Converted to EAD3 : Encoded Archival Description (EAD), Version 3 : Release: 1.1.1 : Release Date: 2019-12-16. Validating against latest version of schema.
Contact information: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mss.contact
Catalog Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/mm00084755
Collection material in English
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the LC Catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically.
The papers of Giles S. Rich, federal judge and patent attorney, were bequeathed by Rich to the Library of Congress and received in 2000 and 2001. Additional items were transferred from the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in 2017.
The papers of Giles S. Rich were arranged and described in 2002. The finding aid was revised and expanded in 2007 to include material not described in the original version, and this is reflected in Addition I. A further revision was made in 2014 to include the description of digital files. Material transferred in 2017 were processed and described as Addition II in 2019.
Items have been transferred from the Manuscript Division to other custodial divisions of the Library. Sound and video recordings have been transferred to the Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division. A book has been transferred to the Anglo-American Acquisitions Division. All transfers are identified in these divisions as part of the Giles S. Rich Papers in the Manuscript Division.
Copyright in the unpublished writings of Giles S. Rich in these papers and in other collections in the custody of the Library of Congress is reserved. Consult a reference librarian in the Manuscript Division for further information.
Restrictions apply governing the use, photoduplication, or publication of items in this collection. Consult a reference librarian in the Manuscript Division for information concerning these restrictions.
Digital files were received as part of the papers of Giles S. Rich. Reference copies were created from the original digital media. Consult reference staff in the Manuscript Division for more information.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container or digital ID number, Giles S. Rich Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
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
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
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
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
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
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
This collection is arranged in twelve series:
Catalog Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/mm00084755
Correspondence, legal files, teaching files, clippings, notes, and printed matter.
Arranged alphabetically by type of material or topic and chronologically therein.
Letters with attachments received and copies of letters sent.
Arranged alphabetically by name of person, organization, or topic and chronologically therein.
Correspondence, memoranda, notes, copies of opinions, reports, printed matter, and clippings.
Arranged alphabetically by name of person, organization, or topic and chronologically therein.
Opinions in various stages of preparation, circulated opinions, memoranda, correspondence, administrative sheets, notes on argued cases, case assignments, vote tallies, motions, briefs, transcripts, reports, printed matter, clippings, and background material.
Organized chronologically by annual court term and alphabetically thereunder by type of material. Opinion files are grouped by type of appeal and filed numerically thereunder by docket number. Material in individual opinion files is mostly filed as received with final and draft opinions followed in order by correspondence, notes, background material, and printed copies of briefs and transcripts of record.
Correspondence, memoranda, notes, copies of opinions, reports, printed matter, and clippings.
Arranged alphabetically by topic, name of person or organization, or type of material and chronologically therein.
Opinions in various stages of preparation, circulated opinions, memoranda, correspondence, administrative sheets, notes, case assignments, vote tallies, motions, briefs, transcripts, reports, printed matter, clippings, and background material.
Organized chronologically by annual court term and alphabetically thereunder by type of material. Opinion files are arranged numerically by docket number. Material in individual opinion files is mostly arranged as received with final and draft opinions followed in order by administrative sheets, correspondence, notes, background material, and printed copies of briefs and transcripts of record.
Opinion files with opinions in various stages of preparation, circulated opinions, memoranda, correspondence, administrative sheets, notes, vote tallies, motions, briefs, transcripts, reports, printed matter, clippings, and background material.
Organized chronologically by annual court term and filed numerically thereunder by docket number. Material in individual opinion files is mostly arranged as received with final and draft opinions followed in order by administrative sheets, correspondence, notes, background material, and printed copies of briefs and transcripts of record.
Correspondence, notes, reports, opinions, printed matter, transcripts, clippings, and background material.
Arranged alphabetically by topic, name of organization, or type of material and chronologically thereunder.
Correspondence, notes, reports, printed matter, clippings, and background material.
Arranged alphabetically by topic and chronologically thereunder.
Handwritten, typed, and printed copies of articles, speeches, and books with related notes, printed matter, and research material.
Grouped alphabetically and arranged chronologically or alphabetically therein.
Awards, biographical and genealogical material, clippings, memorials, photographs, and printed matter.
Arranged alphabetically by type of material and chronologically thereunder.
Opinions, memoranda, correspondence, notes, briefs, transcripts, and reports from the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
Organized chronologically by annual court term and thereunder by type of material. Opinion files are arranged according to docket number.
Correspondence, drafts and copies of bills, speeches, writings, subject file, appointment books, notes, and research material.
Arranged alphabetically by topic or type of material.
Index cards.
Arranged and described according to the series, containers, and folders from which the items were removed.
Arranged and described according to the series, containers, and folders from which the items were removed. The series contains 522 files (430.79 MB) and contains text documents, executable files, web pages, and image files.