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Show SIXTY MILLION IS SOWED FOR BIG CONCERNS ARE NAMED IN A COMPLAINT ON TRADE RESTRAINT COMBINE Inventor of Many Electrical Appliances Applian-ces Demands Redress in Court and Asserts Market For Output Out-put Is Hampered Boston. Eight corporations, all prominent in the field of radio, were made defendants in a suit for $60,000,-000 $60,000,-000 which was filed in United States district court on behalf of Professor Reginald A. Fessenden of Newton, scientist and inventor. Professor Fessenden Fes-senden charges that an unlawful combination com-bination on the part of the corporations corpora-tions in restrain of trade has lessened lessen-ed the value of his devices and inventions inven-tions so that he is forced to seek redress re-dress in the courts. The corporations named are the Radio Ra-dio Corporation of America, the General Gen-eral Electric company, the " Westing-house Westing-house Electric and Manufacturing company, the American Telephone and Telegraph company, the United Fruit company, the Wireless Speciality Special-ity Apparatus company and the International In-ternational Radio Telegraph company. It is alleged by Professor Fessenden Fessen-den that the companies named have combined to refrain from competing in purchasing patents and applications applica-tions for patents, inventions, devices, apparatus and rights. He further charges that by mutual agreement in combination and for the purpose of obtaining these at much less than their fair value, they at' times, have refused to negotiate for the purchase of such patents and devices and at other times have offered, and now offer, much less than their fair value-Professor value-Professor Fessenden also holds that aparatus and' devices have been manufactured man-ufactured and put on the market at unprofitable prices. Competition, he asserted, has been substantially lessened less-ened in interstate commerce by the defendant companies, and a monopoly, monop-oly, in part, or in whole has been established. es-tablished. Professor Fessenden is best known is Boston as the inventor who developed devel-oped the submarine signal. He is 59 years old- He was employed with Edison for a time as an inspecting engineer in the machine works and later as head chemist in the Edison laboratories. In May, 1912, Fessenden won damages dam-ages of $406,175 in federal court here against the National Electric Signalling Signall-ing company. |