C Activities of the PTC Research Foundation
D Supporting the PTC Research Foundation
E Contributions to, and Membership of, the PTC Research Foundation
F Names and addresses
G.........Declaration of Trust
In the 1950s, the Patent, Trademark and Copyright Research Institute was founded in association with George Washington University. Later, as the PTC Research Foundation, it passed under the joint control of the Academy of Applied Science and the Franklin Pierce Law Center, both of Concord, New Hampshire. In July, 1999, it passed under the sole control of the Academy of Applied Science, of which it is now the Research Division. It operates as a non-profit educational organization and depends entirely on voluntary contributions. Its main objects are to promote, conduct and foster research, education, training, instruction, knowledge and publication about the intellectual property systems both of the United States and of other nations. Another important object is to “educate and inform the general public” in these fields.
Robert Shaw
Professor Robert Shaw, who was Director of the Patent, Trademark
and Copyright Research Foundation from 1980 to 1995, died on January 4th, 2002,
after a protracted illness. He had had a full career: as a Navy pilot in WWII,
as a patent lawyer in private practice after the war and later as lecturer and
professor at Franklin Pierce Law Center. He was a kind, popular and conscientious
man, with a good sense of humour and a quiet and unassuming manner. He will
be greatly missed.
The Academy of Applied Science is a private, non-profit organization, incorporated in 1963, with educational and scientific purposes and a major commitment to innovation and creativity. The main goal of the Academy is to stimulate invention and other creative endeavors. (See www.aas-world.org)
Research studies are initiated by the Foundation or commissioned by international bodies, government departments or agencies, corporations, professional firms and associations and others. Where they are initiated by the Foundation, the subjects of research are drawn from a list of topical issues contributed by experts in the field. Whether initiated in this way or commissioned by other organizations, the researchers’ work and conclusions are entirely independent. The Foundation has a panel of researchers qualified in each of the principal fields of intellectual property.
Booklets, audio tapes and audio-visual recordings are being made, which are designed to be used to answer questions of the sort raised by members of the public about intellectual property, to respond to doubts about the value of or need for intellectual property protection and to explain why effective intellectual property protection is in the interests of consumers, of national economies at home and abroad and of those who invent new products and processes, develop new marketing brands and create new literary, artistic and other works.
This is not just another journal on intellectual property law (of which there are already more than 120 available). It has a number of distinctive features. The first is that it is on-line. The second is that it is inter-active, enabling readers to take part in the discussion of topical issues. The third is that it is international, with an emphasis on the up-to-date position in different parts of the world. The fourth is that it is inter-disciplinary, with an emphasis on the economic and social aspects of the subject. The fifth is that, while including the research papers prepared for the Foundation, it makes a special point of carrying summaries and reviews of papers, articles, books and other sources of information on intellectual property, keeping readers abreast of all the latest thinking and developments.
Support for the Foundation will:
- advance the interests of intellectual property owners and licensees
- expand professional and public awareness of intellectual property issues encourage international cooperation in exchanging information and ideas.
Contributions to the Foundation’s funds, by subscription, fee or otherwise, will:
- finance research into problems in the intellectual property field,
- pay for the means of educating the public about intellectual property and
- cover the costs of providing the on-line services.
Funding of the project is by one of three means:
- subscribing membership of the Foundation,
- fees for commissioned research carried out by the Foundation and
- payment for specific services carried out by the Foundation.
All persons, whether individuals, groups, corporations or other organizations, interested In the support and furtherance of the purposes and work of the Foundation, who make contributions to the Foundation, but who do not wish to apply for membership, are known as Contributors.
Membership of the Foundation comprises Honorary, Life and Participating Members. Honorary Members are persons of distinction who are appointed by the Foundation’s Trustees for their contributions either to the work of the Foundation or to the promotion of Intellectual Property. Life Members of the Foundation are natural persons making contributions of $10,000 or more within any one-year period. Participating Members are natural persons making an annual contribution of $250 or more; and corporations, professional firms or associations or other bodies making an annual contribution of $500 or more.
The PTC Research Foundation is under the direction of the Chairman of the Research Committee of the Academy of Applied Science, Bryan Harris, who is also an adjunct Professor at the Franklin Pierce Law Center. The Honorary Assistant Director is Ms Bonnie Boulanger, a graduate of the Law Center and associate in a Salem NH law firm.
The President of the Academy of Applied Science (of which the Foundation is the educational arm) is Dr Robert H Rines, an adjunct Professor at MIT and a distinguished patent attorney.
Address: 24 Warren Street, Concord NH 03301, USA
58 Ashcroft Road, Cirencester GL7 1QX, UK
Telephone: (603) 228 4530
(01) 285 656 999
Fax: (603) 228 4730
(01) 285 657 999
Email: [In course of revision, May 2003]
G.........Declaration of Trust
DECLARATION OF TRUST ESTABLISHING AT THE ACADEMY OF APPLIED SCIENCE AT CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE, A FOUNDATION FOR RESEARCH AND EDUCATION IN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, INCLUDING PATENTS, TRADEMARKS, COPYRIGHTS, SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL INNOVATION
Whereas, in pursuance of Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution of the United States of America, authorizing Congress "...To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Investors the exclusive right to their respective Writings and Discoveries", laws have been enacted by the Congress to encourage the arts and sciences by the granting of patents and copyrights, and the trademark laws have been enacted under the same section of the Constitution "To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States..."; and
Whereas, The Academy of Applied Science, of Concord, New Hampshire, (hereinafter "the Academy"), recognizes the importance of continuously advancing education, research, knowledge and understanding among the people of the United States of America in and of the operation of such laws, particularly as they affect the promotion of the progress of science and the useful arts and innovative processes and relations among the peoples of other nations;
ARTICLE I
Creation and Name of the Foundation
There is hereby created and established in the Academy of Applied Science, as a research and educational Division of the Academy, a continuing foundation for research and education relating to intellectual property, including patents, trademarks, copyrights and scientific and technical information, the said foundation to be known as the Patent, Trademark, and Copyright Research Foundation (hereinafter the "Foundation"), the same being intended to continue, and expand upon the efforts of the Patent, Trademark, and Copyright Research Institute and Foundation respectively, formerly associated with the George Washington University and the Franklin Pierce Law Center; and the Academy hereby makes known, admits, and declares that it will receive, hold, and administer as Trustees and Trust Fund, hereinafter defined, for the uses, objects and purposes herein specified.
ARTICLE II
An Educational Organization
The Foundation shall be operated as a non-profit educational organization and shall exist as a research and educational Division of the Academy, unless and until this trust is dissolved in accordance with the procedure provided under this Declaration.
ARTICLE III
Trustees of the Foundation
1 The Trustees of the Foundation shall be the persons holding for the time being the offices of:
- President of the Academy,
- Executive Vice-President of the Academy,
- Secretary to the Academy,
- Chairman of the Academy's Research Committee,
all the foregoing being ex officio Trustees, and
- such other persons as may be appointed by the ex officio Trustees.
2 The Trustees shall use, apply, convey, employ, expend, disburse, or otherwise devote the income and principal of the Trust Fund to research and education at the Academy and elsewhere, and to increase the understanding and knowledge of the people of the United States of America of the nature and value of the incentives granted under the Constitution to authors and inventors, as well as the understanding of peoples elsewhere of the importance of such legal incentives, to promote the progress of science and the useful arts, including trademarks, and copyrights, and to do and perform all lawful things necessary, useful, suitable, desirable, or proper for the furtherance, accomplishment, fostering, or attainment of such purposes in such manner as the Trustees shall determine.
ARTICLE IV
Objects of the Foundation
As amplification of the purposes set out in the second paragraph of Article III, and without in any way limiting the same, or the discretion of the Trustees, the whole or any part of the Trust Fund, whether principal or income, may be expended:
1 To promote, conduct and foster research, education, training, instruction, knowledge and publication in the fields of industrial and intellectual property, innovation, and patent, trademark, and copyright laws and systems both of the United States of America and of other nations, including the administration of such systems, and involving the study, investigation, determination, and distribution of the facts, principles and conclusions relating to governmental regulations and policies and the statutory laws and the court decisions relating to patents, trademarks, and copyrights, and the general activities of the public thereunder, including the relationship between laws for the protection of intellectual property and, respectively, of the antitrust laws, of the tax laws and of other laws, decisions and principles affecting trade practices, the arts, and the innovative process;
2 To publicize the findings and results of the work done by or under the supervision of the Foundation by all appropriate means, and otherwise to make the same available in a manner calculated efficiently to educate and inform the general public, and those from academic circles and otherwise, having interests ranging across broad fields and disciplines, and in general all who may be concerned with respect to the functioning of the patent, trademark, and copyright systems;
3 To make available factual data and other information concerning matters relating and intellectual property, legal, scientific and technical information, innovation, the literary, pictorial, audio. video, communications and performing arts; patents, trademarks, and copyrights;
4 To collect, catalog and prepare materials with respect to intellectual property, legal, scientific and technical information, innovation, patents, trademarks, and copyrights, for the use in schools, colleges, and universities, particularly at the Academy, and to promote and organize material relating to these subjects suitable for establishment of courses of instruction therein;
5 To present to the American public facts and information which will enable it better to understand the contributions and the potential contributions of the United States Patent, Trademark and Copyright Systems to the. scientific and general welfare of the country and to the part played by such systems in technological progress, innovation, industrial development, employment, and social advancement;
6 To collect and cause to be published material authoritative in character and of high quality relating to intellectual property, scientific and technical information, innovations patents, trademarks and copyrights;
7 To cooperate with schools, colleges, universities, and other foundations, as well as with business organizations, including those of other disciplines, in carrying out the purposes of the Foundation;
8 To grant scholarships, fellowships, and prizes, for meritorious work within the field of the Foundation's activities; and
9 To carry out the objectives of the preceding paragraphs, 2 to 8, of this Article, with particular recognition of the relation to patents, trademarks, and copyrights of antitrust, tax and unfair competition laws, trade practices and the like.
ARTICLE V
Freedom of Action
1 The purposes and objects of the Foundation shall be promoted and carried on without regard to, and independently of, the special interests of any group or body politics whether political, legal, social or economic;
2 The Academy declares that, in administering the Foundation, it will be guided by the principle that the political and economic structure of this country rests upon the Constitution of the United States of America, and that the laws designed to protect the rights of authors and inventors in and to their respective "Writings and Discoveries" are integral parts of such structure.
ARTICLE VI
Foundation Management
1 The affairs and business of the Foundation shall be carried out and its administration conducted and managed by an officer or officers to be appointed by the Trustees of the Foundation.
2 The officer or officers so appointed shall be under the general supervision and direction of the Chairman of the Academy's Research Committee and shall exercise such powers and authority and shall hold office upon such terms and conditions as the Trustees shall determine: provided that no persons shall serve as such officer or officers while holding public office or office directly financed by public funds.
ARTICLE VII
Contributions to and Membership of the Foundation
1 All persons, whether individuals, groups, corporations or other organizations, interested in the support and furtherance of the purposes and work of the Foundation, who make contributions to the Foundation, but who do not wish to apply for membership, shall be known as Contributors.
2 Membership of the Foundation shall comprise all those duly admitted according to the procedure hereinafter set forth.
3 Members of the Foundation shall be divided into three classes, viz: Honorary, Life and Participating Members.
4 HONORARY MEMBERS: The President of the Academy, with the approval of the Trustees, may appoint for five-year terms Honorary Members, not to exceed six in number. Such Members shall be selected at large, from the United States and other countries, solely on the basis of eminence and conspicuous knowledge in the fields of law, basic and applied science and the arts, engineering and technology, medicine, education, business, labor and public affairs, and their recognized support of the principles set forth in paragraph 2 of Article V of this Declaration.
5 LIFE MEMBERS: Life Members of the Foundation shall consist of natural persons making contributions of $10,000 or more within any one-year period.
6 PARTICIPATING MEMBERS: Participating Members shall consist of persons making an annual contribution of an amount from $100 to $500; and those corporations or entities making an annual contribution of from $300 to $1,000.
7 Any natural or legal person making a donation, within any one-year period, to the Foundation of an amount equivalent to or exceeding the subscription for five years' participating membership shall be entitled to enjoy participating membership for an additional period of one year for every amount by which the donation exceeds three-quarters of the normal subscription.
8 The Trustees may review and alter by decision the amounts referred to in paragraphs 5 to 7 of this Article, provided that the first alteration shall not take effect earlier than a period of two years from the date of this Declaration.
9 Membership, other than Life Membership, shall extend for twelve months from the date of acceptance of payment creating such membership. Notice of expiration of any such membership shall be sent to the member at least thirty days before such expiration date;
10 Every application for membership or renewal of membership shall be subject to acceptance or rejection by the Trustees.
ARTICLE VIII
Advisory Council
1 There shall be an Advisory Council for the Foundation to be known as such. The Advisory Council shall consist of not more than twenty-one persons whose advice, assistance, and support may be deemed helpful in determining policies and in formulating and carrying out specific programs of work.
2 Members of the Advisory Council shall consist of the Honorary Members, the ex officio members within the meaning of paragraph 3 of this Article and up to thirteen additional persons, to be selected and appointed by the Trustees of the Foundation.
3 The Chairman of the House and Senate Committees or Sub-committees, as the case may be, having jurisdiction ever patent, trademark, and copyright legislation of the United States, and the United States Commissioners of Patents and Trademarks and the Registers of Copyrights, so long as they told their respective offices, shall have all the rights and privileges of ex officio members of the Advisory Council to the full extent to which they may wish from time to time to exercise such rights and privileges.
4 Insofar as practicable, the members of the Advisory Council shall represent different fields of activity, such as the fields of commerce, education, science, engineering, technology, manufacturing, finance, labor, and the professions, and, with the exception of the Honorary Members and the ex officio members of the Advisory Committee, shall be appointed for three-year terms.
5 The President of the Academy, or in his place the Chairman of the Academy's Research Committee, shall act as Chairman of the Advisory Council. The Council shall make suggestions to the principal officer of the Foundation concerning its work and policies, and shall consider all matters referred to it by the said officer. It shall have power, on its own initiative, to make recommendations to said officer as to now projects and new fields of activity of the Foundation within the scope of the Foundation's authority.
6 Meetings of the Advisory Council shall be hold at least once each year on such dates as the Chairman shall decide, having regard to the convenience of the majority of members of the Council.
7 The members of the Advisory Council shall serve without compensation; but the Trustees may authorize payment from the Trust Fund of reasonable expenses incurred by members of the Advisory Council in the performance of duties authorized by the Advisory Council;
ARTICLE IX
Foundation Funds
1 The trustees will, under the Trust herein created, accept, receive, hold, and administer funds to be known as the Trust Fund for the purposes of the Foundation, which funds may include contributions, gifts, legacies, bequests, devises, funds transferred to the Trust Fund, benefits of trusts, contracts, grants, and property of any sort or nature without limitation as to the amount or nature, but the trustees shall not be obliged to act as Trustees of any Trust, the income or benefits of which have been made available for the Trust Fund.
2 Also, the Trustees at their discretion may accept donations, devises and bequests of money or property in trust and earmarked for specific purposes within the general purposes of the Foundation and not inconsistent therewith, and such money or property, if accepted, shall be held and administered under the terms of this Declaration as nearly as say be in the some manner as the general Trust Fund;.
3 Nothing contained in this Article shall be construed as precluding the Trustees from rejecting any offer of a donation to constitute a part of the Trust Fund, but no such offer shall be accepted unless it is made as an absolute gift and without reservation or restriction, other than as provided for in the next preceding paragraph hereof.
4 Donations, contributions, transfers. bequests, devises, and legacies of funds and of property of all kinds and character may be made to the Academy of Applied Science by designation of the "Patent, Trademark and Copyright Research Foundation", or "The PTC Research Foundation", or similar description, which description shall be deemed to refer to the Trust Fund defined in this Declaration, and to contemplate and provide for the administration and application by the trustees of all such gifts in accordance with the provisions of this Declaration, unless otherwise specified in the instrument of gift.
5 The Trustees, acting pursuant to this Declaration of Trust, reserve to themselves the right to deposit the Trust Fund in such banks and safe deposit and trust companies as it may from time to time determine, and to invest that part of the Trust Fund which may exceed the estimated operating budget of the Foundation for the ensuing fiscal year.
6 Further, the Trustees also reserve the right to hold and keep all, or any part, of the Trust Fund in the investments or property in which it may be invested at the time it was received, and at any time or times to call in and sell the same, or any part thereof, at private or public sale, and to execute good and sufficient deeds and other instruments to conveyor transfer the same, and to invest and reinvest the proceeds therefrom to such investments as it may think fit; and the Trustees shall not be limited to types of investments prescribed by law for the investment of trust funds. No purchaser at any such sale shall be concerned or bound to inquire either as to the propriety of such sale or as to the application of the purchase money or proceeds.
7 The Trustees further declare that they will use the Trust Fund solely for the purposes set forth in Article III hereof, which purposes, however, are not intended to supersede, curtail, or limit any of the usual functions, customs or activities of the Academy.
8 Neither the Trustees nor the persons who shall from time to time be appointed as the officer or officers of the Foundation, or either, or any of them, shall be legally or financially responsible or liable for any error in judgment or for anything which it, they, or he may do, or refrain from doing, in good faith in the handling of the Trust Fund or in connection with the Trust Fund.
ARTICLE X
Amendments
The trustees shall have the power to amend Article VII. entitled "Membership" and Article VIII, entitled "Advisory Council", in any way consistent with the objects of the Foundation.
ARTICLE XI
Execution of the Declaration
After execution hereof, the Foundation shall be deemed in existence and operation. Immediately upon execution hereof, this Declaration shall take effect as a trust of such Foundation funds as shall be received and accepted by the Trustees hereunder.
ARTICLE XII
Dissolution of the Foundation
The Trustees of the Foundation may, subject to the requirements of the law of the State in which the Foundation is established and to all legal obligations with regard to the Foundation's funds, dissolve the Foundation with or without an agreement to transfer the name, goodwill and tangible and intangible assets of the Foundation to a third party.