Scope and Content Note
The papers of Giles Sutherland Rich (1904-1999) span the years 1790-1999, with the bulk of the material concentrated in the period 1956-1999. The collection chiefly documents Rich's long and influential career in patent and intellectual property law as a judge on the United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals and its successor the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. In 1997 at the age of 92, Rich achieved recognition as the oldest serving active federal judge, a status he reinforced by continuing to serve until his death two years later. He is especially well-known for his opinions recognizing patents in the biotechnology and computer software industries and for his contributions to the Patent Act of 1952. Rich's extensive case files constitute the main body of his papers, which are organized in the following series: Pre-Judicial File; Correspondence File; United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals; United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit; Subject File; Legal Reference File; Speeches, Writings, and Events File; Miscellany; Addition I; Addition II; Oversize; and Digital File.
The Pre-Judicial File represents Rich's activities as a patent attorney prior to his appointment to the federal judiciary in 1956. Although he practiced patent law for more than twenty-five years, his papers contain only a few of his legal files and a teaching file relating to courses he taught at Columbia University. Rich considered his contributions to the Patent Act of 1952 a major achievement, and this is primarily covered in Addition II.
The Correspondence File largely reflects Rich's period of service on the bench and contains letters exchanged with attorneys, judges, government officials, and professional organizations. Topics of discussion include points of law, legislation, and the effects of decisions by various United States courts. Much of the correspondence is general in nature including scheduling, invitations, and personal notes. Prominent correspondents include Tom Arnold, George E. Frost, Frank Y. Gladney, Learned Hand, Alan Latman, Paul P. Rao, Homer J. Schneider, Arthur M. Smith, and Robert C. Watson.
The United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals series is composed of an administrative file and an extensive case file. The series contains some of Rich's most important opinions in patent law and, together with the case file in the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit series, documents the development of patent and intellectual property law as well as growth in science and technology in the United States during the last half of the twentieth century. The administrative file contains correspondence exchanged with various federal judges and material relating to Rich's appointment to the court, his service as acting chief judge, and the merger of the Court of Customs and Patent Appeals with the United States Court of Claims.
The case file documents the legal debates and consensus-building process of the court's five-judge panels and includes final and draft copies of opinions, notes from oral arguments, correspondence and law clerks' memoranda, vote tallies, circulated opinions, briefs, transcripts, and background material. Grouped chronologically by annual terms, the case file contains patent and customs cases in which Rich wrote majority, concurring, or dissenting opinions. Annual terms begin in October and generally run through June of the following year, and cases are arranged by docket number mostly within the term in which they were first argued or submitted. A new docket number system introduced in the annual term for 1974-1975 includes a prefix identifying the federal fiscal year in which a case was docketed.
A file for In re Bergy relates to the patentability of genetically engineered life-forms under the existing patent laws. The Bergy decision, which was subsequently affirmed by the Supreme Court in the Diamond v. Chakrabarty case, is credited with contributing to the rapid expansion of the biotechnology industry. Sound recordings of oral arguments for In re Bergy and In re Chakrabarty have been transferred to the Library's Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division. Other prominent cases include In re Benson and In re Diehr in which Rich argued for the extension of patent protection to computer software programs. His opinion in Diehr was ultimately upheld by the Supreme Court. The file also contains customs and trademark cases.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit series reflects Rich's work as a member of the circuit court formed by the combined Court of Customs and Patent Appeals and the Court of Claims. Created in 1982, the new court was given greatly expanded nationwide jurisdiction in patent appeal cases in order to provide more uniformity in patent law. The court's jurisdiction also included appeals in the fields of international trade, government contracts, claims against the government, and federal personnel. Material related to the court include an administrative file, a case file, and an en banc case file. Opinions by Rich include State Street Bank & Trust Co. v. Signature Financial Group recognizing patents for business and financial methods and In re Alappat, another computer software program case decided en banc. Files include final and draft copies of opinions, notes from oral arguments, administrative sheets, correspondence and law clerks' memoranda, vote tallies, circulated opinions, briefs, transcripts, and background material. Grouped by annual terms as the file was originally organized in Rich's offices, the case files primarily relate to cases in which Rich authored opinions. Annual terms run from October through September, and cases are mostly filed in the term in which they were first argued or submitted. Files for the 1990s are incomplete and many include only Rich's notes and law clerks' memoranda. The administrative file includes correspondence of the court, minutes and reports from judges' conferences, a personal file, and material related to cases before the court concerning the air traffic controllers' strike in 1981.
The Subject File contains material documenting Rich's participation in drafting legislation affecting design protection and the pharmaceutical industry. Other prominent files include material relating to patent cases appealed to the Supreme Court. In Graham v. John Deere Co. the Court affirmed the concept of “nonobviousness,” a standard for granting patents cowritten by Rich into the Patent Act of 1952. Other key files treat biotechnology, software protection, trademarks, and the history of the Court of Customs and Patent Appeals. The Legal Reference File covers a broad range of issues related to patents, including files pertaining to the legislative history of patent law.
The Speeches, Writings, and Events File contains items related to Rich's books, judicial seminars, speeches, articles, notes, and background material. Book files include material pertaining to Rich's A Brief History of the United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals and his Collected Papers on Patent Law. A chronological file of articles, speeches, and events attended by Rich spans the breadth of his career. Prominent in the file is correspondence and other material relating to his Charles F. Kettering Award address in 1964 expounding the merits of the “nonobviousness” standard for patents.
The Miscellany series includes biographical and genealogical material, memorials, photographs, and printed matter.
Addition I includes case files from the 1982-1983 annual term of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Addition II primarily covers Rich's pre-judicial career. Prominent in this addition are papers documenting Rich's contributions to the Patent Act of 1952. Rich served on the Drafting Committee of the Coordinating Committee on Revision and Amendment of the Patent Laws of the National Council of Patent Law Association. Correspondence, drafts of proposed bills with Rich's edits and handwritten suggestions, notes, reseach material, clippings, printed matter, and other supporting material chronicle the two-year effort by Rich and other coordinating committee members to assist the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives in drafting the Patent Act of 1952. Also included are notecards containing section-by-section comments from various organizations or individuals and a copy of P. J. Federico's Commentary on the New Patent Act.
Addition II also includes subject file, speeches, and writings. Rich's interest in patent law reform from 1967 to 1976 is reflected in the subject file. He particularly collected material related to the proposed bill S. 1042. This bill was based on recommendations of the President's Commission on the Patent System and would have changed to a first-to-file patent system. Speeches consist of notes, drafts of speeches, and published versions of Rich's speeches along with supporting material. Topics include designs, section 271 of the Patent Act of 1952, and principles of patentibility. Writings include an unpublished paper by Rich regarding his opinion of In re Nelson. Also included in writings are Rich's thoughts on the philosophy of patents, the Patent Office, and different sections of Title 35.