The European Association for Chemical and Molecular Sciences
(EuCheMS)
For more information, see: http://www.euchem.org/
The Society for the History of Alchemy and Chemistry
www.ambix.org
For details of how to join the Society, please see the on-line form (follow the
links from the main page), or contact the Treasurer and Membership
Secretary: John Perkins, 19 Nethercote Road, Tackley, Oxfordshire, OX5
3AW. (shacperkins@googlemail.com).
The Society for the Propagation of the Music of the Chemist-Composers
This is an informal association that has been formed to publicize the music
of chemist-composers. The latest newsletter is from November 2010.
http://faculty.cua.edu/may/SPMCC.htm
The Working Party on History of Chemistry (WP)
Information on the activities of the WP can be found on its website:
http://www.euchems.org/Divisions/History/index.asp
Walter Sneader’s website ‘Sources of information about drugs and
medicine’
http://historyofdrugs.net
Website for the history of science and technology in Europe
http://histsciences.univ-paris1.fr/
Website based lecture course by Georges Bram, professor of chemistry
and history of chemistry at the Faculty of Science, Paris Sud-Orsay
http://histoirechimie.free.fr/
Website of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France
http://gallica.bnf.fr
Website of the Historical Centre of the Ecole Polytechnique
http://www.polytechnique.edu/home/about-ecole-polytechnique/history-and-
heritage/the-major-periods/
Website of the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science (Berlin)
http://www.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/en/index.html
Russian Academy of Sciences. Website of the Institute for the History of
Science and Technology
http://www.ihst.ru
An English version is available in test mode.
http://www.ras.ru/en/index.aspx
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Selection of English-language papers relevant to the history of
chemistry
http://web.lemoyne.edu/~giunta/papers.html
Website for the Nobel Prizes
http://nobelprize.org/
S
HORT
E
SSAYS
The History of Patents in the UK.
The origins of patent law emerged in medieval times. “Letters patent” were
open letters with the King’s Great seal. These gave rights that were often
granted to foreign weavers and other craftsmen. It allowed them to practise
their trade and overcome guild regulations which suppressed competition.
The first such letter was granted in 1331 to John Kempe. The regulation of
trade was deemed to fall within the provenance of the Crown and letters
patent proved to be a useful method of encouraging the formation of new
forms of industry and commerce, giving the Crown powerful control over
trade. There was no requirement to be inventive, being more to do with the
practice of trade and granting favours by the Crown.
During the Tudor years, it became common practice for the Crown to grant
monopolies for trades and manufacturers, which included patents for
inventions. Patent rights were granted to John of Utynam in 1449 by King
Henry VI for a method of making stained glass. During the thirty years from
1561 to 1590, Elizabeth I granted about fifty patents whereby the recipients
could exercise monopolies in the manufacture and sale of commodities, such
as soap. The Tudor monarchs saw the system of monopolies as a good way
of raising revenue. However, unease grew at how the system was open to
abuse and the law began to curb such excesses. It was held in Darcy and
Allin, a case involving a patent on the monopoly of making playing cards,
that the King may grant a monopoly patent for some reasonable time, until
the subjects were able to learn the teaching of the patent.
James I then issued a number of proclamations against monopolies, but
excepted inventions provided they were not contrary to the law, hurtful to
the state or trade, or generally inconvenient. The doctrine of public interest
was thus introduced into the patent system and the words were later
incorporated into the Statute of Monopolies 1623.
In Clothworkers of Ipswich (1614) Godbolt 252, patents of a limited
duration were recognised by the courts. In this case, a group of tailors, who
were incorporated and chartered by King James to sell their services in
Ipswich, brought an action against a tailor who was not part of the
corporation, but nonetheless practised his trade within the town. It was
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agreed by the court that the King could make corporations but thereby could
not make a monopoly, “for that is to take away free-trade, which is the
birthright of every subject.” This marked the beginning of the end of royal
prerogatives as it ultimately led to the Statute of Monopolies 1623.
Section 6 of the Statute of Monopolies 1623, gave recognition to patents as
an exception to the general rule against monopolies. It gave the true and first
inventor fourteen years in which he could exploit his invention to the
exclusion of others. The fourteen years duration was based on the fact that
the duration of an apprenticeship was usually seven years and then there was
a requirement for a period of training by a proprietor. However, In Liardet’s
Patent (Liardet v. Johnson (1773) 1 W.P.C. 52) a patent was granted for
eighteen years by a private Act because it was accepted that a longer term
was needed to allow the proprietor to receive adequate recompense. This
was the first case where a written publication in the UK was used to prove
prior use or knowledge of the granted patent. It also led to the concept of
specification being regarded in consideration for a patent.
The Statute of Monopolies 1623 remained in force for many years as the sole
legislation governing patent law in the UK. During the two hundred years
after the Statute, the patent system developed through the work of lawyers
and the courts, without government regulation. During the reign of Queen
Ann (1702-1714) the law officers of the Crown established a condition of
grant that, “…the patentee must by an instrument in writing describe and
ascertain the nature of the invention and the manner in which it is to be
performed…”.
James Puckle’s 1718 patent for a machine gun was the first to be required to
have a specification. James Watt also obtained a number of patents on his
steam engine in 1796. However, sources of dissatisfaction with the system
remained until the end of the nineteenth century, in regards to the common
law concerning patents. The Crystal Palace Exhibition in 1851 contributed to
official recognition of the need for legislation to meet some of the
longstanding criticisms. In 1852, the patent laws were revised via the Patent
Law Amendment Act, 1852. The patent application was centralised at one
Patent Office and the fees were lowered. A renewal system was adopted and
provision was made for the printing and publication of patent records.
Changes in the British patent system were, in part, motivated by the
realization that England’s early industrial supremacy was threatened by the
US and other nations in Europe.
Further developments included the Patents Act 1902, which instituted a
limited investigation into the novelty of the invention before a patent was
granted. The Patents Act 1977 was designed to take account of the European
Patent Convention.
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References
http://www.ipo.gov.uk/p-history.htm
Statute of Monopolies 1623, 21 JAC I.C.3.
David I. Bainbridge, Intellectual Property, Fifth Edition, (Harlow:
Longman, 2002).
B. Zorina Khan, “Intellectual Property and Economic Development: Lessons
from American and European History,” Study Paper 1a, Commission on
Intellectual Property Rights, (2002)
www.iprcommission.org/papers/pdfs/study_papers/sp1a_Khan_study.pdf
Richard Toon
Keele University
Ida Freund, the first woman chemistry lecturer
Ida Freund (1863-1914) was the first woman to become a university
chemistry lecturer at a time when the subject was almost exclusively the
domain of men. But did she influence the chemistry taught in schools and
colleges in the early years of the twentieth century and if so, do any traces of
her legacy remain today?
Ida Freund was born in Austria but her mother died when she was just a
child and she was brought up by her grandparents in Vienna. She went to the
local state school and then to the state Training College for Teachers. In
1881, her grandmother died and she was sent to England to live with her
uncle and guardian, the violinist Ludwig Strauss. One year later, Strauss
enrolled her at Girton College, Cambridge, which in 1869 had been the first
college for women at the University of Cambridge.
An academic pathway
Despite initially being vehemently against going to Girton - she had no real
say in the matter anyway - in time Freund came not only to enjoy university
life at Cambridge but she became devoted to it. In 1886, she gained ‘first
class honours’ in the Natural Sciences Tripos course, though at the time
“women students were permitted to take university exams but were not
members of the university, and hence were not eligible for degree status ... it
was not until 1948 that women could formally receive degrees from
Cambridge University” (1). Instead, women were awarded a certificate of
proficiency.
After graduating Freund went to Cambridge Training College for Women as
a chemistry lecturer, and one year later joined Newnham College,
Cambridge, as a demonstrator. Newnham, founded in1871, was the second
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