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28 J. Pat. Off. Soc'y 153 (1946)
American Business Looks at Patent Reform

handle is hein.journals/jpatos28 and id is 181 raw text is: March, 1946, Vol. XXVIII, No. 3 American Business Looks at Patent Reform By ROBERT GOTTSCIALK* The photographer, they say, records. The artist in- terprets. The remarks to follow are intended to be es- sentially photographic in bringing to you a picture of what American business-atlarge thinks and feels about patent reform. But before I wax photographic, I should like to wax reminiscent. Something over a year ago, Judge Parker told the American Bar group, here in Chicago, that there are two things which spur men on: hope of reward and fear of punishment. It has always seemed to me that that principle goes far to explain our patent system. American industry wants a progressive patent system -one geared to the times anid efficient for its intended purposes. Various proposals aimed in this direction have been mentioned. The American businessman, who favors some of these but rejects others, has been trained in a hard school. He values fact above theory and performance above promise. His motto is do it better-but he knows that change in itself does not insure progress. A disciple of St. Paul, lie would Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. I I Industry and our patent system go hand in hand. They team up like a boy and his pup. The reasons are plain. Both are dedicated to prog- ress. Both hinge upon competition. And both work through harnessing the profit motive. Together they form the bulwark of the American system of democratic free enterprise and are the basis of what we know as the American way of life and the American way of doing husiness. We can postulate therefore, that industry favors *(Text of paper read by Mr. Robert Gottschalk before the Chicago Sec- tion of the American Chemical Society on Friday, December 14, 1945)