Radio Broadcast (May 1929-Apr 1930)

How the Industry Benefits by Their Work WHAT THE LICENSING GROUPS OFFER W. A. MacDonald, chief engineer, Hazeltine Laboratory. HAZELTINE'S POSITION IN FIELD The hazeltine corporation was organized in February, 1924, for the purpose of licensing radio and other manufacturers primarily under the patents of L. A. Hazeltine. Previous to the formal organization of the Corporation, licenses under the Hazeltine patents were granted. Receiver manufacturers have been licensed since March, 1923. Now eighteen radio manufacturers in the United States are licensed. In addition, the American Telephone & Telegraph Company and the Western Electric Company each have acquired rights under this patent structure. Hazeltine patents are used by foreign manufacturers as well. In England, Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Company, Ltd., holds a license for the British Isles and possessions; in Australia, Neutrodyne, Pty. has been organized and has seven Australian manufacturing licensees. In Canada, DeForest-Crosley is the only manufacturer so licensed but many United States manufacturers who hold rights to these patents make sets in their Canadian branches. The Hazeltine Corporation has licensed set makers under certain LaTour patents and has also licensed other manufacturers, not in the radio field, under certain other LaTour patents, notable among these are some X-ray manufacturers. The Hazeltine Laboratory has been serving the licensees of the Corporation ever since the inception of the parent organization. This laboratory, headed by W. A. MacDonald as chief engineer, is constantly engaged in studies with the purpose of developing new circuits and methods of value to the licensed manufacturing companies. The research division of the laboratories is separate in purpose but is directly concerned with the problems incident to receiver design and production. This division is an extremely important part of the laboratory and, in the solution of the many problems of this practical nature which continually arise in manufacturing plants, does much to simplify and improve production processes. The purpose of the Corporation and the value which the licensee companies are expected to receive from their royalty payments is not merely to give passive permission to make radio sets using certain patented circuits, but to give a continual technical service; and advice. The licensees are always free to consult with the Hazeltine engineers. The degree of use which any licensee company makes of the Hazeltine technical service, of course, varies wit h the company. In some instances, the laboratory lias completely engineered and designed a receiver for a licensee company and in many others, they have been called in consultation by the engineers of the company. In this way, many important radio manufacturers have found the more or less detached and disinterested technical service of this Corporation of distinct value to them. And this aid has been reflected in the ultimate manufactured product which reaches the customer's home as a set made under Hazeltine patents: in better performance through engineering consultation, in greater value for less money through improvements and economies of manufacture. — Edgar Rickard, President. THE R.C.A. LICENSE POLICY When the Radio Corporation was formed in 1919, it acquired through various cross-license agreements from the General Electric Company, Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company, United Fruit Co., and American Telephone and Telegraph Company a very substantial patent situation with regard to the manufacture of broadcast receivers for use in the home. The Radio Corporation decided, in 1927, to extend licenses to a good many radio manufacturers rather than adopt the policy of extensive patent litigation for enforcement of its patent rights. One of the most important things that radio manufacturers as a whole have been seeking during the past few years is prestige. A large portion of their effort in advertising, sales promotion, and direct sales has been devoted to impressing trade channels and the ultimate consumer that they were building on a solid foundation and were in business to stay. The taking of a license from the Radio Corporation was, in the opinion of many, the biggest thing a manufacturer could do to impress the people concerned that they were building for the future of the industry. A radio manufacturer to-day practically has to guarantee immunity to his trade from patent difficulties. There are two methods open to him — taking a license for his product, or demonstrating to the trade that he will bear the expense of such suits as may be filed against him or his trade channels. The R.C.A. license policy has almost completely settled this situation for most jobbers and dealers. The Radio Corporation has made available the services of its engineering staff through its Technical and Test Department, to all of its licensees. This service is merely an advisory one but is much appreciated by the licensees. Licensees have expressed themselves as being considerably helped in their planning and development work by A. F. VanDyck, manager, Technical and Test Department, R. C. A. JUNE -1929 V