Note from Paul Magès to Mr. Grosseau claiming his rights as an inventor (21 November 1971)

In this document

This handwritten note, signed "Magès" and dated "21.11.71" p. 1, is addressed "to Mr. Grosseau" p. 1.

Magès' message

Paul Magès explains that the work to which he is currently "devoting himself fully" is "not requested of me and which could not be requested of me" p. 1. He specifies that he devotes "practically all my leisure time" to it and that this work is "based on a patent in my name from 1935" p. 1.

The claim

He draws a direct consequence from this: he indicates that he "would insist that the improvement patents" he is preparing "be taken out with the mention of the inventor's name" p. 1.

He justifies this request with a moral and economic argument: this practice, he says, is becoming widespread, and it is "desirable morally, for the people who wear out their grey matter, and economically as well, because it would stimulate the production of new ideas" p. 1. He adds that "USA patents must mention the name of the actual inventor" p. 1.

The page bears two handwritten marks: the name "Magès" surrounded by an oval line at the top left, and a paraph surrounded by an oval line followed by the date, at the bottom of the page.

Context

Paul Magès is the Citroën engineer behind the hydropneumatic suspension, a key device of the DS presented in 1955; having joined Citroën in August 1925, he would spend his entire career there until his retirement in September 1974 (photographs of Paul Magès' retirement). This general context — not mentioned in the note — sheds light on the importance that a salaried inventor could attach to the authorship of his patents, in a company where filings were traditionally made in the name of the company.

The subject mentioned here, "carburation", refers more broadly to the research conducted by Magès beyond just the suspension, on other automotive mechanical systems — a field of invention that remained less known to the general public than the DS.

Archivist's perspective

This short but dense note reveals, probably better than a technical document, the relationship that Magès maintained with his own intellectual production: he seems to want to clearly distinguish what he does "in his leisure time", on his own initiative, from what falls under his duties at Citroën p. 1.

The mention of a personal patent dating from 1935 is notable: it suggests that Magès had, well before joining Citroën in August 1925 at 17 and a half and his rise to the position of deputy head of the Super-Control (draft letter from Paul Magès to Mr. Sarre and meeting plan of the 11), already filed inventions in his own name — a fact that would deserve to be cross-referenced with other documents in the collection relating to his earlier patents, if they exist.

The tone, both firm and reasoned (comparison with the American patent practice), shows a man concerned with the recognition of the intellectual authorship of his inventions, in a context where the subject — the filing of personal patents on carburation — seems to have caused tension or at least a need for clarification with his management, here represented by Mr. Grosseau p. 1.