ACTIONS UNDER THE PATENT STATUTES. 265 ACTIONS QUI TAM^ UNDER THE PATENT STATUTES OF THE UNITED STATES. SECTION 4901 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, as part of the Acts relating to Patents, provides for penal- ties in case any one shall attempt to deceive the public into be- heving that articles of his manufacture are protected by patent, either, i. by marking them in such a way as will lead to the belief that they are made under the authority of an actually issued patent, with the consent of the patentee, when in fact no such consent has been given ; or, 2. by marking the articles ** patented," or with words and symbols having like effect, when in fact they are not patented at all. The obvious intent of the section is to punish persons who fraudulently attempt to impose upon the public the belief that they are enjoying a monopoly m the articles so marked, when in fact they are not. The section in question reads as follows : —
- ' Sec. 4901. Every person who, in any manner, marks upon anything
made, used, or sold by him for which he has not obtained a patent, the name or any imitation of the name of any person who has obtained a patent therefor without the consent of such patentee, or his assigns or legal representatives ; or " Who, in any manner, marks upon or affixes to any such patented article the word ' patent ' or ' patentee,' or the words ' letters-patent,' or any word of like import, with intent to imitate or counterfeit the mark or device of the patentee, without having the license or consent of such patentee, or his assigns or legal representatives ; or " Who, in any manner, marks upon or affixes to any unpatented article the word ' patent,' or any word importing that the same is patented, for the purpose of deceiving the public, shall be liable, for every such offence, to a penalty of not less than one hundred dollars, with costs; one half of said penalty to the person who shall sue for the same, and the other to the use of the United States, to be recovered by suit in any district court of the United States within whose jurisdiction such offence may have been committed." 1 Qui tafn or popular actions are so called because instituted by a person " qra tarn pro domino rege quam pro seipso sequHur Stephens, Commentaries, vol. iii. p. 436. 36
