Witnesses

Introduction

This has come to us via American patents, and is a data element we have only sporadically tracked. The "witnesses", and there all almost always two on the final diagram page of each patent, and two, with sporadic overlapping, on the final text page of each patent, do not seem to have had the legal significance of patent agents.

In the case of Europeans filing in America, there may have been a tendency to have one of the witnesses be an American. The name Hanson C. Coxe comes up repeatedly. The other was often a European patent agent who'd worked with the inventor before. We have noted French agents in particular.

From time to time, a patent agent may also serve as a witness, on the same patent, giving us more complete name data on the agent. We have only begun taking note of witnesses. When present, their names are signed on the diagram pages of the patent documents. They are neatly typed on the final document page. We have begun red-linking the names. We may drill down into this to any degree, and at any time, making whatever judgement calls are needed and highlighting whatever antique data glitches we may uncover. Some already have pages, in the nature of the complex existing between witnesses and patent agents.

Administrative culture

Phenomena of "registered patent agent", as opposed to lawyers acting in a related capacity, seems to vary in the administrative culture, from nation to nation. All manner of documentation, of patent agents, for one thing, not to mention witnesses, varies internationally along these lines.

Early aero-technical development analyzed as a social network

Instances of phenomena such as the British A.M.I.Mech.E.‎ are offering us formally traceable insights into the mechanically technical know-how of patent agents, beyond their litigative capacities. This would reflect an aspect of early aero-technical development analyzed as a social network. The largely American phenomenon of witnesses shows extreme overlap with patent agents in their legal capacities, with a few cases illustrating a full-on and international nexus between inventors and witnesses and patent agents and authors. See the array of cases below.

Prevalent names and pairings

• Hanson C. Coxe is by far the most prominent among witnesses, almost always paired with a Frenchman, often an individual factoring in vis-à-vis French patent agents with whom we are familiar. We also have A. C. Coxe and Arthur V. W. Coxe.
• Chas. P. Pressly is also prevalent.
• F. E. Maynard and Frances V. Cole constitute a pair we often see.
• Woldemar Haupt and Henry Hasper constitute another prevalent pairing.
• Max H. Srolovitz is prominent and is often paired with Karl H. Butler. K. H. Butler is also often paired with the very prominent Samuel Payne

Prominent patent attorneys factoring in among witnesses to patents on which others serve as the patent attorney on the patent

• Patent agent or attorney C. C. Hines factors in significantly, among witnesses, to patents on which Victor J. Evans is the patent attorney.
• Patent agent or attorney Victor J. Evans, early on, appears among witnesses to a patent on which John Wedderburn is the representing attorney serving the patent.

Peculiar or patterned cases having to do with witnesses relative to patent agents and firms

• Patent US-1904-785740 has Walker Banning appearing among witnesses with Banning & Banning serving as the attorneys.
• Patent US-1910-983243 has Arthur L. Slee acting among witnesses to a patent on which Lincoln Sonntag serves as the patent attorney.
• Patent US-1910-993126 is one of many cases in which we see surname cross-over, whether familial or direct, between witnesses and patent agents. A key rub here has to do with legibility, in that the patent attorneys are almost invariably and exclusively handwritten on the diagram pages of the original documents.
• Patent US-1910-996613 has Victor Prévost and H. C. Coxe appearing among witnesses on the final text page, there being quite a fair chance of this Victor Prévost having some connection to Rigot et Prévost.
• Patent US-1911-1009780 has C. E. Potts appearing among witnesses and Joshua R. H. Potts as the patent attorney.
• Patent US-1911-1040089 and Patent US-1911-1118375 and Patent US-1911-1047759 show patent agent C. C. Hines serving among witnesses on patents for which we have others acting as patent agents.
• The patent agent on Patent US-1911-1041825, whom we have as John Duffie, may be the John P. Duffie appearing among witnesses on Patent US-1909-1152432. Patent US-1911-1041825 also has an R. R. Duffie acting among witnesses.
• Patent US-1912-1081467 is one instance, among others, of Victor J. Evans acting as patent attorney with C. C. Hines serving among witnesses.
• Patent US-1912-1189749 has James R. Hodder among the witnesses, and Hodder is the patent attorney, or patent agent, on Patent US-1918-1413553.
• Patent US-1913-1160419 has Chamberlin & Freudenreich as the patent agent, with William F. Freudenreich and Ruth E. Zetterwall as witnesses on the final text page and H. S. Gaither and Ruth E. Zetterwall as witnesses on the final diagram page.
• Patent US-1916-1326946 has patent agent Charles W. Hills, Jr. appearing among witnesses, with another individual, an attorney, apparently serving as the patent agent on the patent on question.

Family members of chief patent attorneys along with said attorneys themselves acting as witnesses generally and in relation to other firms

• See both Fred G. Dieterich & Co.‎‎ and Munn & Co.‎ for more on this. Various members of the Dieterich family act among witnesses to patents on which Fred G. Dieterich & Co.‎‎ serve as the patent attorneys. Fred G. Dieterich himself, earlier in his professional development, serves among witnesses on at least one patent on which Munn & Co. serve as the patent attorneys.

Simple cases in which one known inventor acts among witnesses on a patent filed by another known inventor

• Patent US-1908-1015674, of inventor Karl Ludwig Waldemar Geest, has Alois Wolfmüller acting among witnesses.

Odd instances of the witness phenomena in cases of collaborative filing

• Patent US-1910-1124584 has different pairs of witnesses displayed on the final text page, even though the two inventors appear to be relatives.
• Patent US-1912-1127167 has witnesses on the final text page being split between those serving on behalf of two inventors engaged in a collaboration with another pair of witnesses serving on behalf of a third inventor.

Sometime collaborative filers acting among witnesses to patents on which they are not otherwise involved

This apparent lack of involvement, when applicable, is a matter of form, in terms of the documentation as presented to us on the patent originals, the implication being that contact between inventors is ongoing, with semi-vague factors of influence being shall we say triangulated across the overall spread of data.

• Patent US-1912-1061701‎‎ is a patent which Josef Schröder and Paul Stumpf file in collaboration.
  • Paul Stumpf acts among witnesses on Patent US-1913-1106061‎‎ of Josef Schröder.
  • Josef Schröder acts among witnesses on Patent US-1914-1157337‎‎ of Paul Stumpf.
• Patent US-1884-318575 has Carl Edgar Myers filing jointly with Carlotta Myers, and Patent US-1889-581218 has Carl Edgar Myers filing as a sole inventor with Carlotta Myers serving among witnesses. Mary "Carlotta" Myers was the wife of Carl Edgar Myers.
• Patent US-1910-1041630, of Marie Jasogne, is a more tentative case, in which Theodor Dobson and H. C. Coxe appear among witnesses, with Theodor Dobresco having filed elsewhere in collaboration with Jasogne. The idea is that "Dobson", here, may be an anglicized treatment of "Dobresco".

Cases of witnesses also as individuals to whom patent rights are assigned

• Patent US-1911-1011799‎ and Patent US-1915-1178318‎ are cases in which one-half patent rights are assigned to individuals also serving as witnesses. This was apparently not seen as a conflict of interest, at least officially speaking.

Cases of witnesses also serving as or among patent attorneys on the same patent

• Patent US-1883-281915, of inventor Magnus S. Nelsson, has T. F. Lehmann serving among witnesses to a patent on which J. A. Lehmann serves as the patent attorney.
• Patent US-1894-536174, of inventor Daniel C. Funcheon, has Alfred J. O'Brien serving among witnesses with A. J. O'Brien as the patent attorney.
• Patent US-1901-729800, of inventor George D. Shultz, has G. Y. Thorpe appearing among witnesses to a patent on which Fischer & Thorpe serve as the attorneys.
• Patent US-1904-820938, of inventor Bartholomew O'Kane, has C. Spongel serving in both capacities.
• Patent US-1906-840078, of inventor John Meden, has Emil Starek serving in both capacities.
• Patent US-1906-865419, of inventor Dennis L. Moorhead, has E. E. Longan serving among witnesses to a patent on which Higdon & Longan are the attorneys.
• Patent US-1907-881836 has John W. Joy and Geo. B. Ward as witnesses shown on the final text page, and has Ward & Joy signed as the patent attorneys.
• Patent US-1907-1050654, of inventor John P. Holland, has J. D. Caplinger acting in both of these capacities.
• Patent US-1908-925494, of inventor Philip H. McConnell, has W. B. Hutchinson as the patent agent, with Warren B. Hutchinson appearing among witnesses.
• Patent US-1908-953198, of inventor Daniel C. Funcheon, has G. J. Rollandet appearing in both capacities
• Patent US-1908-971358, of inventor Leonard E. Clawson, has Geo. H. Strong acting in both capacities.
• Patent US-1909-983707, of inventors John W. L. Harrell and John Dailey, has Joshua R. H. Potts among witnesses and as the patent attorney.
• Patent US-1909-966424, of inventor Everard H. Boeckh, has Geo. H. Chandler appearing among witnesses with Chandler & Chandler acting as the patent attorneys.
• Patent US-1909-971535, of inventors Hermann Hartmann, and Wilhelm Klehe, has Frank v. Briesen,the lowercase "v" likely being a typo, appearing among witnesses on the original document, with Frank Briesen acting as the patent agent.
• Patent US-1909-1009157, of inventor George Lehberger, has Frederick C. Fischer, as Fredk. C. Fischer, appearing among witnesses, both on diagram pages and on the final text page, while also serving as the patent attorney.
• Patent US-1909-1014643, of inventor John J. Donnelly, has A. J. O'Brien and A. Ebert O'Brien as witnesses with A. J. O'Brien also serving as the patent attorney.
• Patent US-1909-1014731, of inventor John W. Way, has Bayard H. Christy appearing among witness and Christy and Christy being the patent attorneys.
• Patent US-1909-1049540, of inventors John Sharp and Edward Sharp, has Wm. M. Monroe serving in both capacities.
• Patent US-1910-985373 of inventor James Rooney has H. S. Hill serving in both capacities.
• Patent US-1910-1028981‎ and Patent US-1910-1033646‎‎ and Patent US-1910-1055379‎‎ have B. J. Noyes acting among witnesses on the final text pages, of patents filed by John Washington Wilson, with Noyes & Harriman being the patent agent.
• Patent US-1910-1041876 and Patent US-1910-1045708 are instances of this, which is rare. In both cases, patent agent G. L. Cragg is one witness shown on the final text page and R. E. Atherton is the other witness. Surname Atherton turns up elsewhere in our data.
• Patent US-1910-1107231, of inventor Albert Francis Zahm, has T. N. Witherspoon serving among witnesses with Wilkinson, Fisher, and Witherspoon being the patent attorneys.
• Patent US-1910-1127105, of inventor James Shand Stephens, has Eugene A. Rummler appearing among witnesses, with the patent attorneys being Rummler & Rummler.
• Patent US-1910-1197505, of inventor Arlington L. Leatart, has G. E. Harpham serving both capacities
• Patent US-1911-1013952, of inventor Joseph H. Price, has A. L. Jackson serving in both capacities.
• Patent US-1911-1016929‎, of inventor David Black, has E. M. Fisher and R. B. Moser appearing among witnesses and has Fisher & Moser as the patent attorneys.
• Patent US-1911-1020718, of inventor Charles A. Schoonmaker, has Harry De Wallace serving among witnesses and Harry D. Wallace as the patent attorney.
• Patent US-1911-1075302, of inventor Rubino Plastino, has Guido Lacerdote appearing among witnesses and also acting as the patent attorney.
• Patent US-1911-1177656, of inventors John Sharp and William Sharp, has William M. Monroe appearing among witnesses and also acting as the patent attorney.
• Patent US-1912-1054989, of inventors Heinrich Schneider and Theodor Kurrell, has A. H. Lidders appearing among witnesses, Alex H. Lidders being the patent attorney.
• Patent US-1912-1063315, of inventor Jesse W. Baker, has Richard S. Harrison both as the patent agent and as serving among witnesses.
• Patent US-1912-1065394, of inventor William Rabsilber, has James Hamilton serving in both capacities.
• Patent US-1912-1071697, of inventor Bruno von Bültzingslöwen, has Paul Goepel appearing among witnesses and has Goepel & Goepel as the patent attorneys.
• Patent US-1913-1072710, of inventor Henry Converse Fisk, has Francis M. Phelps serving among witnesses with Browne & Phelps serving as the patent attorneys.
• Patent US-1912-1171615, of inventor James S. Lang, has John E. R. Hayes appearing among witnesses, with C... & Hayes, Unclear entered in field patent agent.
• Patent US-1913-1160419 and Patent US-1913-1248545 both have William F. Freudenreich, with Chamberlin & Freudenreich serving as the patent attorneys.
• Patent US-1913-1230641‎, of inventor Vincent Ajello, has Robert C. Totten appearing among witnesses and has Kay & Totten as the patent attorneys.
• Patent US-1914-1208337, of inventor Herman Leinweber, has Joshua R. H. Potts in both capacities.
• Patent US-1915-1175595 has C. M. Clarke appearing in both of these capacities.

A case of a full-blown inventor-patent-agent-witness-and-possibly-author inter-connection

• We have the inventor Leonard H. Dyer acting as among witnesses on Patent US-1910-1098129, of inventor John Thomas Simpson, a patent on which Dyer, Dyer, and Taylor serve as the patent attorneys. The obviously related Dyer & Dyer seem to have been active very slightly later. That is, we have division, rather than consolidation. Witnesses John L. Lotsch and Frank A. Lotsch, among others, seem to factor in a patterned way across these data. Any connections to Chas. S. Dyer the author of Dyer, 1916, Wind currents are yet to be determined.

German interest

• Frank v. Briesen,the lowercase "v" likely being a typo, on the original document, also appears among witnesses on Patent US-1909-971535, for which we have Frank Briesen as the patent agent. In this case, there is overlap between witnesses on the diagram pages and those on the final text pages, with German surnames showing prevalence.
• Woldemar Haupt and Henry Hasper is a witness pairing we often see to American patents filed by Germans

Belgian interest

• Patent US-1910-1010337, of Alfred E. Wunderlich, has Charles Honold and Gregory Phelan as the witnesses displayed on the final text page. Wunderlich's location in Brussels, along with his overall magnitude in terms of the technical-proprietary nexus, leads us to wonder about any possible connection between this Charles Honold and the Belgian patent agent Charles Honold.

French interest

• Patent US-1899-648634, of Louis-Étienne Roze, gives on the final text page: Eugene Wattier and Georges Bordeau, the former being properly French Eugène Wattier, this dovetailing into our growing data on Wattier, inclusive of E. Wattier.
• Patent US-1912-1133660, of inventors Alphonse Papin and Didier Rouilly, gives witnesses Louis Moses and H. C. Coxe ; this "Moses" is likely that of Lavoix et Mosès, which firm acted as Papin's patent agent in France. Antoine Lavoix serves as a "witness" on Patent US-1906-1055487, of inventor Alphonse Papin, along with Hanson C. Coxe.
• These patterns are not absolute. Patent FR-1909-402649, on which Camille Enderlin and Jules Raclot employ Lavoix et Mosès. Neither of these French agents are mentioned as witness on Patent US-1910-1037050 or Patent US-1911-1023096, both within the family of Patent FR-1909-402649, though H. C. Coxe (fairly definitely Hanson C. Coxe) is among witnesses on Patent US-1911-1023096.
• Patent US-1913-1105049, of inventor Corneille-Gustave-Ernest Trumelet-Faber, gives the witnesses Henri Boettcher(Bœttcher of H. Bœttcher fils?), and, again, Hanson C. Coxe. Yes, Henri Boettcher is almost definitely the father relative to H. Bœttcher fils, who served as Trumelet-Faber's patent agent when filing in France. Brown, Hanson, and Boettcher are listed in our data as together comprising the patent agent in Patent US-1918-1501248.
• Hanson C. Coxe is by far the name which comes up the most, and almost always in conjunction with a French fellow witness.
• Patent US-1908-971030 is one case in which we have H. C. Coxe paired with John Baker, which indicates no particular relation to the French patent agents used by the inventor, when filing on France
• Patent US-1879-213603 gives witnesses as clerks at Mennons & Co., Patent solicitors in Paris.
• Louis Marmonier uses French patent agent J. Germain on Patent FR-1908-397297 and Patent FR-1910-433152, for instance. This is very likely the Jean Germain acting as a witness on Marmonier's Patent US-1911-1050153.
• Patent US-1908-966654‎‎, of Clément Coma, has witnesses Adolphe Sturm and H. C. Coxe, the former being fairly definitely French patent agent Ad. Sturm and the latter being Hanson C. Coxe. Ad. Sturm acts as the patent agent on Coma's Patent FR-1908-397263‎‎.
• Patent US-1909-1000697, of inventor Paul Schmitt, has Doumé Casalonga appearing with H. C. Coxe, Dom. Casalonga being a lead, or the leading patent agent serving Paul Schmitt when this latter files in France.
• Patent US-1910-1015837 has Armengaud jeune‎ acting among witness to Paul-Louis-Antoine Regnard, for whom he served as patent agent on Patent FR-1909-406466 and Patent FR-1910-406466.13181.
• Patent US-1911-1025941, of René Arnoux, has witnesses H. C. Coxe (fairly definitely Hanson C. Coxe) and Paul Blum, Paul Blum being the patent agent on Arnoux' Patent FR-1915-491253
• The name Victor Dupont, in conjunction with Chas. P. Pressly, this Victor Dupont being quite likely the French patent agent associated with Dupont et Elluin, appears among witnesses on American patents which have Gustave Delage assigning rights to and filing in conjunction with Société Anonyme des Établissements Nieuport.
• Patent US-1911-1115946 is oddly suggestive in that it has Gaston Petion and H. C. Coxe as appearing among witnesses shown on the final text page of a patent filed by Louis-Marie Le Dantec. This spelling "Petion" is odd, in that we have Gaston Petiau acting as Le Dantec's patent agent on more than one patent.
• Patent US-1911-1177431 Hanson C. Coxe and Paul Blum, this later quite possibly the French patent agent Paul Blum.
• Patent US-1912-1099424 has Antoine Lavoix, again likely of Lavoix et Mosès, acting among witnesses along with Lucien Memminger, another recurring name, though not to the same extent, and not factoring in, thus far, as a French patent agent.
• Patent US-1917-1350982 has final text page witnesses Jules Fayollet and Chas. P. Pressly ; the former is very likely French patent agent J. Fayollet, who acted on behalf of the same inventors, on the same invention, when they filed it in France. Chas. P. Pressly factors in prominently among witnesses

Mexican interest

• Patent US-1908-1065033, of inventor Frederick William Dufwa, has W. Thompson and G. A. Guerra appearing among witnesses, this Thompson is quite possibly W. P. Thompson/William Phillips Thompson and Guerra quite likely a contact reflecting Dufwa's situation in Mexico.

British interface regarding British Patent Agents and American phenomena of witnesses to patents

• Patent US-1904-907120 and Patent US-1906-907310, of inventor Henry Shepley Booth, both have J. Owden O'Brien factoring among witnesses, with some O'Brien serving as the patent attorney. The likelihood of professional and familial connection is high. The chance of it being the same individual, a patent agent-attorney working both in the United States and in Great Britain, is fair. We do have British Chartered Patent Agents, firms, that is, with offices in both nations. We are dealing with legibility issues in terms of the patent attorney signature, though not in terms of witnesses as entered at the bottom of the last text page of each patent. J. Owden O'Brien serves as the Patent Agent on patents filed by Henry Shepley Booth when the latter files in Great Britain.

Pertinence or connection to Canada

• Patent US-1904-796893 and Patent CA-1905-92599 have the pair, Albert E. Parker and Francis J. Bignell, serving as witnesses to the filings of Louis Brennan.
• Patent CA-1917-194730, of inventor Ruter William Springer, has E. L. Price serving among witnesses.