any citizen or subject of a State or free city which at the time of the proposed return of money or other property of such citizen or subject hereunder forms a part of the territory of any one of the following nations: Germany, Austria, or Hungary, shall be deemed to be a citizen or subject of such nation. And the receipt of the said owner or of the person by whom said property was conveyed, transferred, assigned, delivered, or paid over to the Alien Property Custodian shall be a full acquittance and discharge of the Alien Property Custodian or the Treasurer of the United States, as the case may be, and of the United States in respect to all claims of all persons heretofore or hereafter claiming any right, title, or interest in said property, or compensation or damages arising from the capture of such property by the President or the Alien Property Custodian: Provided further, however, That except as herein provided no such action by the President shall bar any person from the prosecution of any suit at law or in equity to establish any right, title, or interest which he may have therein.

(c) Any person whose property the President is authorized to return under the provisions of subsection (b) hereof may file notice of claim for the return of such property, as provided in subsection (a) hereof, and thereafter may make application to the President for allowance of such claim and/or may institute suit in equity to recover such property, as provided in said subsection, and with like effect. The President or the court, as the case may be, may make the same determinations with respect to citizenship and other relevant facts that the President is authorized to make under the provisions of subsection (b) hereof.

(d) Whenever a person, deceased, would have been entitled, if living, to the return of his money or other property hereunder, then his legal representative may proceed for the return of such property as provided in subsection (a) hereof: Provided, however, That the President or the court, as the case may be, before granting such relief shall impose such conditions by way of security or otherwise, as the President or the court, respectively, shall deem sufficient to insure that such legal representative will redeliver to the Alien Property Cus todian such portion of the money or other property so received by him as shall be distributable to any person not eligible as a claimant under subsections (a) or (c) hereof.

(e) No money or other property shall be returned nor any debt allowed under this section to any person who is a citizen or subject of any nation which was associated with the United States in the prosecution of the war, unless such nation in like case extends reciprocal rights to citizens of the United States; nor in any event shall a debt be allowed under this section unless it was owing to and owned by the claimant prior to October 6, 1917, and as to claimants other than citizens of the United States unless it arose with reference to the money or other property held by the Alien Property Custodian or Treasurer of the United States hereunder.

(f) Except as herein provided, the money or other property conveyed, transferred, assigned, delivered, or paid to the Alien Property Custodian, shall not be liable to lien, attachment, garnishment, trustee process, or execution, or subject to any order or decree of any court.

(g) This section shall not apply, however, to money paid to the Alien Property Custodian under section 10 hereof. Sec. 9, act of Oct. 6, 1917 (40 Stat. 419), as amended by act of June 5, 1920 (41 Stat. 978-986).

Notes of Decisions.

Change of status.-An alien enemy who, prior to the declaration of peace, became an allen friend, can only sue under this section in case the President fails to recognize his claim to the fund. Kohn v. Jacob and Joseph Kohn, Inc. (D. C. 1920), 264 Fed. 253.

Necessary parties. In a suit by a person not an enemy, claiming an interest in the property in the hands of the Alien Property Custodian, the enemy owner, if a nonresident alien, is not a necessary party. Spiegelberg v. Garvan (D. C. 1919), 260 Fed. 302.

Continuance.-A suit, properly instituted by a German subject before the declaration of war, will not be dismissed thereafter, but suspended, on motion of the defendant, during the continuance of said war. Plettenberg, Holthaas & Co. v. I. J. Kalmon & Co. (D. C. 1917), 241 Fed. 605; Stumpf v. A. Schreiber Brewing Co. (D. C. 1917), 242 Fed. 80: Speidel v. N. Barstow Co. (D. C. 1917), 243 Fed. 621.

But an action should not be suspended where the plaintiff is an American corporation because all the shareholders are alien enemies. Fritz Schulz, Jr., Co. v. Raimes & Co. (1917), 164 N. Y. Supp. 454.

A suit instituted under paragraph (a) of this section in which is alleged a cause of action against an alien enemy for proceeds of shipment of cotton will be continued until peace is declared, German firms claiming said proceeds as owners of the cotton under bills of lading which complainant alleges were forged. City Nat. Bank r. Dresdner Bank (D. C. 1919), 255 Fed. 225.

In a suit against a German alien enemy company for infringement of patent, an order will be made, on motion of its counsel, extending the time to answer until after the cessation of hostilities and the reopening of communication between the United States and Germany. Kintner . Hoch-Frequenz, etc., Telegraphie (D. C. 1918), 256 Fed. 849.

A libel against an Italian vessel by a seaman who was signed in Italy and came with the vessel to an American port, and who, prior to suit, became a resident and declared his intention to become a citizen, will not be dismissed because he is a subject of Austria-Hungary, but will be continued until the termination of the war. The Oropa (D. C. 1919), 255 Fed. 132.

Under the act a writ of error to review a judgment in favor of an alien who became an alien enemy before the disposition thereof need not be held in abeyance, but the judgment being upheld, it should be modified, so as to direct payment to the clerk of the court, and by him to be transferred to the Alien Property Custodian, without prejudice to the rights of any person, not an alien enemy, to establish an interest therein. Birge-Forbes Co. v. Heye (C. C. A. 1918), 248 Fed. 636; affirmed (1920), 251 U. S. 317.

Dismissal.- Where a libel for damage to cargo against a German carrier was dismissed because of its absence caused by the war, the dismissal should have been without prejudice to any rights of the libellant or its correspondent. Kuhnhold v. Netherlands-American Steam. Nav. Co. (C. C. A. 1920), 264 Fed. 320.

2900. Vessels belonging to enemies taken over by the United States.-That the President be, and he is hereby, authorized to take over to the United States the immediate possession and title of any vessel within the jurisdiction thereof, including the Canal Zone and all territories and insular possessions of the United States except the American Virgin Islands, which at the time of coming into such jurisdiction was owned in whole or in part by any corporation, citizen, or subject of any nation with which the United States may be at war when such vessel shall be taken, or was flying the flag of or was under register of any such nation or any political subdivision or municipality thereof; and, through the United States Shipping Board, or any department or agency of the Government, to operate, lease, charter, and equip such vessel in any service of the United States, or in any commerce, foreign or coastwise. Sec. 1, Joint Res. 2. May 12, 1917 (40 Stat. 75).

2901. Fees on foreign letters patent for American inventions.-Any citizen of the United States, or any corporation organized within the United States, may, when duly authorized by the President, pay to an enemy or ally of enemy any tax, annuity, or fee which may be required by the laws of such enemy or ally of enemy nation in relation to patents and trade-marks, prints, labels, and

copyrights; and any such citizen or corporation may file and prosecute an application for letters patent or for registration of trade-mark, print, label, or copyright in the country of an enemy, or of an ally of enemy after first submitting such application to the President and receiving license so to file and prosecute, and to pay the fees required by law and customary agents' fees, the maximum amount of which in each case shall be subject to the control of the President. Sec. 10(b), act of Oct. 6, 1917 (40 Stat. 420).

2902. Manufacture of foreign inventions in the United States.(c) Any citizen of the United States or any corporation organized within the United States desiring to manufacture, or cause to be manufactured, a machine, manufacture, composition of matter, or design, or to carry on, or to use any trade-mark, print, label or cause to be carried on, a process under any patent or copyrighted matter owned or controlled by an enemy or ally of enemy at any time during the existence of a state of war may apply to the President for a license; and the President is hereby authorized to grant such a license, nonexclusive or exclusive as he shall deem best, provided he shall be of the opinion that such grant is for the public welfare, and that the applicant is able and intends in good faith to manufacture, or cause to be manufactured, the machine, manufacture, composition of matter, or design, or to carry on, or cause to be carried on, the process or to use the trade-mark, print, label, or copyrighted matter. The President may prescribe the conditions of this license, including the fixing of prices of articles and products necessary to the health of the military and naval forces of the United States or the successful prosecution of the war, and the rules and regulations under which such license may be granted and the fee which shall be charged therefor, not exceeding $100, and not exceeding one per centum of the fund deposited as hereinafter provided. Such license shall be a complete defense to any suit at law or in equity instituted by the enemy or ally of enemy owners of the letters patent, trade-mark, print, label or copyright, or otherwise, against the licensee for infringement or for damages, royalty, or other money award on account of anything done by the licensee under such license, except as provided in subsection (f) hereof.

(d) The licensee shall file with the President a full statement of the extent of the use and enjoyment of the license, and of the prices received in such form and at such stated periods (at least annually) as the President may prescribe; and the licensee shall pay at such times as may be required to the alien property custodian not to exceed five per centum of the gross sums received by the licensee from the sale of said inventions or use of the trade-mark, print, label or copyrighted matter, or, if the President shall so order, five per centum of the value of the use of such inventions, trade-marks, prints, labels or copyrighted matter to the licensee as established by the President; and sums so paid shall be deposited by said alien property custodian forthwith in the Treasury of the United States as a trust fund for the said licensee and for the owner of the said patent, trade-mark, print, label or copyright registration as hereinafter provided, to be paid from the Treasury upon order of the court, as provided in subdivision (f) of this section, or upon the direction of the alien property custodian.

(e) Unless surrendered or terminated as provided in this Act, any license granted hereunder shall continue during the term fixed in the license or in the absence of any such limitation during the term of the patent, trade-mark, print, label, or copyright registration under which it is granted. Upon violation by the licensee of any of the provisions of this Act, or of the conditions of the

*

license, the President may, after due notice and hearing, cancel any license granted by him. Sec. 10, act of Oct. 6, 1917 (40 Stat. 420–421). 2903. Recovery of royalties, etc., under foreign-owned letters patent. The owner of any patent, trade-mark, print, label, or copyright under which a license is granted hereunder may, after the end of the war and until the expiration of one year thereafter, file a bill in equity against the licensee in the district court of the United States for the district in which the said licensee resides, or, if a corporation, in which it has its principal place of business (to which suit the Treasurer of the United States shall be made a party), for recovery from the said licensee for all use and enjoyment of the said patented invention, trademark, print, label, or copyrighted matter: Provided, however, That whenever sult is brought, as above, notice shall be filed with the alien property custodian within thirty days after date of entry of suit: Provided, further, That the licensee may make any and all defenses which would be available were no license granted. The court on due proceedings had may adjudge and decree to the said owner payment of a reasonable royalty. The amount of said judgment and decree, when final, shall be paid on order of the court to the owner of the patent from the fund deposited by the licensee, so far as such deposit will satisfy said judgment and decree; and the said payment shall be in full or partial satisfaction of said judgment and decree, as the facts may appear; and if, after payment of all such judgments and decrees, there shall remain any balance of said deposit, such balance shall be repaid to the licensee on order of the alien property custodian. If no suit is brought within one year after the end of the war, or no notice is filed as above required, then the licensee shall not be liable to make any further deposits, and all funds deposited by him shall be repaid to him on order of the alien property custodian. Upon entry of suit and notice filed as above required, or upon repayment of funds as above provided, the liability of the licensee to make further reports to the President shall cease. If suit is brought as above provided, the court may, at any time, terminate the license, and may, in such event, issue an injunction to restrain the licensee from infringement thereafter, or the court, in case the licensee, prior to suit, shall have made investment of capital based on possession of the license, may continue the license for such period and upon such terms and with such royalties as it shall find to be just and reasonable. Sec. 10 (f), act of Oct. 6, 1917 (40 Stat. 421).

That no claim shall be made or action brought in respect of the use since August 1, 1914, up to the passage of this Act, by the Government of the United States, or by any persons acting on behalf of, or under contract with, or with the assent of the Government of the United States or of Governments or their representatives associated with the United States, under any patent rights owned in whole or in part since August 1, 1914, by an alien enemy, nor in respect of the use of any process during such period, or the sale, offering for sale, or use, at any time, of any products, articles, or apparatus whatsoever manufactured during such period to which such patent rights applied. Sec. 7, act of Mar. 3, 1921 (41 Stat. 1314-1315).

That nothing in this Act shall affect any Act done by virtue of the special measures taken during the war under legislative, executive, or administrative authority of the United States in regard to the rights of an enemy, or ally of an enemy, as defined by the Trading with the Enemy Act of October 6, 1917, in patents for inventions and designs. Scc, 8, act of Mar. 3, 1921 (41 Stat. 1315.)

2904. Inventions kept secret in time of war.-Whenever the publication of an invention by the granting of a patent may, in the opinion of the President, be detrimental to the public safety or defense, or may assist the enemy or endanger the successful prosecution of the war, he may order that the invention be kept secret and withhold the grant of a patent until the end of the war: Provided, That the invention disclosed in the application for said patent may be held abandoned upon it being established before or by the Commissioner of Patents that, in violation of said order, said invention has been published or that an application for a patent therefor has been filed in any other country, by the inventor or his assigns or legal representatives, without the consent or approval of the commissioner or under a license of the President.

When an applicant whose patent is withheld as herein provided and who faithfully obeys the order of the President above referred to shall tender his invention to the Government of the United States for its use, he shall, if he ultimately receives a patent, have the right to sue for compensation in the Court of Claims, such right to compensation to begin from the date of the use of the invention by the Government. Sec. 10 (i), act of Oct. 6, 1917 (40 Stat. 422).

See 1016, 1018, ante.