Show LETRIC PATENTS INVALID important decklyn by the court washington march 4 the cas of the bate company francis company apon which the question when american amt ants expire where foreign patents have been previously issued was decided ito day in an exhaustive opinion by justice II arian the court held that the anven tion for which bate received a patent was previously patented in a foreign country and the united states patent expired with foreign patents the caso involves the construction of section of the revised statutes which provides eliat every patent granted for an invention which iliae been previously patented in a foreign country shall bo limited as to expire at the time aa the foreign patent or if there ie more than one at the same time with the one having alie shortest in no case shall it bo in force more than seventeen years among the patents affected are tareo issued to the western union telegraph company on applications filed by thomas A edison as followay fol lowa L patent no application filed april 1877 nos and applications filed july 1877 on march ath 1693 patent was issued to the party on an application filed by the same party on september ath 1877 these inventions the property of the american bell telephone company by the telephone consolidation contract november ast 1st 1879 these edison patents are claimed ta bo fundamental and they with the berliner patent now in litigation and are made in the patent office from 1877 to november 1891 expire at the data of the expiration of alio foreign the inventions have been in use since 1878 the edison inventions were patented in england franco and canada in 1877 in belgium austria hungary italy germany and spain in 1878 and in prussia ia 1882 they are free in foreign countries and under the construction st now given of are mado tree in this country substantially the decision will affect arf the same way quadruples telegraph patents were applied tor in october and i sued december affected by tl e decision 4 the decision bays was alie bate invention abroad before it patented in this country it merican patent expired with anu lonian patent and thereby the Ainer can public become entitled to the so of the invention from the time the foreign bcd to anso it congress in enece by the existing laws to an inventor seeking to benj i elusive us in thie country of invention term prescribed by law if your invention lias not been introduced into public use in the united states for booro than two years you may on complying with the conditions prescribed american patent and you may it yon can obtain foreign patents but the american patent will granted on the condition that it you obtain the foreign patent first your invention shall be free to the american people reason of the expiration ot alie tr trian ign but in no case ahall the term of the american patent exceed seventeen the rule prescribed by the section of the act of 1870 having been reproduced in section of the revised statutes and the latter section never having been amended wo ought not after the lapse of nearly twenty five years from the passage of the act of 1870 place on the aoth section or on section of tho revised statutes which took its place any interpretation other than which tho ordinary natural meaning of their words import our answers therefore on the questions certified are that the invention for which united states patent to batea was issued was under stated previously patented in a within ano meaning ot those words in section ol 01 the revised statutes and that the united states patent to bim expired under the terms ot that section before the expiration of seventeen beare from its date let it bo so to alie circuit court of appealed ap peale AS SEES IT pittsburg march of alie effect of alio bate decision on the in of the electrical companies generally george westinghouse jr eaid today tho later patents relating to alternating current apparatus details and systems aro not affected by the bate decision and the westinghouse We electric company la in a position of great strength as compared with its competitors more especially with reference to the distribution of power by of alternative alter natine currents and or tela motors the general electric company which haa heretofore been the aggressor and plaintiff will now have to bend its energies in the direction of protecting alie penalty of ita own actual infringements |