Patents: Old Laws for New Materials

Alloys are one of the oldest technologies known to man and feature quite prominently in records of cases going back as far as the late 19th century. Looking at old Reports of Patent Cases from a century ago, it is easy to be struck by just how familiar the subject matter is in cases like Thermit v Weldite (production of alloys of aluminium and metals such as chromium, iron, tungsten, molybdenum, nickel, cobalt etc), compared to most of the other long antiquated technology which was in dispute a century ago, such as "improvements in velocipede saddles" or "a machine for stropping razors".

The principles of law in those old cases would also still be reasonably familiar to a contemporary audience. Patent law in relation to alloys is a mature and settled field, with a fairly high level of consistency and predictability around the world. It is also a fairly vigorous area of IP activity, with something like 40,000 PCT applications for alloys filed in 2001,