PUBLICATION O F F I C E : Easton, P a . EDITORIAL OFFICE:.
Indus trial
NEWS EDITION
VOL. 13, N o . 2
AND E N G I N E E R I N G
VOL. 27, CONSECUTIVE NO. 4
20, 1935
P U B L I S H E D BY T H E A M E R I C A N C H E M I C A L
3 3 2 West 42nd St., New York, Ν. Y TELEPHONE: Bryant 9-4430 SUBSCRIPTION
Chemis try
JANUARY
Room 706, Mills Building, Washington, D . C. ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT:
SOCIETY
HARRISON E . HOWE, EDITOR
to
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United States Trade in Chemicals with t h e Netherlands and Finland Reciprocal T r a d e A g r e e m e n t s u n d e r Discussion OTTO WILSON, 3025 Fifteenth St., N. W., Washington, D . C. S I N C E THE PASSAGE last summer of the law providing for r e
ciprocal trade agreements with foreign countries, negotiations h a v e been carried on with representatives of a number of govern ments looking t o t h e removal of obstructions to international trade. A final agreement has been arrived a t with only one country, Cuba, but fourteen others have shown enough interest to warrant the State Department in announcing that a trade agreement is in prospect. O n t h e trade with twelve of these countries the XJ. S. Tariff Commission has already held hearings to enable manufacturers and others interested to set forth their views as to possible changes in tariff rates or other matters pertinent t o the subject. Hear ings on the other t w o countries, the Netherlands and Finland, h a v e been announced b y t h e State Department, to be held, r e spectively, on February 4 and February 11. U n d e r the procedure being followed at Washington, any person or firm wishing to present i t s views on tariffs o r trade obstacles in connection with t h e trade with any given country must first file a brief on or before an announced date. I t then h a s t h e privilege of discussing specific points orally a t t h e later hearings. The latest date for filing briefs relating t o the Netherlands i s January 28, and for briefs relating to Finland, February 4 . Briefs are not limited to a n y special phases of the subject, b u t the facts and arguments which will naturally bear most directly on "the subject under consideration will be those showing w h y tarbff rates should b e lowered, raised, or left alone, and those giving actual experiences of American firms with the m a n y varie ties of trade restrictions now in effect abroad. The general purEose of the State Department in receiving briefs and holding earings is t o obtain as much information a s possible for discus sions with foreign representatives, and its attitude i s one of full synxpathy with the needs of American business. Vhe statistical summary of our chemical trade with the Nether lands and Finland which follows will furnish a background for manufacturers, importers, and exporters of chemicals in prepar ing their briefs for presentation to the State Department and i n wor3dng up material for the hearings. Further information, if available in Washington, can be had through arrangements witra the author on payment of a small amount to cover cost o f compilation. U. S. CHEMICAL T R A D E WITH THE NETHERLANDS
T h e total value of the traffic in chemicals between the United States and the Netherlands usually approaches, and sometimes exceeds, $10,000,000 a year. The balance of trade is heavily adverse to the United States, as our purchases o f chemical wares are t w o to three times as large as our sales. Following is t h e record of imports and exports over the last six years for which full figures are available: U . S. T R A D E ΊΝ CHEMICALS WITH THE N E T H E R L A N D S EXPORTS FROM EXCESS IMPORTS INTO U N I T E D STATES "UNITED OF STATES IMPORTS YEAR Free Dutiable Total
1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933
S5.084.000 Sl.730,000 5,275,000 1,823,000 4,400,000 1,267,000 5,743,000 1,135,000 5,430,000 924,000 7,207,000 1,145,000
S6.814.000 7,098,000 5,667,000 6,878,000 6,354,000 8,352,000
$2,197,000 2,661,000 2,997,000 3,283.000 1,709,000 2,350,000
54,617,000 4,437,000 2,670,000 3,595,000 4,645,000 6,002,000
These figures cover the trade in the articles officially classed b y t h e U. S. Department of Commerce a s "Chemicals and R e lated Products." I n addition, there is a considerable trade in goods closely related to chemical manufacture, such a s naval stores, oils and f a t s , tanning extracts, sulfur, etc., figures for which are given i n t h e text. As the table shows, most o f the chemicals and most closely related products imported from t h e Netherlands come in d u t y free. Unless the present law is changed b y Congress, these articles cannot be touched b y t h e trade-agreement negotiators, a s n o article can be taken from o r placed upon the free list. T h e y are of interest, however, a s showing the general character of t h e incoming traffic, a n d the trade has a t least an indirect bearing o n t h e present negotiations. Leading all other imports, b o t h free and dutiable, i s ammonium sulfate. This fertilizer material, which enters free o f d u t y , accounted for more than half t h e total imports in 1932 and almost half i n 1933. The trade has s h o w n an immense expansion, h a v ing grown to its present proportions in t h e last half-dozen years. I n 1929 only 2 tons were imported from t h e Netherlands. T h i s grew t o 5,000 tons i n 1930, 44,000 i n 1931, 212,000 i n 1932, a n d 221,000 in 1933, with corresponding jumps in value, which amounted to S3,729,O00 in 1933 and 33,513,000 in 1932. Other nitrogenous fertilizers besides ammonium sulfate were imported t o the extent of $152,000 in 1933. There is nothing in the statistics to show how m u c h of this trade may have originated i n Germany or other neighboring countries. That applies also to imports of potash fertilizers, which, formed the second largest import item in 1933- These also come in free of duty. T h e trade i s a highly variable o n e , t h e 1933 total being about nine times a s large as that of five years before, b u t considerably below t h e total of 1931. Trade over a five-year period was as follows: 1933, 90,107 tons valued a t Sl,710,000; 1932, 38,117 tons valued a t $819,000; 1931, 1 1 9 , 265 tons valued a t $2,584,000; 1930, 26,268 tons valued a t $751,000: 1929, 11,433 tons valued at $191,000. Phosphate fertilizers t o the extent of 9,524 "tons, v a l u e d at $128,000, i n 1933 repre sented a trade which is usually somewhat smaller in volume. A considerable incoming trade with the Netherlands in medicinals a n d pharmaceuticals, which h a s sometimes risen t o more than $1,000,000 in value, was represented in 1933 by imports valued at $916,000. This compared with $230,000 in 1932 a n d $1,176,000 in 1929, 10 to 1 5 per cent or more of our total imports under this heading. The bulk of t h e trade is made u p of quinine sulfate and other cinchona derivatives, which are admitted t o the United States duty-free. Imports of quinine sulfate were heavier in 1933 t h a n in any year since 1929, totaling 1,600,000 ounces with a value of $54:1,000. about four times t h e 1932 trade of 400,000 ounces valued at $133,000. The 1929 totals were 1,831,000 ounces a n d $631,000. F o r salts and alkaloids of c i n chona bark the 1 9 3 3 total imports from the Netherlands were 1,236,000 ounces w i t h a value o f $351,000, a sixfold gain over t h e previous year. A steady import trade w i t h the Netherlands has grown up i n paints and varnishes and their raw materials, amounting i n value t o a good half-million dollars yearly. A s a group t h e y did n o t suffer much from the depressed conditions governing foreign trade until 1932, w h e n they dropped to about $265,000. I n 1933 they were back t o normal w i t h a total value of more than_$600 t 21
New Y o r k Exnects Y o u ΔηΗΙ 2 2 1Q25
22
INDUSTRIAL
AND
ENGINEERING
000. The trade in that year was made up largely of three classes of goods—chemical pigments, and paints, stains, enamels, and varnishes, with totals of $289,000 and $260,000, respectively, and mineral earth pigments, S68,000. Lithopone and zinc pigments are the leading items in the first group. All articles coming under the sub-group, "Pigments, paints, and varnishes," are dutiable, the rates varying rather widely. Varnishes pay 25 per cent, and spirit varnishes containing less than 5 per cent of methyl alcohol pay S2.20 per gallon additional. With fluctuating prices the added specific duty on these varnishes brings the ad valorem equivalent to different levels, the total d u t y working out at 41 per cent ad valorem in 1932 and 65 per cent in 1933. For lithopone the general rate is 1.75 cents per pound, with an added 15 per cent ad valorem if the material contains 30 per cent or more of zinc sulfide. From 1931 to 1933 these rates worked out to an ad valorem equivalent averaging 43 to 62 per cent on the yearly imports. Duties on other chemical pigments range in general from 20 to 30 per cent if ad valorem, and u p to 35 cents per pound if specific. They are too detailed to be given here but can be obtained on request, as can also the rates on all other chemicals on the tariff list. MILLIONS 0Γ DOLLARS
8
y
7
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6
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FREE IMPORTS
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Ν t-EXPOR is
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1928
1929
1930
1931
193Z
1933
CHEMISTRY
Vol. 13, No. 2
Besides the articles listed -as chemicals or chemical products, a number which are included in other groups and which are of interest to chemical industrialists figure prominently in the im port trade with the Netherlands. Rubber shipments now and then take on noticeable proportions. In 1931 they were valued at $369,000 and in 1932, at $226,000. They were small in 1933, but a new item, balata, appeared to take their place, total ship ments amounting to 1,622,000 pounds and having a value of $1,504,000. Balata, like rubber, pays no duty in this country. A trade which has been falling off for several years but is still of con siderable size is that in cinchona and other barks from which qui nine may be extracted. ' This was valued a t $301,000 in 1933 and in earlier years as follows: 1932, $348,000; 1931, $423,000; 1930, $582,000; 1929, §549,000. These articles are on the free list. Linseed oil, dutiable at the rate of 4.5 cents per pound, has fluctu ated widely since 1929, when our purchases from the Netherlands amounted to 1,809,000 pounds and had a value of $167,000. The trade fell off to almost nothing in 1932, but in 1933 it rose to 8,668,000 pounds valued at $303,000. Flaxseed imports are non existent, but oil seeds are well represented by steady shipments of poppyseed and rapeseed, valued respectively at $446,000 and $30,000 in 1933. Bapeseed is free but poppyseed carries a light duty of 0.32 cent per pound. Besides linseed oil, the chief vege table oil imports are sunflower seed oil, of which we took 7,770,000 pounds valued at $254,000 in 1933, and corn oil, 2,424,000 pounds valued a t $95,000. Essential and distilled oils were valued at $59,000, geranium oil being most prominent. In the group of animal products stearic acid is worthy of mention, with 1933 imports of 3,802,000 pounds valued a t $220,000. It is duti able at the rate of 25 per cent ad valorem. Edible gelatin, carry ing specific duties which have averaged approximately 35 per cent ad valorem in late years, was purchased from the Netherlands to the extent of 284,000 pounds, valued at $72,000, in 1933. This was one-third the trade of five years before. A small amount of glue, glue size, and manufactures, valued at $20,000 in 1933, is a regular item of import. As in the import trade, fertilizer materials take the lead in ex ports of United States chemical products to the Netherlands. The greater part of these materials consists of phosphate rock, but there is also a considerable shipment each year of nitrogenous materials. Over the five years 1929-33 our shipments of these two classes of goods were as follows :
I
CHEMICAL I M P O R T S AND E X P O R T S OF THE U N I T E D S T A T E S IN T R A D E W I T H
CHIEF FERTILIZER MATERIALS EXPORTED TO THE NETHERLANDS
THE NETHERLANDS, 1928-33
Our purchases of coal-tar products from the Netherlands con sist chiefly of dead or creosote oil, which is admitted free of duty. The trade has been declining rather rapidly in the last three or four years. The 1933 imports from the Netherlands amounted to 3,512,000 gallons valued at $279,000, a drop of nearly 50 per cent from those of 1932, which were 5,593,000 gallons valued at $524,000. The 1931 trade was valued at $932,000, that of 1930 at $2,434,000, and that of 1929 a t $2,554,000. Imports of other coal-tar products are small. Colors, dyes, stains, etc., were brought in to a value of $102,000 in 1932 and $27,000 in 1933, and they were the largest item. A heavy duty applies to all inter mediates and finished products. On the average, it amounts con sistently, year after year, to the equivalent of about 50 per cent ad valorem on both intermediates and finished products. A few other chemicals at times assume a position of some im portance among our imports from the Netherlands. Glycerol imports reached a total of 2,383,000 pounds in 1933 as compared with 1,S32,000 pounds in 1932, the respective value totals being $143,000 and $106,000. The 1933 trade was the largest since 1929, when imports amounted to 3,377,000 pounds having a value of $314,000. Refined glycerol carries a duty of 2 cents (equal in 1932 to 28 per cent ad valorem and in 1933 to 33 per cent) and crude, 1 cent per pound, except imports from the Philippines which are free, and from Cuba which enjoy a 20 per cent prefer ential. Potassium carbonate imports of 2,153,000 pounds valued at $97,000 in 1933 were the highest in many years. The 1932 imports were valued at $65,000 and those of 1929 a t $74,000. The duty of 0.75 cent per pound is comparatively light. No other potassium compounds figure largely in the trade. Among the sodium compounds the leading commodities are the sulfates, cyanides, and ferrocyanides. Sodium cyanide, amounting to 678,000 pounds with a value of $77,000, came from the Nether lands in 1933. This was about twice as much as in 1932 and also about twice the 1929 imports. Sodium sulfate imports were valued at $38,000 in 1933, about the same as in the year before, and sodium ferrocyanide at $36,000, a drop from $116,000 in 1932. The sulfate and the cyanide of sodium enter free of duty but the ferrocyanide is subject to a tariff charge of 2 cents per pound. A decreasing amount of tartaric acid is brought from the Netherlands, the value in 1933 being only $4500. No other acid is imported in any large commercial amount. The remainder of the chemical schedule, including such commodities as explosives, soaps, toilet articles, etc., is represented by comparatively small shipments, or none at all, from the Netherlands.
1929 Tons Value
'
NITROGENOUS F E R T I LIZER M A T E R I A L S :
Tons Value
1930
1931
1932
1933
173,000 169,000 170,000 98,000 156,000 SS60.000 S7S9.000 §785,000 $448,000 S659.0OO 978 S59.000
1,035 §63,000
635 §22,000
1,416 $19,000
5,895 §88,000
Second to phosphate rock among the single export items is borax. The outgoing trade in this commodity maintains itself at a good level year after year and has been consistently higher during the depression than in 1929. Exports in 1933 stood a t 18,775,000 pounds valued at $264,000, and compared with ship ments valued at §243,000 in 1932, $291,000 in 1931, $340,000 in 1930, and $219,000 in 1929. Acids and anhydrides were valued at $30,000 and other industrial chemicals a t $134,000 in 1933, typical of a healthy trade in this class of goods which has continued for many years. Carbon black, the leading export in the paint and varnish group, reached a higher level in 1933 than in 1929 or any of the intervening years. Some 6,691,000 pounds were sent to the Netherlands, the total value of the shipments being $238,000. In 1929 the trade was valued at $189,000, and the second highest point since then was reached in 1930 with exports valued a t $138,000. Other items in this group were much lower. Readymixed paints, stains, and enamels, $44,000, and white lead, $38,000, were both less in 1933 than in 1929, while pyroxylin lac quers, $36,000, and bituminous paints, $39,000, were higher than they were five years before. These are the only American goods in this category which have been entering the Netherlands mar ket in recent years. Among the coal-tar products sent to the Netherlands by the United States, benzene has shown the most radical changes in the last half-dozen years. In 1929 we shipped 1,922,000 gallons in this trade, valued at $423,000. In 1930 these figures rose t o 3,577,000 gallons and §751,000, and in 1931, to 7,433,000 gallons and $1,255,000. There was a sharp drop to 1,102,000 gallons valued at $220,000 in 1932, and in 1933 no exports were reported. Crude coal tar appeared in the returns for the first time in re cent years in 1933, when 39,000 barrels valued at $100,000 were shipped. Coal-tar pitch, on the other hand, has been a consider able export item for three years, the 1931 trade being valued a t $141,000, that of 1932 at $84,000, and that of 1933 at $88,000. There is a small trade in coal-tar colors, dyes, and stains, amount ing to $21,000 in 1933, and other coal-tar products besides those mentioned were sold to the Netherlands to the extent of $91,000.
Jan-uary 20, 1935
N E W S
A. fairly large t r a d e has been built up with the N e t h e r l a n d s in the g r o u p of articles classified as "industrial chemical specialties," inclxiding insecticides, exterminators, polishes, petroleum jelly, and a wide range of other articles for farm and household use. In 1 9 3 3 the t o t a l value of this group of goods was $240,000, which comtpares with $126,000 five years before. Agricultural insecticides formed t h e leading item of the group. Medicinal and pharmaceutical preparations were valued a t $89,000, a b o u t t h e same as for several years past. Among t h e soaps and toilet preparat i o n s dental creams were t h e most important single item, b u t t h e 1933 value of $46,000 was much lower t h a n the export totals of earlier years. I n 1930 t h e Netherlands took $106,000 w o r t h of t h e s e goods. TTie Netherlands takes its fair share of our h e a v y sales of mineral oils t o Europe, a n d these exports stand second only to , a n d fertilizers and materials, $22,000 ($21,000 in 1929). The small export trade w i t h Surinam (Netherlands Guiana) in 1933 included pigments, paints, and varnishes valued a t $4,000; explosives, $3,003; soap, $19,000; a n d other chemicals, $10,000. There were no imports of chemicals proper, b u t t h e incoming trade included S507,O00 w o r t h of balata and $45,000 worth of essential oils. U. S. CHEMICAL T H A D E WITH FINTUAND
Trade in chemicals hetween the United States a n d Finland is of minor importance, as oaay be seen from t h e following table : U. S. T R A D E IN- CHEMICALS WITH F I N L A N D YEAB
TRADE WITH THE NETHERLANDS COLONIES
Traffic in chemicals between t h e United States a n d the colonies of t h e Netherlands reaches a respectable t o t a l each year, but is m a d e u p very largely of exports from this c o u n t r y to these dependencies. I m p o r t s are sporadic a n d of small volume. The N e t h e r l a n d s E a s t Indies t a k e t h e greater p a r t of o u r exports and send us t h e greater p a r t of our imports, b u t the Netherlands possessions in the Caribbean also furnish a m a r k e t of m o r e t h a n passing i m p o r t a n c e for American chemicals. T h e following table s h o w s t h e value of t h e t r a d e with these colonies o v e r five years: U.
S-
THADE I N CHEMICALS WITH THE N E T H E R L A N D S COLONIES NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES
YEAR 192S 19SO 1931 1932 1933
U . S. Imports from S 31,000 178,000 65,000
U . S. Exports to $3,382,000 1,989,000 1,567,000 730,000 539,000
NETHERLANDS WEST INDIES
SURINAM (NETHERLANDS GUIANA)
U . S. U . S. Imports Exports from to $21,000 § 4 7 1 , 0 0 0 2 , 0 0 0 1,876,000 4,000 421,000 3,000 374,000 22,000 415,000
U . S. Imports from
U . S. Exports to §46,000 51,000 28,000 39,000 37,000
A c e r t a i n a m o u n t of the t r a d e credited to t h e Netherlands West I n d i e s probably applies more properly to Surinam, a s commodities a r e c o n s t a n t l y being transshipped to a n d from t h e mainland thromgh Curaçao. As t h e table shows, our exports of chemicals to t h e Netherlands E a s t Indies h a v e been dwindling rapidly in the l a s t five years. This i s chiefly d u e to t h e practical cessation of exports of fertilizers a n d materials. In 1929 we sent to t h e islands 37,330 tons of
23
1929 1930 1931 1932 1933
U. S .
IMPORTS FROM
S
171 71 220 40 1744
U-
S. E X P O R T S T O
$147,000 241,000 90,000 37,000 55,000
American chemicals and chemical goods sold in Finland consist of small amounts from each of the various sub-groups. I n 1933 they were listed as follows: Medicinals and pharmaceuticals* S3,982 ; baking powder, $4L, 396 ; other industrial chemical specialties, $9,390; carbon black o r gas black, $6,360; pyroxylin lacquers, $2,435; ready-mixed paints, stains, a n d enamels, $5,215; soap and toilet preparations, $6,735- other chemicals and. related products, $16,512. Exports also included gum rosin, $19,972; wood rosin, $12,235; illuminating oil, $108,000; lubricating oil, $80,000; and crude sulfur, 13,303 -tons valued at $241,000. Imports of chemicals from Finland, a s shown b y the table above, are of negligible importance. 1934
CELLULOSE DEVELOPMENTS O F HERCULES
NITROCELLULOSE is the chief product of the Cellulose Products D e p a r t m e n t of the Hercules Powder Co., Wilmington, Del. During 1934 the various "types of viscosities were made to t h e most exacting limits of uniformity. Application of lacquers to paper and cartons received unusual attention. The year marked the evolution of Tornesit from an experimental to a commercial pxoduct. T h e new plant for its manufacture in this country is now nearing completion at Parlin, N. J.
24
I N D U S T R I A L
A N D
E N G I N E E R I N
T H I S CONCERNS Y O U
C S E M I S T R Y
PE:NDIING
EVERY M E M B E R of the A M E R I C A N CHEMICAL SOCIETY resident
in the United States has received, o r will receive, a reprint of t h e brief presented by Francis P . Garvan on behalf of American chemistry in the hearing concerning the proposed reciprocal trade t r e a t y with Switzerland. If you are one of those who ieel t h a t the tariff bargaining concerned in the reciprocal trade treaties is of no consequence t o you personally, it is high time t h a t you b e come acquainted with t h e policies involved a n d t h e possible consequences if they are carried to a logical conclusion. I t is n o t the expression of a calamity howler, but t h e simple t r u t h that ? if reciprocal t r a d e treaties are carried to t h e definite objective many of their proponents h a v e in mind, no inconsiderable number of those who read t h i s note a n d the brief being sent them may find other occupation a necessity. I t is to help guard the chemical industry a n d all t h a t that means from injury or even destruction of some of t h e units, if n o t t h e industry a s a whole, that M r . Garvan a n d those for whom h e speaks are active. Read the brief and become both a n actomist and a center of authoritative factual information.
Vol. 13, N o . 2
ALKYD R E S I N L I T I G A T I O N
A PATENT SUIT of great inuerest t o all paint, varnish, and lacquer mamLfactmrers is scheduled t o be tried in Brooklyn next month before the F e d e r a l Court for t h e Eastern District of New York. T h e General Electric C o . is suing t h e P a r a m e t Chemical Co., of Brooklyn, for infringement of t h e Kienle p a t e n t No. 1,893,873. T h e Kienle patent i s one of a group of patents which have been pooled b y General Ehectric, d u Pont, American Cyanamid, a n d Ellis Foster. The pooled patents are t h e basis for a p a t e n t license plan covering modified alkyd resins, which is similar i n m a n y r e spects to the licensing agreement which du P o n t has established under the Du_co patentts for low-viscosity nitrocellulose lacquers. Chas. N e a v e , assisted by Maxwell Barus, of Fish, Richardson ά N e a v e , w h o tried tlhe Duco case for du Pont, will handle this case for General Electric. George F . Scull and N e w t o n A . Burgess, of Gifford, .Scull & Burgess, will represent P a r a m e t . Wm. M. Grosvenor, assisted by Glenn Pickard, is G e n e r a l Electric's technical expert, Charles L. Mantell h a s been r e tained for t h i s purpose by Paramet. LICENSES F O R PATENTS O F F E R E D ON H I G H - P R E S S U R E CATALYTIC PROCESSES
Patents P A U L D . BOONE, Room 4708, U. S. P a t e n t Office, Washington, D. C. P A T E N T S FOR HYDROCARBON OILS INVALID
G
HELD
T H E IDEA of-the conversion of t h e heavy or high-boiling hydro carbon oils into lighter a n d lower boiling-point constituents by the use of a bubble tower, described in Lewis a n d Cooke p a t e n t No. 1,392,584, the Court of t h e Northern District of Illinois held did not involve t h e exercise of t h e inventive faculty. At t h e time of t h e invention of t h e patentees, t h e bubble tower w a s known t o t h e distillation industry as the best fractionating equip ment. T h e Court repeated a principle of patent law t h a t patent able invention cannot b e predicated upon the new use of an old device where t h i s device in its new environment discharges t h e same function as recognized previously. Ellis p a t e n t N o . 1,396,999, which disclosed decomposing tubes, a digester, a n d a fractionating column " a d a p t e d to m a k e fairly sharp separation of close boiling fractions" w a s held to anticipate; also Vaughan p a t e n t No. 49,689, which had dis closed t h e use of a bubble tower attached t o a still for use w i t h resins, f a t t y oils, and hydrocarbons whereby t h e "distillate is purified, deposited, repurified, a n d passed o n " in the consecutive distillation; also Barbet p a t e n t N o . 836,732, whose apparatus for rectification of petroleum h a d two rectifying columns with u p p e r and lower series of plates. As to t h e Shaefirer a n d Brown p a t e n t N o . 1,851,526 the C o u r t held t h a t t h e p a t e n t was invalid because it was t o o vague to con form to t h e P a t e n t Act a n d also because each a c t was old. T h e Link p a t e n t No. 1,756,563 has all the steps except t h e old and well-known expedient of t h e withdrawal of t h e residue. T h e Court held this p a t e n t invalid on three grounds a n d assigned three reasons w h y the defendant did not infringe, stressing the fact t h a t t h e patentee h a d a liquid-phase cracking operation, whereas in t h e defendant's cracking coil t h e hydrocarbons a r e 85 per cent vaporized. P A T E N T O F F I C E RECLASSIFIES FOOD AND PRESERVING PATENTS
I N T H E Y E A R S following 1922 when the applications for p a t e n t s continuously mounted, t h e P a t e n t Office was forced t o take the men from their duties of indexing and classifying old and new patents, a n d have them examine current applications. Within the past six months some attention has been given t o continuing this work abandoned a t t h a t time, and John Merchant, a n as sociate examiner, has been assigned t o re-group and closely index this subject. There are over 7000 patents in the section, now subdivided into fourteen minor groups. A tentative grouping to facilitate searching within t h e examining division was m a d e in 1918 b y C. H . Bristerfeld, now chief p a t e n t a t t o r n e y for E. I. d u P o n t de Nemours & Co. When this work is consum mated, a more thorough a n d complete search i n a much shorter time will b e possible on t h e part of the attorneys for t h e corpora tions a n d general public, as well as on t h e part of t h e p a t e n t ex aminers. Mr. Merchant lius spent over eight years on this subject in t h e P a t e n t Office. E X P O E T S OF CHEMICALS a n d allied products from the U n i t e d States were maintained at relatively high levels during 1934.
W I L B B K T J. HUFF, who for a number of years h a s directed a group of research workers on problems in t h e fields of certain high-pressure; catalytic processes for t h e production of oxygenated organic compounds, catalytic processes for the conversion of o r ganic sulfur compounds to hydrogen sulfide, and t h e cyclic r e moval of sulfur from organic compounds and hydrogen sulfide a t high tempera-tures, announces t h a t according t o the a r r a n g e m e n t s with the o p e r a t i n g ga,s companies which finance the research, b u t whose underlying desire was t o aid industry broadly, he is per mitted t o offer licenses for patents which developed i n the course of t h e i n v e s t i g a t i o n s . These are offered under a r r a n g e m e n t s favorable to the licensee, with the expectation that this m a y r e t u r n to t h e u n d e r w r i t e r s a portion of the cost of t h e study. A list of p a t e n t s with thie numbers, the names of t h e i n v e n t o r or i n ventors, and t h e significant claim has been prepared f o r those who m a y be interested, amd all correspondence should b e directed t o Dr. Hufï at 1 0 5 Tunb>ridge Road, Baltimore, M d . C O U E I T OF P A T E N T
APPEALS
T H I S STJBJTECT has ifoeen referred t o from time to t i m e in I N D U S TRIAL A N D JENGENEESHIN-G CHEMISTRY a n d those w h o a r e p a r -
ticularly interested rcrould do well t o read a discussion pertaining thereto b y Willis IB. Elice, patent lawyer, New York, Ν . Υ . , which appeared on page 18 of the Journal of the Patent Office Society for J a n u a r y , 1935. After discussing t l i e various angles of t h e question, the a u t h o r reaches t h e conclusion that: All of the factors p>oint to t h e desirability, if not necessity, of a court of p a t e n t appea-ls. A step has been taken in this direction b y giving t o t h e Coixrt o f Customs and Patent Appeals charge of a p peals from ttie pa/ten-fc office, b u t even this step is inadequate, for such an adininistratrve court can only determine its standard from t h e standard which i s set by t h e judicial courts, in patent infringe ment suits. Some writer once said that no question was ever settled until it w a s settled rdght. Perhaps this applies as well t o the queetion of the establishment oi the «Court of Patent Appeals. JUINIOR PATENT E X A M I N E R S PROMOTED
T H E R E H A S BEEJN" a recent reallocation of junior p a t e n t ex aminers to t h e grade of assistant patent examiner, involving some 2 5 0 men whto are traus promoted. T h e change carries w i t h i t a substantial salary increase a n d the move should result i n a m u c h improved s t a t u s of t h e work in the P a t e n t Office. This recogni t i o n of t h e efforts of the junior patent examiners should d o m u c h t o encourage adherence to the service, as well a s t o a t t r a c t capable m e n to fill vacancies a s they m a y occur. W O R L D A C T I V I T Y IN- C H E M I C A L D E V E L O P M E N T S
T H E CHEMICAL INDUSTRY of the world was characterized d u r i n g 1934 hy the establishment of new plants, the conversion a n d extension o f old pLants, a n d the introduction of new chemical commodities, aecorciing to t r i e Commerce D e p a r t m e n t s Chemi c a l Division. Complete data a r e not y e t available, b u t i t is believed J a p a n l e d all foreign counrtries in n e w developments and increased p r o d u c t i o n . G e r m a n y - was nlso active, particularly i n the develop m e n t of synthetic products t o replace a n d reduce i m p o r t s of n a t u r a l materia-ls, aod im. the conversion of old a n d idle p l a n t s to new uses.
