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Show I Claims to Have Secured Control of Many Valuable Automobile Auto-mobile Patents. OUTPUT OP THE COMPANY SAID TO BE 20,000 CARS Sclden Patent Only Covers Part of Field, but Makes Itself It-self Felt. 71 is natural thuL so important :t trade development as T lie recently reported re-ported amalgamation of tlie MaxwelJ-j3risi'oo MaxwelJ-j3risi'oo Motor company with the Tinted .Stares Motor company should give rise to general inquiries into Ihe reasons leading to this union. Therefore, There-fore, and in order to answer numerous inquiries, I ha"c set forth in tho following fol-lowing a general statement of the considerations con-siderations which were tho most powerful pow-erful factors "m leading to tho association associa-tion of the interests and facilities of tho United States Motor eompnny and ihe Ma.vwell-Briscoe Motor company. The automobile, as it is used in this country today, has become so important import-ant an item in pjir , industrial develop-mnnf develop-mnnf ili!if: i'I dnsprvrm nn af.Le.ntinn I claimed hv few. other fields; in short it has bocomo a commodity the interest in-terest in which is not confined to a comparatively com-paratively small number of manufacturers manufac-turers and distributors, but is share! by prry one to whom timo is of value and who has occasion to need transportation. transpor-tation. Important Matter. To be"n with what I consider the most important-matter, T want to say that the circumstance, likely to produce pro-duce the most far-reaching consequences conse-quences is tho patent situation, which lias been a source of continuous' hazard to tho Maxwell-Briscoo Motor com-pnn com-pnn as well 'as to every 'other automobile automo-bile manufacturer. The Seldcn 'patent, bask- as it is, in reality covers -onlv part of the field and there cxisl, besides it a number of other paionrs protecting the various structural features of the niod.Mn motor mo-tor car, which, , Jjke the golden, patent will moko ' themselves felt in a very shori time,. As a matter of fact, tho patent situation sit-uation in the industry is a most important im-portant and interesting one to which but little attention has been given until un-til the recent decision of Judge I Tough clearly established the validity of the Relden patent. This decision opened the eyes of Ihe Maxwell-Briscoo Motor cfiupany, and CosL its treasury $150,000. which were spent in the protection of our dealers and their business. Yet even the payment of this sum did not altogether eliminnto future jeopardy of our interests. Attorneys Secure Facts. This iolt woke us. ?o to speak, immediately im-mediately tho best. pat.ent attorneys of the country were set to work nn a thorough investigation of all existing automobile patents and the result of their Kcarchos, J must confess, was somewhat of a surprise to us, for wo found that nearly, every important structural feature used in the present-day present-day automobile was covered by patents more or less fundamental, so that we as well as other makers were placed in a most hazardous position with regard to tho future. One of the results of our patent investigation in-vestigation was the realization of the fact that the Columbia Motor Car company com-pany of Hartford, Conn., had what might be termed a "corner"' on prac-f'opllv prac-f'opllv all good automobile patents. Wo considered theso patents such a jr-enace to Iho security of our business busi-ness that we immediately opened negotiations ne-gotiations witirthe owners of the. Co-lumVa Co-lumVa Motor Car company, who, wc discovered were very confident in tho strength of their position. Thoy had invested large sums of money in this lrnnch of their business and under ad- ice of good counsel had purposed to as6 theso patents as a controlling factor fac-tor in tho. automobile nidustry, having been awaiting the decision in the Sol-den Sol-den litigation. To us it seemed desirable for tho good of the Maxwell -Briscoe Motor company and tho industry as a whplo to have control of the patent situation obtained by a company that would havo enormous facilities for manufacture manufac-ture aud distribution, and I advised the Tinted. Slates Motor company to purchase pur-chase the Columbia Motor Car company. com-pany. Ideal. Product. There arc other Tcasons. As wc stated stat-ed in tho first notice given out in rcfer-enco rcfer-enco to the matter, tho main idea and governing motive in the, commercial sense, were that the United States Motor Mo-tor company, the Maxwoll-Briscoo Motor company and other constituent concerns would in tho concentration of effort find the certain means of bringing forth an ideal product, df conducting tho manufacturing man-ufacturing and marketing operations on broader and more scientific lines and of overcoming generally the ojbslaclcs which now inovitably present themselves them-selves to an automobile concern at the lime when it reaches a certain degree of magnitude. The Marwell-Briscoe Motor company lias reached a point where it produces 20,000 automobiles during a single year Yet it is true that in -producing this number of cars wo always have been and still are dependent upon other mau-ufaclurers-who either produce rough or finished parts or furnish the numerous extraneous components pf a complete motor car. It is plain thoreforo that whereas a small concern might find it compatible with considerations for its futuro welfare wel-fare to run tho risks incident to producing pro-ducing cars under such circumstances, the wider scope of our own "business makes such a course very undesirable not only for ourselves but: for our deal ers. Even if it should be feasible" to make contracts for raw materials and supplies ever so binding, it is practically impossiblo to have deliveries focus in a way not attended with' vexing and cx-pensive cx-pensive deluys. |
