EDMUNDS ON PATENTS.*
Ix mere point of size, Mr. Lewis Edmunds's work on The Law and Practice of Letters Patent for Inventions fairly dwarfs everything of the kind that has appeared before. Indeed, it contains as much printed matter as any two or three of its predecessors together. But if it is the most bulky, it is also the most comprehensive treatise on the subject, every side of which is thoroughly gone into. The Patents Acts, 1885-88, have naturally brought forth a whole crop of treatises ; but the authors have contented themselves with editing the statutes, which deal mainly with procedure, and leave the substantive law almost entirely untouched. In fact, as Mr. Edmunds remarks, there has been no really exhaustive examination of the subject since Hindmarch published his excellent work in 1846, and in the meantime the law has been expanded and developed on all sides by judicial decision.
On the historical branch of his subject, which has con- siderable interest for lay as well as legal readers, Mr. Edmunds is commendably full. Few probably, besides lawyers, are aware that a modern patent still remains an exercise by the Crown of the right to grant monopolies which gave rise to such trouble in the reigns of Elizabeth and James. The statute of James which abolished monopolies as a whole, re- served to the Crown the right to grant them to inventors for the term of fourteen years or under. In spite of the reserva- tions, however, patents seem for a long time to have been looked on askance both by the Courts and the public, and it was not until the great industrial revival at the close of the last century that the patentee's right to be considered a public benefactor was fully allowed. The number of applications for patents has now risen to nearly twenty thousand annually, and the number actually granted to more than ten thousand, and though many of these, it is to be feared, are not much more practical than the first recorded in our books, which was granted by Edward III. to two friars and two aldermen for the manufacture of the philosopher's stone, it would be difficult to exaggerate their importance in our modern industrial life.
The immense increase in the number of patents granted is partly due to the increased facilities afforded by recent legisla- tion. But down to 1852, the old absurd method which provoked the satire of Dickens in his History of a Patent, was allowed to continue in full force. Mr. Edmunds describes how the application was handed in at the Home Office, and sent first to the Law Officers, then back to the Home Office, then on to the Patent Bill Office, then again to the Home Office, then successively to the Signet Office, the Privy Seal Office, the Patent Office, and the Lord Chancellor's Office, and
• The Law and Practice of Letters Patent for Inventions, with the Patent Acts and Butes Annotated, and the International Convention, a Pun Collection of Statutes, Forms, Precedents, Iv. By Lewis Edmunds D.Sc. (Loud.), F.0.5.„ IP.G.S" of the Inner Temple, Barrister-at-Law ; assisted by A. Wood Benton,
IL L
L., L.B., of Gray's Inn, Barrister-at-Law. London : Stevens and Son. 1890.
the necessary formalities were not even then complete. Coke justified this cumbersome procedure as designed by prudent antiquity to the end that nothing might pass' the Great Seal that was inconvenient or against the law ; but its chief recommendation was that it afforded a pretext for the exaction of a heavy fee at each of the above stages. Under this enlightened system, a patent for the United Kingdom cost some £500 in all. The fees were greatly reduced in 1852, and again in 1883. A patent for the full term of fourteen years may now be obtained at a cost of £154 in fees, and this is spread out over the whole term. The fee for taking out the patent is only £4, but a renewal fee of £50 is payable within four years, and a farther renewal fee of £100 within eight years, or these fees may be satisfied by a number of annual payments. The advantage of this system is that the initial cost is comparatively trifling, and that if the invention does not answer, the inventor can avoid further expense by simply letting his patent lapse.
Mr. Edmunds's book contains a collection of all the statutes, rules, and orders relating to the subject, which will be of great service to the practitioner. The Patent Rules of the present year, the Law Officers' Rules relating to appeals from the Comptroller, the Privy Council Rules as to the revocation and confirmation of patents, and the Register of Patent Agents Rules, are all set out in full, as well as all the statutes on the subject that have ever been in force. The Appendix of Forms is also very full in regard to application for patents and every manner of patent litigation ; but the precedents for the sale and mortgage of patent rights are rather meagre. The Inter- national Convention of 1883, and some account of Foreign and Colonial patent laws, are also included. This large amount of formal matter fills nearly half the book, and is chiefly responsible for its bulk. Mr. Edmunds's own work is seen chiefly in the chapters on the subject-matter of " Letters Patent," "Infringement," and "The Action of Infringement." So far as we have been able to examine it, it appears to be founded on a careful study of the authorities, and to be both clear and accurate. While correctly stating the effect of the different decisions, Mr. Edmunds has not always sufficiently weighed their authority. For instance, he accepts unquestioningly, as self-evident, the decision of Mr. Justice Kekewich that where an inventor has been com- pelled to reduce the price of his invention, in order not to be undersold by an infringer, he cannot recover the loss so sustained as part of the damages for infringement. The Court of Appeal have since taken a different view. It would, however, be too much to quarrel with Mr. Edmunds for not anticipating their decision. Actual use is, of course, the only really sufficient and conclusive test of a legal text-book ; but we think that Mr. Edmunds's work bids fair to be the most satisfactory, as it is the most comprehensive and painstaking, treatise on the subject. In writing it, the author has been assisted by Mr. A. Wood Renton, whose share in the work is suitably acknowledged by placing his name on the title-page.
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