Chachereau and Galvez-Behar, 2021

• Nicolas Chachereau and Gabriel Galvez-Behar. 2021. The International Patent System and the First World War. Encyclopédie d'histoire numérique de l'Europe [online], ISSN 2677-6588, published on 06/08/21. Translated to English by Arby Gharibian.

Notes drawn from the text, which is complete online

• "Beginning in the 1870s, jurists, politicians, and industrial actors called for facilitating the use of patents and other 'industrial property', (notably ... trademarks and product design), in multiple countries at the same time." International regulations were developed to facilitate this, mainly in Europe.
• In the 1900-10 decade most patents in small countries were granted to non-residents.
• "The outbreak of the First World War disrupted this configuration. Between 1914 and 1918, the annual average number of patent applications fell in certain countries (France, Germany, Austria) by 40% in comparison to the years between 1910-1913."
• "The mobilization of men [and] economic and communication difficulties between belligerent countries, impeded the work . . . Patent agents and professional patent consultants found it increasingly difficult to correspond with their colleagues in other countries . . ."
• "the International Association for the Protection of Industrial Property (AIPPI) . . . could no longer meet. Founded in 1897, the AIPPI was the voice of those who supported the internationalization of patents . . . including jurists, agents, and certain industrial companies, especially in organic chemistry (dyes, medicine) and electrical engineering."
• The conflict affected national patent offices. . . . The 1883 treaty that founded the International Union for the Protection of Industrial Property, known as the Paris Union, . . . facilitated the obtainment and exploitation of patents in the member states of the Union, primarily by prohibiting them from disadvantaging foreign patentees." . . . Specialists discussed . . . "whether the convention was still in effect from a legal point of view. In practice, belligerent countries simply stopped respecting the principles, but without leaving the Union."
• "Special measures were taken in favor of patent holders in practically all European states:" (1) An extension of the period of priority [during] which [an] invention can be patented in multiple countries; (2) The belligerents suspended the granting of patents relating to national defense, or (3) patents that were requested by nationals from enemy countries. (4) The Allies sequestered patents held by Austrians and Germans, authorized their exploitation, and even confiscated them. (5) The United States went further, seizing over 4,000 enemy patents. (6) Similar laws were adopted on the German and Austro-Hungarian side, but were rarely applied. German industrial actors opposed these war measures, for they held many patents abroad, especially in France and Great Britain, much more so than Allied nationals held in Germany, and feared retaliation.
• [Meeting] "in Paris in 1916, the Allies discussed economic war measures that should be adopted against Germany, and included projects for legislative harmonization and collaboration for patents." The only measures that gathered consensus were "war measures against enemy patents."
• "the Great War [ruptured] the international integration of European patent systems . . . While the Treaty of Versailles proclaimed the reestablishment of industrial property titles, it legalized certain patent seizures after the fact, or made others possible, to the great displeasure of German industrial actors and patent agents. This continuation of economic war also involved the project for an Inter-Allied Patent Office, which would [have allowed] for centralized [transnational] application review and registration [of patents]. The stated objective of the French government, which had been flirting with this idea since 1916, was to compete with the German patent office, which had held a prominent position on the international scene since 1914, owing to the good reputation of its application reviews. The French project was sidelined, especially due to the silent opposition of Great Britain, which pursued a similar project on the scale of its empire."
• The peace treaties after the war "reestablished property rights and international treaties [and specified] exceptional time periods that facilitated the preservation of patents." One such agreement was signed [by members of] the Paris Union in June 1920 . . . [In 1924] the AIPPI met for the first time since the war, and a new conference of the Paris Union was held at The Hague in October 1925. The League of Nations and the International Chamber of Commerce now concerned themselves with intellectual property.

Note no mention of the particular effect on techs relevant to war-making, such as aeronautics. The data in this database can help make a conclusion there.

Original title	The International Patent System and the First World War
Simple title	The International Patent System and the First World War
Authors	Nicolas Chachereau, Gabriel Galvez-Behar
Date	2021
Countries
Languages	fr, en
Keywords	patents, WWI
Journal	Encyclopédie d'histoire numérique de l'Europe
Related to aircraft?	0
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