$5,100 and I have not to this day received any payment or reward growing out of the claim so filed. MOSE ALTMAN, Claimant. Sworn to and subscribed before me this 8th day of March, A. D. 1948. My commission expires October 6, 1950. Notary Public. AFFIDAVIT IN SUPPORT OF H. R. 1801, BILL FOR THE RELIEF OF MOSE ALTMAN I, Mose Altman, of 5606a Etzel Avenue, St. Louis, Mo., being duly sworn, depose and say that I furnished to Mr. Melvin Burton, internal revenue agent, room 1767, Railway Exchange Building, St. Louis, Mo., on the 30th day of January 1942, information which led to the detection of a violation of the internal revenue laws by Mert Abraham, now deceased, and Harry Abraham, now deceased, executives of the Abraham Fur Co., 626 South Sixth Street, St. Louis, Mo., and to the recovery of taxes, penalties, fines, and forfeitures in the approximate amount of $51,000; the information furnished by me was submitted pursuant to the provisions for reward offered by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue under Treasury Decision No. 5183 and consisted of duplicate records of all sales, bills of lading. bookkeeping records, bank deposits, etc., in connection with the sale of a fat product which had been scraped from hides. Also a complete indexed list of all of the files and their contents of the then liquidated Abraham Fur Co. and their exact location in a storage warehouse. Thus saving the government a long and expensive investigation and resulted in an early conclusion of the case. I was not an officer of the internal revenue service, nor was I appointed to, employed in, or acting in connection with the internal revenue service when said information was obtained and furnished. MOSE ALTMAN, Claimant. Sworn to and subscribed before me this 16th day of December, A. D. 1947. [SEAL] KATHERYN E. COCHRANE, Notary Public. My commission expires October 6, 1950. ... O 80TH CONGRESS | HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 2d Session FRED E. GROSS REPORT No. 1633 APRIL 1, 1948.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House and ordered to be printed Mr. CRAVENS, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 2131] The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 2131) for the relief of Fred E. Gross, having considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass. The purpose of the proposed legislation is to confer jurisdiction upon the United States Court of Claims to hear, determine, and render judgment upon the claim of Fred E. Gross in connection with certain patented and designed packing boxes used for vane assemblies and bomb fuzes. STATEMENT OF FACTS The facts in connection with this claim are fully set forth in statement of Mr. Gross. Your committee is of the opinion that he should have his day in court, and after careful consideration of the claim, it is recommended that the bill be enacted. Statement is as follows: (1) On or about October 10, 1942, I conceived the idea for a new packing box. This idea solved for the duration of the war and since the bottleneck which closed Cown the loading line for 3 days at Arkansas ordnance plant and threatened proluction of vital bomb fuzes which were sorely needed by our troops and those of our allies during the early stages of the war. (2) After attempting to demonstrate the new design for 47 days to the commanding officer, Lt. Col. Robert A. Kohloss, Jr., and members of the technical staff of the operating contractor, Ford, Bacon & Davis, Inc., I was permitted to show and demonstrate the sample design to Colonel Stewart, Chief of the Technical Division. Within 3 minutes after first viewing the new box, he stepped to the phone, called the commanding officer, Colonel Kohloss, and recommended that the design be accepted. Colonel Kohloss was very reluctant to accept his recommendation stating that inasmuch as no officer of the Army could claim credit for this design, he felt that the idea should be killed there and then. Colonel Stewart was insistent that it be written up and forwarded through channels with endorsement recommending adoption. After considerable discussion as to its solving present production schedules, and the assurance that he, Colonel Stewart, would do nothing to push its adoption, the commanding officer, Colonel Kohloss, consented to have it drawn up and forwarded through channels to the office of the field director of ammunition plants, St. Louis, Mo. Photographs and drawings were made of the box which were forwarded to field director of ammunition plants on November 26, 1942. (3) No official action or comment was forthcoming from either field director of ammunition plants or office, Chief of Ordnance, Washington, D. C., until February 15, 1943, when the material furnished to Office, Chief of Ordnance, was accepted by Office, Chief of Ordnance, and presented to the Ordnance Department at large, on official Ordnance drawings 76-16-166 and 76-16-167. The official adoption by the Ordnance Department is contained in Technical Change Order No. OIA-D-485, dated February 5, 1943. This order was made mandatory "on current contracts as soon as practicable without delay or interruption to current production schedules." It will be noted that this change was made to use it in packing not only one fuze for which the box was originally designed, but to include five additional fuzes as well. This was the first revision for packing bomb fuzes in this box, but since then there have been 8 revisions to these drawings, each time adding new fuzes to be packed in this manner until today it is mandatory to pack 16 different fuzes in this packing container. Therefore, its scope and usefulness has been magnified 16 times. It should also be noted that these drawings were the first disclosure of a patentable item under the law governing patents. (4) No request, either written or oral, for the free use of this box by the Government was made before or after its adoption. It was used throughout the war without this consent. I claim the Government was negligent in this respect by not obtaining prior consent for its use, and, therefore, has made itself liable for patent infringement. (5) On April 21, 1943, I was required to accept a demotion in grade classification from CAF-7, at $2,600 per annum, to CAF-6, at $2,300 per annum. This demotion in grade was brought to the attention of the commanding officer by Mr. C. P. Dougan at Arkansas ordnance plant with the knowledge that should this matter be brought to the attention of the Congress of the United States, it might become embarrassing to the officer-in-charge. So Colonel Kohloss, Jr., ordered that demotion be suspended and reinstatement to former grade be accomplished. This was done, and all official papers covering the demotion were withdrawn from the files and handed to me, which still remain in my possession. (6) On April 29, 1943, I was accorded official letter of commendation from the commanding officer for meritorious service. Although Colonel Kohloss, Jr., signed this letter as commanding officer, he refused to make presentation in view of his stand against the suggestion and waited until he was relieved of duty so that his successor, Major Fenstermacher, would have to make it. This may seem to be a petty incident, but it shows to what length some officers of the Army will go to gain their point. (7) On May 20, 1943, Major Fenstermacher presented me the United States Army Citation No. 54, in behalf of the Chief of Ordnance, Washington, D. C. (8) On 16 July 1943, soon after this box was standardized for use throughout the Ordnance Department, Arkansas ordnance plant was requested to take over a purchase order issued at Ravenna ordnance plant for 21,000 boxes of the old type Arkansas ordnance plant agreed to do this providing they were acquired "free issue" excess material from Ravenna. Soon afterward Ravenna notified Arkansas ordnance plant that it was canceling its purchase order for the 21,000 old-type boxes and requested Arkansas ordnance plant to issue a new purchase order to Cozier-Wood Package Co. calling for a like number of new-type boxes at the same price and terms. Arkansas ordnance plant immediately objected to do this, since the old-type box is much more costly than the Gross type, which would greatly increase loading costs on this item of bomb fuzes. Correspondence shows that on such a small order of only 21,000 boxes, excess cost for the boxes alone resulted in a saving at Arkansas ordnance plant of $16,672.50. In addition to this cost must be added extra expense involved in receiving, inspecting, and tallying-in, since there were so many items of hardware involved in the old type. Gross' design eliminated entirely the use of all this hardware. This is only one example wherein the Gross box saved material costs and labor. Many instances of this nature came up during the change-over from the old to the new packing box. It is safe to say, tremendous savings were made to all ordnance establishments using the Gross design for packing bomb fuzes (9) February 7, 1944, I filed a claim with the United States Patent Office on the new design, which was just 7 days before the expiration date allowed for filing. Almost a year had elapsed between its adoption by the Ordnance Department on February 15, 1943, and the date Gross filed claim for patent. During this 12-month period the Ordnance Department made no effort whatsoever to gain Government "free use" of the item from Gross nor did they request "free use" from the inventor. The item was merely adopted, put into mass production for use throughout all ordnance establishments, and used without consent. (10) On April 18, 1944, Mr. Norrell, Member of Congress, requested Col. E. J. Walsh, Legislative and Liaison Division, Office of the Chief of Staff, to advise him whether, under existing rules and regulations, Mr. Gross was "entitled to some financial consideration as a direct result of the action of the War Department." His reply to this request is contained in letter from the Chief of Ordnance, dated July 22, 1944, wherein it is stated that "It appears therefrom that it is not deemed to be in accord with the intent of the act of March 18, 1943 (Public Law 11, 78th Cong.). Neither does it appear therefrom that a cash award could be paid under regulations prescribed under the act of July 17, 1912 (37 Stat. 193) as certain conditions precedent to a cash award which have been laid down in this statute could not be met in this case, one being a written statement from the employee that he has not filed an application for a patent." It should be pointed out here that every effort was made by Congressman Norrell to obtain some kind of financial remuneration for Gross through the War Department with no avail. (11) August 1, 1944, Mr. Gross was transferred to Washington, Office, Chief of Ordnance. His work in the inspection branch at Arkansas ordnance plant was of a nature to be valued in the formulating of inspection procedure to be used throughout the entire Ordnance Department. His commanding officer, Office, Chief of Ordnance, Col. W. L. Bell, Jr., learned of his contribution to the war effort at Arkansas ordnance plant and how it had been suppressed. Desiring to correct the injustices previously accorded Mr. Gross in his efforts to further the war effort Colonel Bell recommended to the Ordnance Office Board on Civilian Awards on November 8, 1944, that he be granted the exceptional award for his fine work in designing the new packing box. In his remarks in this memorandum it is desired to point out that Mr. Gross did this work on his own time while in the inspection branch at Arkansas ordnance plant. He further corroborates previous statements concerning presentation of the idea at Arkansas ordnance plant and mentions that its use was mandatory throughout Army Service Forces of which the Ordnance Department was a part. He further pointed out that up to that time it was used to pack not 1 but 11 fuzes and gives the unit savings per box. Further on in the letter he points out the tremendous savings estimated to result to the Ordnance Department by its use. Its saving in shipping space, lumber, strategic raw materials, such as zinc or cadmium plated nuts, bolts, and washers, etc., have literally saved the Government and the war effort millions of dollars, not to mention the savings in manpower, production, and safety through the entire Ordnance organization. (12) This letter resulted in the presentation on March 9, 1945, to Mr. Gross of the Exceptional Civilian Award of the War Department by Gen. Levin H. Campbell, Chief of Ordnance. In the citation accompanying the award of the emblem of exceptional service the following statement is made: "In recognition of his outstanding contribution to the Ordnance Department and the Nation's war effort by the design of an ammunition box which has conserved critical materials and shipping space and has also resulted in tremendous savings of money, time, and labor for the Government." Some of these estimated savings are listed such as 640,000 cubic feet displacement, 1,350,000 board feet of lumber, 1,500,000 pounds of steel, and 6,000,000 pounds of shipping. This award carried an automatic within-grade promotion of $100. This increase in salary was abrogated on March 21, 1945, by Mr. Gross' promotion to ordnance engineer, P-3. A total of $3.19 was actually the only money received from this within-grade promotion. (13) Learning of this recognition accorded by the War Department and wishing to extend his personal regards for his efforts, the Honorable W. F. Norrell on the 12th day of April 1945 asked unanimous consent to extend his own remarks in the Appendix of the Record with reference to the citation awarded Mr. Fred E Gross, of the War Department. There being no objection, the request was granted and the remarks appear on page A1835 of the Congressional Record, Appendix, as of this date. (14) Having exhausted every avenue to gain a monetary consideration for Mr. Gross from the War Department without avail, Mr. Norrell on the 11th day of June 1946 introduced bill H. R. 6761. This bill died with the Seventy-ninth How Congress because the War Department report on this item could not be forwarded to the Committee on Claims in sufficient time for action by the committee. ever, it is noted that on the 12th of July 1946 the Patent Branch of the Chief of Ordnance sent their report to the Secretary of War's office which did not reach the committee in time to act. (15) Notwithstanding all efforts of Mr. Norrell to gain relief of Mr. Gross, he again presented on the floor of the House of Representatives a bill, H. R. 2131, and referred it to the Committee on the Judiciary. A request of the committee for a full report by the War Department went forward but to date action is being delayed. Hon. EARL C. MICHENER, Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary, WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington, D. C., June 20, 1947. House of Representatives. DEAR MR. MICHENER: The War Department is opposed to the enactment of H. R. 2131, Eightieth Congress, first session, a bill for the relief of Fred E. Gross. The bill would confer jurisdiction upon the Court of Claims to hear, determine, and render judgment upon the claim of Mr. Gross for compensation for the use by the Army of a packing box for vane assemblies and bomb fuzes patented by Mr. Cross (U. S. Patent No. 2,389,358). The packing box in question was developed by Mr. Gross while employed as a civilian ordnance inspector, the development being made at least partially on Government time with Government materials and with the assistance of other Government personnel. Under settled rules of law the United States, in the opinion of this Department, became vested with the right to the free use of the invention of Mr. Gross made under these circumstances. The bill is further objected to because it does not reserve to the Government any of the defenses normally available to it under the provisions of the act of 1910 as amended (U. S. C., title 35, sec. 68) in defending suits of this type in the Court of Claims. The War Department appreciates the value of the contribution made to the war effort by Mr. Gross' packing box invention. However, he is only one of a large number of persons engaged in the services of the Government who have developed valuable inventions or made contributions of note within the scope of their employment. To attempt to reward each of them despite the rights of the United States in the inventions concerned in each case would defeat entirely the purposes of the acts of March 3, 1883, as amended (U. S. C., title 35, sec. 45), and of June 25, 1910, as amended, supra, and would be impractical. The present bill by permitting Mr. Gross to maintain his suit despite the otherwise complete right of the Government to the free use of the invention in question is obviously unfair to others who have made as great, or greater, contributions to the war effort under similar circumstances. The War Department is unable to stimate accurately the fiscal effects of the proposed legislation. For the reasons stated, the War Department is opposed to the enactment of H. R. 2131. The Bureau of the Budget advises that there is no objection to the submission of this report. Sincerely yours, OBERT P. PATTERSON, WAR DEPARTMENT, ARKANSAS ORDNANCE PLANT, Little Rock, Ark., August 25, 1944. Subject: Recommendation for award, Emblem for Exceptional Service. 1. It is recommended that Mr. Fred E. Gross, at the present time employed in the Office of the Chief of Ordnance as an engineering aide, SP-8, be awarded the Emblem for Exceptional Service. This recommendation is based on a new |