§ 18. Sir B. FALLEasked the Secretary to the Admiralty if he can say that in the event of a petty officer or man submitting a request to his officer that an invention, or the papers and drawings thereof, shall be transmitted to the Admiralty and being refused such request the applicant is at liberty to forward same to the Admiralty direct or to the Board of Inventions; and if it is permissible for 1029 a Service inventor to hand over his invention to the Admiralty, providing the Admiralty will accept same, on the terms that the Admiralty should make free use of same, but protect the inventor against the public exploitation of the invention?
§ Dr. MACNAMARAIn the contingency referred to in the first part of the question the petty officer or man may act in accordance with Article 8 of the King's Regulations, which provides for any complaint being represented to the captain of the ship, the officer commanding the squadron, the Commander-in-Chief, and the Secretary of the Admiralty, in the order given.
As regards the second part of the question, the conditions under which such inventions shall be permitted to be patented are left, by the regulations, entirely to the discretion of the Admiralty. The inventor's protection against the public, is, of course, a patent in his own name, and the Admiralty practice is to permit such patents to be applied for, provided there is no Service reason to the contrary. The conditions applicable to such permission vary according to the circumstances of each case.