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the St. Gobain group, one of the most notable French enterprises,
with which I conducted negotiations in 1938 about large-scale cooperation in
the chemical field negotiations to which Dr. Wurster had already made reference
during his examination. Next to that, of course, there were a number of license
agreements with Kuhlmann, with Rhône-Poulenc, and other firms. And then
there were a number of sales and price conventions.
Q. Did the French
patent law play any part in these negotiations?
A. Yes, that is so. The
French patent law provides that a patent must be used in order to be valid; if
a holder of a patent did not make use of his French patent, then the French
Government could give a forced license to other French firms if an application
was made to that effect. That, of course, made it necessary for the patent
holder to utilize his discoveries in France itself, or to conclude, himself, a
license agreement with other French firms. Because of this situation, which was
caused by the French patent legislation, in 1938 and 1939, shortly before the
war, Farben intended to construct its own plant in France in order to start
certain productions that were protected by patents. This plan was prevented by
the outbreak of the war. In 1941, it was finally abandoned in favor of the
Francolor, or the parent firms of Francolor, for we entered into an obligation
either to permit Francolor or one of its parent firms to carry out the intended
productions.
Q. What was the status of the chemical industry of France
in the prewar years?
A. The French chemical industry, as far as size
and significance was concerned, lagged behind the corresponding industries of
the United States, Germany, and England. This was partly due to the
particularly unfavorably economic situation in France during the 1930’s;
but the French chemical industry was technically backwards in some fields;
therefore, the French chemical firms endeavored to bring about closer
collaboration with the German chemical industry.
Q. What was the
attitude of the French chemical industry to the collaboration that you have
just mentioned, after the armistice had been concluded?
A. I can't
answer that question generally, but, from talks with leading persons of the
French chemical industry, I know that intensified interest in such a
collaboration existed and that that interest was supported by the French
Government. I don't mean this in the political sense, but for purely commercial
and technical considerations. Thus, for instance, in the winter of 1941, a
French commission visited German chemical plants upon invitation of the
Economic Group Chemical Industry. As far as I remember, the already-mentioned
Minister, Mr. Bichelonne, participated in this trip; he was then the French
Minister and State Secretary for Industrial Production. I |
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