ECONOMIC ASPECTS OF PATENTS AND THE AMERICAN

PATENT SYSTEM: A BIBLIOGRAPHY

INTRODUCTION

It is the intent of this bibliography to serve as a guide to the more significant literature on the various economic aspects of patents and the patent system of the United States. Emphasis has been put on the more basic works published in the 20th century, and on current items, particularly those of recent legislative interest. The following categories of materials have, for the most part, been omitted: Most law-journal articles dealing with legal or procedural aspects of patents; legal cases; guides to inventors and others on patent-application procedures and related patent problems; and the briefer, less substantial items in the daily and weekly press.

Items in the first group (I. General) include all those dealing significantly with two or more of the subsequent topics. A certain amount of overlapping of subjects is unavoidable. Every effort has been made to place each item into the subject category where its major emphasis lies. Cross-references are suggested at the beginning of several of the parts of the bibliography, indicating where further items on the subject of the part in question may be found. An author index follows the bibliography.

No new items issued after December 1957 have been included, except for certain studies prepared for this subcommittee.

The compiler gratefully acknowledges the assistance of Dr. S. Colum Gilfillan for suggesting numerous items included herein, and of Rollin Bell, Jr., Warren W. Scott, and John W. Walker, all of the Economics Division, Legislative Reference Service, Library of Congress, who ably assisted in the preparation of this bibliography.

A BIBLIOGRAPHY

I. GENERAL

1. ALLIS-CHALMERS ELECTRICAL REVIEW. PATENT BACKGROUND FOR ENGINEERS. Milwaukee, Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Co., 1951, 72 pages. A series of 19 articles, mostly by patent attorneys of the Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Co., originally published in the period 1936-50 in the Allis-Chalmers Electrical Review. Information on patent policies for the use of practicing engineers. 2. AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY. SYMPOSIUM ON AMERICAN PATENT PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE; presented before a joint meeting of the Divisions of Medicinal Chemistry, of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, and of Biological Chemistry at the 96th Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Milwaukee, September 5 to 9, 1936. Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, volume 30, December 1938, pages 1420-1432.

A symposium comprising the following three papers: Present American patent system, by Frank E. Barrows; Patent law and practice of foreign countries, food and drugs, by Thomas H. West; Needs of our patent system, by Delos G. Haynes. The last of these three papers is reprinted in the Journal of the Patent Office Society, volume 21, January 1939, pages 15-23.

3. AMERICAN PATENT LAW ASSOCIATION. BULLETIN. 1937

Currently published monthly. Includes digests of bills before Congress bearing on patents. Designed primarily for members of the association. 4. AMERICAN SCHOLAR FORUM-IS OUR PATENT SYSTEM OBSOLETE? YES, BY WALTON HAMILTON; No, BY CASPER W. OOMS. American Scholar, volume 17, Autumn 1948, pages 470-475.

A brief debate, based on a general view of the patent system in the American constitutional framework. Comment by 10 writers on the forum is contained in American Scholar, volume 18, Winter 1948-49, pages 106-112, 128.

5. BALLARD, WILLIAM R. PATENTS, PROGRESS, AND PROSPERITY. New York, National Association of Manufacturers, September 1953, 20 pages. (Economic series, No. 62.) Reprinted in the Journal of the Patent Office Society, volume 36, February 1954, pages 93-121.

A popularly written booklet on the United States patent system, how and why patents are granted, and the benefits of patents, written by the adviser to the NAM committee on patents.

6. BENNETT, WILLIAM B. THE AMERICAN PATENT SYSTEM, AN ECONOMIC INTERPRETATION. Baton Rouge, Louisiana State University Press, 1943, 259 pages.

An examination and reappraisal of the economics of the American patent system; a basic study attempting to interpret the effects of recent changes in the patent system. In general, defends the patent system. Contains a bibliography, including books, government publications, laws, judicial decisions, and periodicals.

7. BERLE, ALF K., and L. SPRAGUE DE CAMP. INVENTIONS AND THEIR MANAGEMENT. Third edition. Scranton, Pa., International Textbook Co., 1951, 742 pages.

A convenient handbook for inventors and laymen on inventions and the patent system. Includes a bibliography, arranged by subject, a glossary, a detailed index and a table of law cases cited.

8. BROWN, JO BAILY. THE SITUATION CONFRONTING OUR PATENT SYSTEM. Journal of the Patent Office Society, volume 21, March 1939, pages 159–194. A paper read January 12, 1939, before the Pittsburgh Patent Law Association with recommendations for changes in the patent law which could be made "without seriously lessening the value of the present patent system to inventors and those holding under them, but with increased regard for the interests of the general public."

9. BUSH, VANNEVAR. PROPOSALS FOR IMPROVING THE PATENT SYSTEM. Study No. 1 of the Subcommittee on Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Washington, U. S. Government Printing Office, 1957, 30 pages (85th Cong., 1st sess., S. Doc. No. 21). Reprinted in the Journal of the Patent Office Society, volume 39, January 1957, pages 11-61.

The author reviews current problems of the patent system and makes several recommendations including strengthening the presumptive validity of patents, assisting the courts in handling patent suits, obviating the possibility of suppression of inventions, and remedying misuses of patents which tend to perpetuate patent monopolies.

10. COLE, JOHN M. PATENT LAW TRENDS AND THEIR INFLUENCE ON THE FUTURE OF THE ENGINEER. Journal of the Patent Office Society, volume 26, April 1944, pages 233-274.

The author argues for a legislative definition of a patentable invention. Article includes a review of patent legislation and trends of patent litigation. 11. DIRLAM, JOEL B. THE PATENT SLUMP. Challenge, volume 4, AugustSeptember 1956, pages 58–62.

12.

Author concludes that "by and large, the judiciary and the antitrust division have in the past two decades managed so effectively to adjust the patent system to underlying economic realities that the process of invention has, if anything, been encouraged, and there appears to be no need for drastic revision of the laws."

PATENTS AND PROGRESS: IS OUR PATENT LAW OBSOLETE? Dun's Review and Modern Industry, volume 69, April 1957, pages 52-54, 90–92, 94-99. Author believes that patent law requires little revision now. He recommends that antitrust policy should not be changed, that delays in the Patent Office should be reduced, and that any reforms in the patent system should be geared to aiding the small business or individual inventor. 13. DREWS, GUSTAV. THE PATENT RIGHT IN THE NATIONAL ECONOMY OF THE UNITED STATES. New York, Central Book Co., 1952, 211 pages.

A well-documented study of the advantages and disadvantages of the patent right. Includes an eight-page bibliography of texts, cases, and other items. Reprinted in the Journal of the Patent Office Society, volume 33, March-November 1951, pages 207-234, 276-296, 356-381, 428-456, 510-530, 585-610, 655-663, 751-768, 800-818.

14. EDWARDS, CORWIN D. GOVERNMENTAL POLICY.

pages.

MAINTAINING COMPETITION; REQUISITES OF A
New York, McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1949, 373

Three sections deal directly with patent legislation: The patent laws: Nature of patent rights, pages 216-227; The patent laws: Methods of exploiting patents, pages 227-235; The patent laws: Remedies for abuses of the patent system, pages 236–248.

15. EVANS, EVAN A. SOME STRAY THOUGHTS OF A FEDERAL JUDge on Our PATENT SYSTEM AND ITS OPERATION. Journal of the Patent Office Society, volume 27, May 1945, pages 293-315; also in Wisconsin Law Review, volume 1945, July 1945, pages 477-498.

An address before the Pittsburgh Patent Law Association, December 13, 1944. A plea for a broader approach to the patent system by patent lawyers, with suggestions for improvements in patent law.

16. FEDERAL BAR ASSOCIATION OF NEW YORK, NEW JERSEY, AND CONNECTICUT. SYMPOSIUM ON PATENTS***, MAY 2 AND 3, 1939. New York, Appellate Law Printers, Inc., 121 pages.

Most of the first half of this symposium consists of an address, The American Patent System by Anthony William Deller; most of the remainder consists of addresses on the relationship of patents to metallurgy, industry, engineering, chemistry, and the inventor. Symposium was designed to demonstrate the merit of the American patent system.

17. FOLK, GEORGE E. PATENTS AND INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS; A SUMMARY, ANALYSIS, AND EVALUATION OF THE RECORD ON PATENTS OF THE TEMPORARY NATIONAL ECONOMIC COMMITTEE. New York, Harper & Bros., 1942, 393 pages.

A critical report of the TNEC hearings and reports by the special patent adviser to the National Association of Manufacturers. An appendix on Patents and the Antitrust Laws is printed on pages 357-387.

18.

A REVIEW OF PROPOSALS FOR REVISION OF THE UNITED STATES PATENT SYSTEM. New York, National Association of Manufacturers,

1946, 46 pages.

A review of recommendations made by the Science Advisory Board to the U. S. Department of Commerce in 1935, by the Temporary National Economic Committee in 1941, by the National Patent Planning Commission in 1943 and 1945, and by the National Association of Manufacturers in 1943. Proposals are classified as (1) advancing desirable legislation approved in principle by NAM, (2) having meritorious features but needing clarification and revision, and (3) being undesirable legislation.

19. FORKOSH, MORRIS D. ECONOMICS OF AMERICAN PATENT LAWS. New York University School of Law, 1940, 72 pages. (Contemporary law pamphlets, series 4, No. 2, Law and business series.)

A study by a member of the New York Bar, based largely on evidence presented before the Temporary National Economic Committee. Includes historical background and recommendations for improvement.

20. FREEMAN, J. WILLIAM. THE PATENT LAW AND THE AMERICAN SYSTEM OF REWARD. Ohio Bar, volume 25, July 7, 1952, pages 491–497.

An essay in support of the American patent system which points to a "danger signal" in "the recent trend of adverse decisions as to the validity of patents."

21. FROST, GEORGE E. The Patent SYSTEM AND THE MODERN ECONOMY. Study No. 2 of the Subcommittee on Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Washington, U. S. Government Printing Office, 1957, 77 pages (85th Cong., 1st sess., S. Doc. No. 22). A survey of the patent system, how it has operated as a stimulus to competitive research and development, and how its administration could be improved.

22. GALSTON, CLARENCE G. THE IMPERILED POSITION OF OUR PATENT SYSTEM. Journal of the Patent Office Society, volume 27, August 1945, pages 513-524.

A review of current patent legislation, its judicial interpretation, and the need for revision. An address delivered at the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, May 14, 1945. 23. GILFILLAN, S. COLUM. THE ROOT OF PATENTS, OR SQUARING PATENTS BY THEIR ROors. Journal of the Patent Office Society, volume 31, August 1949, pages 611-623.

24.

A brief critical essay on the American patent system and its rationale. THE SOCIOLOGY OF INVENTION. Chicago, Follett Publishing Co., 1935, 185 pages.

Patents are dealt with particularly in Chapter 6, The Decline of Patenting, and Recommendations, pages 109-130. The entire study was originally published under the title, "Social Principles of Invention" in the Journal of the Patent Office Society, volume 16, January, April, July, October, and November 1934, and volume 17, January and March 1935. 25. HAIGHT, GEORGE I. PATENTS AND THE GENERAL WELFARE. Vital Speeches of the Day, volume 11, March 1945, pages 317–320.

A speech, originally delivered before the National Association of Manufacturers, December 8, 1944, in defense of the patent system. 26. HAMILTON, WALTON H. PATENTS AND FREE ENTERPRISE.

(Tempo

rary National Economic Committee Monograph No. 31) Washington, U. S. Government Printing Office, 1941, 179 pages.

A well-known study on the relationship between patents and the concentration of economic power. Includes bibliographic footnotes and a

table of cases.

27. HOAR, ROGER S. PATENT TACTICS AND LAW. Third edition, New York, Ronald Press, 1950, 352 pages.

Basic analysis of the nature, acquisition, development, and protection of a patent, including a chapter on foreign patents.

28. HUDDLE, FRANK P. PATENT REFORM. Editorial Research Reports, volume 1, 1945, pages 383-400.

A brief survey of the patent system and industrial expansion, abuses under the American patent system, Supreme Court rulings on misuse of patents, and proposals for revision of the patent system.