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Show FOE PATENTS GO TO U. S. PLANTS 50,000 Not to Be Sold but Licensed to Aid United j Nations in War. I WASHINGTON. It was announced from the White House recently that patents seized from enemy nationals or taken over from nationals of enemy-occupied countries, will not be sold, but will be made available on license to any legitimate manufacturer manu-facturer by the office of the alien property custodian. More than 50,000 patents, aggregating aggre-gating hundreds of millions of dollars dol-lars in value, will be vested in his office by the end of the year, Leo T. Crowley, alien property custodian, reported in a letter to President Roosevelt, giving a comprehensive report on patent activities. The first consideration in making these patents available will be for war purposes of the United Nations, Mr. Crowley said, and the second for general use in the national interest. in-terest. To Be Listed at Once. The patents, he said, represent "some of the finest research achievements achieve-ments of modern science, particularly particular-ly in the production of dyestuffs, plastics, pharmaceuticals and electrical elec-trical goods. "We are publishing the patent applications ap-plications at once so that interested parties may apply for licenses under them," Mr. Crowley said. "Publication "Publica-tion of the knowledge contained in the applications will also assist and encourage research along similar lines in this country." i Mr. Crowley said that this was In line with the President's policy "to make these patents readily and freely free-ly available forever to American industry in-dustry and to encourage the research necessary to develop these patents." Licenses will be issued on application applica-tion "to any legitimate business concern con-cern on a royalty-free non-exclusive basis for the life of the patent," at a fee of $50 plus an additional $5 for each additional patent covered by the license. No exclusive licenses will be issued. I Existing American rights will be respected pending further investigation, investiga-tion, but the office reserves the right to issue additional licenses "if it appears ap-pears that a broader use of the invention in-vention is essential to the war effort." ef-fort." Plans Post-War Royalty. "We feel a great measure of responsibility re-sponsibility toward the nationals of enemy-occupied countries," Mr. Crowley said, stressing his conviction convic-tion that "our friends in the occupied occu-pied countries would have us turn their patent rights into an active weapon of warfare for the defeat of their oppressors." Hence royalty-free non-exclusive licenses will be granted under these patents for the duration and six I months, with a "reasonable royalty" to be charged "after the termination termina-tion of the war emergency." Existing royalty arrangements on such patents will be continued with the proceeds paid into the Custodian's Custo-dian's office, and American firms al-: al-: ready holding an exclusive royalty- paying license for an "occupied-country "occupied-country patent" will not be allowed ' to exchange it for a non-exclusive, 1 royalty-free license. i Mr. Crowley disclosed that his office of-fice had classified lists of enemy and' non-enemy patents in preparation and that every effort would be made-to made-to bring them to the attention of the : small business man. m |