Humanities desk
< July 1	<< Jun \| July \| Aug >>	July 3 >

Welcome to the Wikipedia Humanities Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is a transcluded archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.

July 2[edit]

Can a Vienna resident file a patent in UK during WW1?[edit]

Dr. Oskar Nagel was a resident of Vienna during WW1. He filed a UK patent in 1916 [1]. Was it allowed? The two countries were at war. Nagel was born in Vienna in 1874 and became a US citizen in 1901. Horus1927 10:47, 2 July 2020 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Horus1927 (talk • contribs)

He obtained a patent in the USA for the same process "by mesne assignments to The Chemical Foundation Inc., a Corporation of Delaware". Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office, Volume 280 (p. 233). Perhaps he used that relationship in the UK filing, as the USA was neutral in 1916? Alansplodge (talk) 12:27, 2 July 2020 (UTC)[reply]

It depends on the circumstances. See Daimler Co Ltd v Continental Tyre and Rubber Co (GB) Ltd (1916) where the judges decided that a British company remained a British company, even though all the directors were German. The first item on the patent is "Convention Date (Austria) Jan. 8, 1916." What that usually means is that a priority date in one country can be used as a priority date in another. Things German only become illegal if a law is passed to that effect. If it had been illegal for an Austrian to file for a patent in Britain the Office would never have granted it. 2A00:23C5:E117:6100:744C:67DA:489B:F71C (talk) 12:46, 2 July 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Would Nagel's physical location or birthplace matter? Presumably what matters in such a case is his citizenship, and prohibiting Americans to patent anything in the UK (without similarly prohibiting citizens of most or all other neutral countries) would have caused a huge mess for the UK. Nyttend (talk) 23:14, 3 July 2020 (UTC)[reply]

When I was granted a patent, immediately after the greeting from the Queen there was a statement that I was a British citizen. On the risks of disqualification, my father was a member of the royal family who converted to Christianity and married an Englishwoman. Upon his marriage he was cut off. He preached in non-conformist churches and owned racehorses. His country was technically at war with Britain for a few days and he was imprisoned as an "enemy alien" on that account, although he was no threat to security whatsoever. German spies, on the other hand, upon discovery were lodged in the Tower. They were given a short military trial and sentenced to death. At dawn the following morning they were dragged screaming to the place of execution and shot, which put the officers off their lunch. The Ceremony of the Keys (London), at which the Tower is locked up for the night has been performed every night (with one exception) since the middle ages. 2A00:23C5:E117:6100:5169:E6CE:787E:AFCC (talk) 11:30, 4 July 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Non-slave owners among Confederate Generals/Admirals, signers of the Confederate Constitution or member of the Confederate congress?[edit]

Did any the members of the following groups:

Confederate Generals/Admirals
Signers of the Confederate Constitution
Members of the Confederate Congress: Provisional/First/Second

not own slaves?Naraht (talk) 15:47, 2 July 2020 (UTC)[reply]

(To help anyone interested in researching this: Here are the articles and categories listing the people you are talking about: Confederate Generals [2]/Admirals [3],Signers of the Confederate Constitution [4], Members of the Confederate Congress: Provisional [5]/First/Second. There used to be a way to search so you could check if any of these categories overlapped with a category such as [6] (and then eliminate all those overlaps from your research), but I’m sorry I cannot remember how. Another volunteer might.) 70.67.193.176 (talk) 00:13, 3 July 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Only checked a few generals but Daniel Adams who was a big city lawyer may not have although his brother, also a general, was a planter who did own slaves. A.P. Hill, Joseph Johnston, and Fitzhugh Lee are said in this source not to have owned any but the first source is problematic.[7] J.E.B. Stuart is said have sold his slave "long before" the war. You come across a lot of "lost cause" type material in searching this question. Rmhermen (talk) 17:00, 3 July 2020 (UTC)[reply]