designed to prevent .those com-
bining to restrain trade from suppressing competition by
discriminative use of their power enjoyed under the patent.
For instance, where a member of a combination in restraint
of trade controlling a patented article necessary in the pro-
duction of another article either refuses altogether to sup-
ply it to the competitor or consents to supply it only if
the competitor joins in a combination or pool..
Clause (f) deals with the converse case to that referred
to in (e), namely, discrimination in .favor of a particular
individual in order to suppress competition of others.
Clause (g) seeks to prohibit still another form of dis-
crimination against individuals or districts with a view to
restraining competition. It, of course, has no application
unless that be its purpose.
Clause (h) seeks to prevent that specific means of un-
fair competition so effectively practised by the Standard Oil
and Tobacco trusts of doing business through a concern
which purports to be independent of the trust—the so-called
fake independent.
Clause (i) is directed against the practise of temporary
cut-throat competition so persistently pursued by the Stand-
ard Oil and Tobacco trusts.
Clause (j.)This clause is designed to prevent the illegal
and immoral methods so frequently pursued by the Standard
Oil and Tobacco trusts of illegally securing secret infor-
mation as an instrument for preventing competition.
Clause (k). This is more specific, but designed to meet
cases of a character similiar to those referred to in the
discussion of clause (e).
Clause (1). Any combination to restrain trade pursued by
a vender of a patented article should be illegal if the com-
bination uses any unfair or oppressive method of com-
petition. •
Section 7 provides in substance that whenever in any
suit instituted by the Government final decree is rendered
to the effect that the defendant has entered into a combina-
tion in unreasonable restraint of trade, that finding shall be
conclusive as against the defendant in any proceeding
brought against him by any person or corporation. A person
injured by an illegal combination who brought such suit for
damages would under this section be relieved from the
necessity of proving the illegality of the defendant's acts.
In order to recover he should be obliged to prove merely
the amount of the loss which he had suffered by reason of
the defendant's acts—a comparatively simple matter.
Section 8 seeks to further facilitate the remedy to the
injured party by enabling them to establish their claim for
damages and secure other appropriate relief in the same
proceeding in which the Government files its final decree.
It is a less expensive course than to institute an indepen-
dent suit, and it may result in much swifter remedy by
reason of the fact that the petition would come before the
court which had already familiarized itself with the com-
plicated facts involved in the litigation.
Section 8 also removes the danger to the injured party
of losing his right to compensation through the lapse of
time; for it provides that the cause of action shall not be
barred if begun within three years after the final judgment
declaring the law to have been violated. In other words,
unless at the time of the passage of the proposed bill the
claim is already barred by the statute of limitations the
injured person may without the danger of losing his right,
await the action of the Government. He is, of course, ob
liged to exercise diligence after the Government has con-
cluded its contest.
Section 9 is designed to make the provisions of the Sher-
man law when applied to cases involving patents effective
so far as concerns the future; that is, to give the court
power (if it does not already possess it) to do those things
necessary effectively to restore competitive conditions.
N. L. McBrayer has opened a new piano store in
Oklahoma City, Okla.
The Vough with the changeable pitch is differ-
ent from any other piano on the market.
u
It is different because by a slight
pressure of the finger the instrument
may be changed from concert to in-
ternational pitch, thus making it
invaluable in theatres, concert halls,
public institutions where pianos are
essential, choirs, rehearsal halls, in
the home—in fact wherever a first
class piano is desired.
This patented changeable pitch
device of the Vough makes it inval-
uable to singers and professional
people generally. It is not an ex-
periment, but has been in use for
many long years, and to-day is used
in over three hundred theatres and
opera houses as well as hundreds of
other public places.
The Vough piano, apart from its
changeable pitch feature, is an in-
strument of the highest standing.
It is carefully built, contains a scale
that has won the highest encomiums
for its evenness and tone quality, is
an instrument that throughout is
regulated with artistic skill and the
casings are always attractive. In
brief, the Vough is "different" from
the usual run of pianos and if you
have the agency for this instrument
you have m&ny points decidedly in
your favor.
The VOUGH PIANO CO., Waterloo, N. Y.

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