Radio broadcast .. (1922-30)

Famous Radio Patents By CHARLES H. KESLER Member of Bar of District of Columbia, and of New York Patent Law Association From the very beginning of radio, patents have formed the legal battleground upon which many theories have been proved and disproved. Conflicts over patents have been the stepping stones or stumbling blocks in many radio careers. They are important to every radio investigator and should interest every radio enthusiast. Humor, pathos, jealousy, revenge, and the cold facts of science are found aplenty in these legal battles and it is but natural to assume that the story may best be told by a warrior who has tasted both defeat and victory. — THE EDITOR. R\DIO as we know it to-day is the result of the work of thousands of men, some of them scientists interested in knowledge as an end in itself; others practical inventors whose goal is a product that will sell. The inventions which have contributed to make modern radio possible are many; but we shall discuss merely the most important inventions which are covered by patents which the courts have decided are valid. The patent system of the United States is unique among the patent systems of various nations, and our industrial progress has been due in no small measure to it. The Constitution of the United States gives Congress power: "To promote the progress of science and useful arts by securing for limited time to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries." (Art. i, Sec. 8.) Such rights are granted by patents. A patent is a contract or agreement between the inventor and the United States in which the government agrees to give the inventor or patentee the exclusive right to make, use, and sell the invention for the term of seventeen years and the inventor agrees to make a full, clear, concise, and exact disclosure by description and drawing of the invention, such that after the expiration of the patent to which the description and drawing are attached, anyone of average skill in the art may be able to construct, make, or use it. The words, "exclusive right" means the right to exclude others from using the invention. The inventor has the right to use his invention himself, provided he does not infringe other patents. Patents are granted for apparatus for doing a thing, or for methods or processes for doing a thing. A principle of nature cannot be patented, as, for instance, the broad idea of using electromagnetic or radio waves for communication. Furthermore, the patent system is for the purpose of promoting "the progress of science and useful arts," granting the exclusive right to a patentee being merely a means to that end. A patent when granted is presumed to be valid unless found invalid by a Federal Court. In a patent suit, facts are mustered by both sides, for and against the patent. The defendant or alleged infringer attempts to show that he does not infringe or that the patent is invalid. From the contested facts the court decides what was granted by the patent and how far one can go without infringing it. In a well conducted patent suii\ earlier patents and publications showing similar constructions are reviewed, the question being: Has anything been contributed by the inventor, which promotes science and the useful arts, not covered by previous inventions? Technical experts testify and the counsel for each side argues the case. ADJUDICATED RADIO PATENTS THE patents which have so far stood the test of litigation and are now in force cover three phases of radio: the vacuum tube, beat reception, and the Armstrong regenerative or feedback circuit. Certain crystal detector patents, alleged to cover selective contact, a crystal embedded in a fusible metal, the "cat-whisker" and other features owned by the Wireless Specialty Apparatus Company have been recently before the court, the Wireless Specialty Company having brought suit against several companies for infringement. The patents covering the vacuum tube are by far the most important because in practical applications of beat reception and regeneration, tubes are used.