Moving Picture News (Jan-Jun 1913)

20 THE MOVING PICTURE NEWS MI ATT-P ATENTS DEPAR T M E N T Recent Inventions, Letters Patent, Trade-Marks, Designs, Copyrights, Etc., Relating to the Art, Digested and Reported Exclusively for the Moving Picture News by Geo. Wm. Miatt, Patent Lawyer and Expert, Temple Court, cor. of Nassau and Beekman Streets, New York City An interesting and important decision has been rendered by Judge Ray, of the United States District Court, Southern District of New York, in the case of the Waltham Watch Company vs. Keene, in which the watch company alleged infringement of certain Letters Patent owned by it by reason of the violation of a certain so-called license agreement or restriction as to the resale of watch movements and which sought to fix the price at which such movements should be sold by dealers. Referring to the fact that the patent law gives a patentee the sole and exclusive right to vend the article covered by the patent, the learned judge remarks: "It does not seem to me that the patent statutes goes beyond this, as to vending, and confers on the patentee, when he exercises the right to vend and does vend, that is, sell, the right to attach to the article in the hands of subsequent purchasers a limitation that it must be sold for a price fixed by the patentee or his assignee. "I am unable to draw any distinction between the extent of the rights which the copyright law gives to the owner of a copyright and the extent of the rights which the patent law gives to the owner of a patent so far as sales are concerned. Each is given the sole and exclusive right to vend." Thus following the trend of recent decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States, that where a patented article is sold and the patentee by such sale receives his full consideration or compensation or tribute for his invention, it was held in the present case that a subsequent sale at a price less than that fixed by the ''contract of sale" accompanying the article is not an infringement of the Letters Patent thereon. The development of the art of color photography has been long and tedious, although especially fascinating, and every contribution thereto is of interest. Hence we note the issue of Letters Patent No. 1,051,591 to William C. Huebner, of Buffalo, N. Y , for a camera for photographing colors directly from the object by one or several exposures for each color, either upon different portions of the same negative or upon separate negatives. The illustration represents a front elevation of the camera which, in its most complete form, comprises the following mechanisms: Shutters having an actuating mechanism which can be adjusted to regulate the duration of each exposure. An iris diaphragm having a controlling mechanism which can be adjusted to regulate the opening of the diaphragm for each exposure. A multi-color filter comprising a suitable number of individual color filters, usually three, mounted in such manner that by a rotary adjustment of the filter frame the individual color filters are brought in line with the optical axis and are held in that position during the exposure. A fractional screen having its area composed of minute transparent and opaque units, arranged in groups or sets corresponding as to the number of units with the number of colors and distributed around a common center in such a manner that by a rotary adjustment the screen can be turned from one position corresponding with the position of one group or set of units to another position corresponding with the position of another set of units, thus exposing in each position of the screen only those portions of the sensitized surface which lie opposite transparent units and protecting the remaining portions of the sensitized surface which are covered by opaque screen units. A holder for the sensitized plate or surface which may be movable toward and from the screen in order to prevent the sensitized surface from being scratched or marred by the rotation of the screen. Automatic mechanism for moving the different movable parts of the camera to the position for exposure in the proper order or sequence and holding them in the adjusted position during the exposure The patent is assigned to the Huebner-Bleistein Patents Company, of Buffalo, N. Y. In spite of the amount of "wind'' contributed by inventors and their attorneys, the entire t Patent Office force of 939 persons, collectively and individually, constantly clamor for more air and breathing space, but apparently without avail insofar as airigate Congress is concerned. The available space in the present antiquated quarters is totally inadequate — "quarters" in fact being an appropriate designation in that the area is only about one-fourth of that requisite for the proper transaction of business — the examining corps particularly being "quartered" like herrings in sardine boxes. Ralph E. Rorabeck, of Lavina, Montana, is the recipient of Patent No. 1 051.518, which relates to Film-Drying Racks, and the object thereof is the provision of a rack in which a plurality of films of different sizes may be supported at the same time. The device consists of a frame comprising a lower bar, an upper bar, and end bars, spaced parallel bars mounted in said frame between the said end bars, clamping means secured on the said lower bars between said parallel bars, the said parallel bars being formed with longitudinal grooves therein, clamping members slidably mounted in said grooves, said clamping members comprising two sections hingedly connected together, means for securing one end of the film between said sections, and means for holding said clamps in adjusted position. Supreme Court of the United States has recently decided that the common law copyright of the owner of an unprinted and unpublished play is not lost by performing it publicly on the stage and that even the public performance in England of an unprinted and unpublished play by English actors will not deprive the owners of their common law right in the United States to protection against the unauthorized performance of a copyrighted adaptation substantially identical with the original play, although in England, by statute, the first public performance of a