Someone at the meeting the other day made a very unfair statement. He represented the Patent Law Association and came down here. They oppose this thing. Why, I do not know. They came down here and said, You have to take your chances with everyone else; the broker and the baker and the candlestick maker all went to war. I went to war. My boys went to war. We gave our patents for the war, but we want them back. Mr. ROGERS. During this period of time I assume that your company operated to its capacity in war contracts? Mr. HOOPER. We make heavy cotton ducks. We did operate and they were one of the most critical things required by the Government. We are not asking for remuneration. We turned over all our patents and the whole cotton industry got the benefit of them and operated to capacity on our formulas, which we were glad to have them do. Mr. ROGERS. And the formulas you had during that period of time-or before the war or during the war-because you gave them royalty free to the Government, did that in any manner constitute a monopoly within the field that may be covered by these patents? Mr. HOOPER. I would not think so, sir. When a patent has been granted to us is it a monopoly? Otherwise the whole patent system is out of the field-everything we have done. Mr. ROGERS. That is right. The point I am getting at is that some items are covered by patents which the Government would need and the patentee has the only right to license them which, if he operates as such, would lead to monopoly. We know that. Mr. HOOPER. We are not making a point of the years 1941 to 1945. We, of our own volition, gave that. But we say we should have had the patents back again. Mr. ROGERS. You are not asking for any award by the Government. Would an award by the Government for use of the patents be satisfactory to you rather than the extension? Mr. HOOPER. No, sir. We do not want the award. In fact, I think it would have paid us half a cent or a cent a yard royalty. We do not want that money. We gave the patents because we knew the Government needed them and we were involved in an all-out war. We say that the war ended and they kept the patents. Right now in 1950 and 1951 they are putting things in bids like this. We do not think that is a fair deal. We think we have done our part and someone should be fair to us. The only thing we are asking is the right to stay in business. I am the fifth generation in the business from father to son. All we want is the right to enjoy these patents. Mr. ROGERS. Was there any attempt by any persons who manufacture articles that may come under these patents to use them in a commercial field other than the Army? Mr. HOOPER. There certainly was. They have used them in everything. Mr. ROGERS. During wartime? Mr. HOOPER. During the wartime you could not get the chemicals. But they used them all during the period after the war until to date for other purposes and the whole industry, once having been given the chemical formula, which is difficult to patent to begin with—it just happened that we hit on the one combination that would work. The NDRC had a project on it. The biggest chemical companies in the States were working on these formulas too. No one has come on to a better mouse trap. But you can't sue the whole United States. We have had a terrible time with it. We were getting our patents where they were respected. We had two lawsuits on civilian work only. We never sued anyone on patents by the Government. Mr. BRYSON. The fact that you have been squeezed out is a compliment to your formula. Mr. HOOPER. I think it is but we do not like to be complimented that way. Mr. ROGERS. May I ask if you have ever taken this up with the Quartermaster's Department? Mr. HOOPER. They took it up with us. They sent their legal man from Washington and they said, What are you going to do? They said, We consider the license in effect. We said, We do not. Mr. ROGERS. Their legal men said, inasmuch as you had given it royalty-free during the shooting part of World War II that they still thought they had the right to use it. Mr. HOOPER. Yes, sir. They had the right to use it royalty-free. That is their idea. They say the war is still on and the license is still in effect. The attorneys for the quartermaster say the war is on. Here are a dozen bids opening up this month from the Navy, thẹ Army-the quartermaster-the Marine Corps, and Air Force, and everyone has that clause in it. Mr. BRYSON. You can put one or more of these types of bids in the record. Mr. HOOPER. Yes. I will put this one in the record. I will give you the bids themselves. Mr. BRYSON. I do not care about that. Mr. HOOPER. This one is brief. Do you want the bids themselves? Mr. BRYSON. No, sir. Mr. HOOPER. Let me put the one in then that I show you. (Bid referred to follows:) 87811-51-ser. 10- -6 Ordnance Requirements SEALED PROPOSALS, IN TRIPLICATE, SUBJECT TO THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS referred to in the attached papers, will be received at the above office until 2:00 o'clock, P. m., EDST Time 26 June 1951 (date), for furnishing the supplies or services, specified herein. The award will normally be made to the low bidder, but the Government reserves the right to negotiate with any bidder or other producer; to make an award од any item for a guan tity less than the quantity bid upon at the unit price offered unless the bidder specifies otherwise in his proposal; and to reject any and all quotations received. IF YOUR PROPOSAL IS ACCEPTED, a contract will be issued to you embodying the terms of your proposal and all provisions referred to in the attached Envelopes containing proposals should be addressed to the above office. In the lower left hand corner of the envelope, the following should appear: OM-30-280-51-NEG-871.. ATTENTION: REQUEST AND PROPOSAL NO... PROPOSAL papers. J. H. HADDOCK A4. In compliance with your request the undersigned offers and agrees, if this proposal be accepted within days (20 days if no shorter period be specified) from the date set for the receipt of this proposal to furnish the supplies and services at the price set opposite each item, delivered at the designated point(s) and within the time specified. Discounts will be allowed for prompt payment as follows:..... percent, 15 calendar days;..... percent, 20 calendar days;..... percent, 30 calendar days. (Discounts of less than 1 percent should be expressed in fractions and not in decimals. Discounts for payment within a period less than 15 calendar days will not be considered) BIDDER REPRESENTS: Check appropriate boxes) (1) That the aggregate number of employees of the bidder and its affiliates is 500 or more, (2) That he is a regular dealer in, manufacturer of, the supplies bid upon. (IF NO, SET FORTH IN THE PROPOSAL DETAILS AS TO THE EXTENT OF OVERTIME. MULTIPLE SCHEDULE M/L C59- 1-2 & 4 (NEGOTIATED PROCUREMENT) ASPR 3-201 (c) PAGE NO. 1 PAGES PURCHASE AUTHORIZATION Reqn. 49-010-ORDIP-12-51 REQUEST AND PROPOSAL NO. ACCOUNTING AND OTHER APPROPRIATION DATA THE SUPPLIES AND SERVICES TO BE OBTAINED BY THIS QM-30-280-51-NEG-871 P/A 5-3922 P134-08 A211/21005 S30-322 Sub 1 The supplies or services to be furnished, the specifications, the ting and place of delivery, and any other GREY GOODS: The grey cloth shall conform in all respects to requirements set forth in U.S. Army Specification No. 6-342 dated 2 March 1945 together with Spec. MIL-D-10861 (QMC) dated 22 January 1951. This applies to all items #1 through #7. FINISHING: Item 1 The grey cloth shall be finished in accordance with requirements set forth in Specification MIL-D-10799 (QC) dated 21 Dec. 1950. Items 2 thru 7 The grey cloth shall be finished in accordance with requirements set forth in Specification MIL-D-10860 (QMC) dated 22 January DELIVERIES OFFERED AFTER 31 DECEMBER 1951 ON ITEM NO. 1 AND THOSE OFFERED AFTER 31 MAY 1952 ON ITEMS 2 THROUGH 7, WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED FOR AWARD. |