201 - Joseph POCH

On 7 November 1877 POCH applied for a brevet d’importation for a

Poudre inexplosible dite “pudrolyte” à l’usage des mineurs

Joseph Pau Ramond POCH was a Spanish citizen and residing in Belgium, in 1872 in Brussels and in 1876 in Liège. 

He had obtained in 1872 a patent for his « pudrolyte » explosive mixture in England [1] and in 1876 he obtained a corresponding patent in the USA [2].

The Government had already had to deal with the « pudrolythe (pudrolite or pudrolyte) » invention in 1876 (see No 173). The experts, appointed by the Chambre de commerce at the time, took the view that the true inventor of the « pudrolythe » blasting powder was a Parisian, by the name of Alexandre OLLER. The latter was indeed the first to file his application (31 October 1871), some 5 months earlier than POCH (2 March 1872).

The Patent Register contains a handwritten note stating that the POCH application had been « refusé ».

Judging from previous decisions, it is quite likely that the Chambre de commerce rejected the application on the grounds that the invention was known through earlier publications, namely POCH’s own British patent, published in 1872. 

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[1] GB patent No 656/1872

[2] US patent No 184,020

(18/02/2021)