The President: Yes, sir. William A. Ketcham : Then, sir, on behalf of the Auditing Committee, I beg to report that we have examined the books of account and vouchers of the Treasurer of the Association and find that the same are correct, and that the sum reported by the Treasurer to be on hand is on hand. We, therefore, recommend the approval of the Treasurer's report. The President: Gentlemen, you have heard the report of the Auditing Committee. What is your pleasure in respect to it? Allen Hughes, of Arkansas: I move that it be received and the committee discharged, and that the Treasurer's report be approved in accordance with the committee's recommendation. Leonard A. Jones, of Massachusetts: I second the motion. The motion was adopted. Amasa M. Eaton, of Rhode Island: On behalf of the Committee on Uniform State Laws, I beg leave to submit a brief report, and, as it has not been printed, with the permission of the Chair I will read it and move that it be received and placed on file and its recommendations adopted. (See the Report in the Appendix.) The President: Is there any objection to the report taking the course suggested? There being no objection, it will be so ordered. The report is received and the recommendations adopted. Robert S. Taylor, of Indiana: I wish to present at this time a report from the Committee on Patent, Trade-mark and Copyright Law, if it is in order. The President: The gentleman may present the report. Robert S. Taylor: The committee, at the meeting of the Association held at Hot Springs, Virginia, two years ago, presented a report embodying a bill for the creation of a United States Court of Patent Appeals. That report was approved, and the draft of a proposed bill which accompanied it was also approved. The committee then proceeded to lay that bill before the Congress of the United States; it was introduced in both branches of Congress and was referred to the appropriate committee in each house. It was there antagonized-not on its merits, because there was no controversy as to the great desirability of a single court of last resort in patent cases, but by another bill brought forward on the initiative of a member of the Bar which provided for a court of different organization. That session of Congress passed by without any action having been taken. At the St. Louis meeting these facts were reported to the Association, and the committee was directed to continue its efforts to secure the passage of the proposed law. Since that meeting the committee, after further careful consideration of the subject and correspondence and conference with numerous members of the Bar, have felt it wise to suggest some alteration in the bill as originally reported. The report of the committee to the present meeting of the Association has been printed and is in your hands, including the bill as now proposed. I take it that members of the Association have improved the opportunity to read the report and this draft bill. So I shall not take the time to read either, and will simply offer this resolution: Resolved, That the report of the Committee on Patent, Trade-mark and Copyright Law on the subject of the creation of a Court of Patent Appeals, be received and approved, and that the draft of a bill to establish a Court of Patent Appeals, embodied in said report, be and the same is approved by the Association, and the committee is directed to use all proper means within its power to secure the passage of the same by Congress. Arthur Steuart, of Maryland: I second the adoption of the resolution. (See the Report in the Appendix.) Robert S. Taylor: I have another report from the same committee. The Section on Patent, Trade-mark and Copyright Law at its meeting day before yesterday passed a resolution which I will presently read. The occasion for the adoption of the resolution is the appearance in Congress of one or two or more bills, like some that have preceded them, proposing amendments to the patent law which the Section of Patent Law conceive to be of a dangerous and unconstitutional character. They are of this nature: From time to time certain interests in the country conceive it to be to their advantage to repeal the patent law upon some certain matter of invention. Some years ago we had a great convention of farmers in the West, which inaugurated a measure to secure the repeal of the patent law as to all agricultural implements; they wished no inventor of any improvement in such implement to be given a patent. The dentists have been clamoring for similar legislation, asking Congress to deny a patent to any man for anything which they desire to use in their business. There is at least one such bill now pending which is deemed to be of a similarly mischievous character. In view of this situation of affairs, the Patent Section at its meeting day before yesterday adopted this resolution: WHEREAS, Under the provision of the Constitution that Congress shall have power to promote the progress of science and the useful arts by securing for limited times to inventors the exclusive right to their respective discoveries the acts of Congress for the past century have uniformly authorized patents for any new and useful discovery in any art, machine, manufacture or compoition of matter; Resolved, That the Section of Patent, Trade-mark and Copyright Law of the American Bar Association deprecates any legislation which will deprive inventors of any subject of invention enumerated in the statute of the benefit of the act by exempting in whole or in part any one of said subjects. from the operation of the patent laws, thereby discriminating against any class of inventors. I also offer this resolution: Resolved, That the general principle enunciated in the resolution reported by the Section of Patent, Trade-mark and Copyright Law be, and the same is hereby approved, by this Association, and that the said resolution be referred to the Committee on Patent, Trade-mark and Copyright Law, with instructions to report upon the same at the next meeting of the Association. The resolution is put in this form because it would not be permissible under the by-laws of the Association to ask the Association at this time to express any opinion upon the merits of any particular proposed legislation. It will be the duty of your committee, if this resolution shall be adopted, to look into the situation, and, if there is found to be pending any legislation which is considered as dangerous, to report that to the Association with all the facts and the opinion of the committee upon it. At the present time the Section of Patent, Trade-mark and Copyright Law only asks the Association to approve the general principles of the resolution which has been adopted by the Patent Section and refer the subject matter for further consideration and particular report to the Committee on Patent, Trade-mark and Copyright Law. Joseph R. Edson, of the District of Columbia: I second the motion made by the gentleman from Indiana. The resolutions were adopted. Robert S. Taylor: I have another matter to bring up which will be somewhat novel to you. Early last spring a conference was called in New York City under the initiative of the Librarian of Congress to consider the somewhat confused and incongruous condition of our copyright laws with a view to drafting a bill which should amount to a practical codification of the copyright laws themselves, in order that they might all be put in a harmonious form. The President of the American Bar Association was asked to name a delegate to that conference who should represent in it this Association. This was in the interim between meetings of the Association, and it was necessary that action should be taken at once. Under the circumstances the President of the Association appointed Mr. Arthur Steuart, of Maryland, to attend that conference as the representative of the American Bar Association. Mr. Steuart did so, and I hold in my hand his report. The conference was a very decided success. There was a very large representation of delegates from many, and I think I may say all, of the organizations interested in the subject of copyrights. This report contains a list of them; I will not read it, but it includes representatives from the Treasury Department of the United States, the American Authors' Copyright League, the American Dramatists' Club, the American Institute of Architects, the American Library Association, the American Newspaper Publishers' Association, the American Publishers' Copyright League, and something like a dozen others. The conference was in session a number of days, and the whole subject of the copyright law of the United States was considered with reference to the interests of all the various societies represented. A committee was appointed to draft a bill which, as I stated, should amount to a codification of the copyright laws of the United States, and our delegate, Mr. Arthur Steuart, was appointed a member of that committee, and upon him has devolved the labor of drafting the bill. He asks that he may have some assistance in that work, and he asks that the President of the Association be authorized to appoint two more members of the Association to act with him as delegates to this conference. Upon that subject I have drawn this resolution: Resolved, That the President of the American Bar Association be, and he is authorized and requested to appoint two members of the Association to act in conjunction with Mr. Arthur Steuart, heretofore appointed by him to that duty, as |