Stock material is fabricated by a number of firms into an endless variety of articles. Among these are toilet articles such as combs, backs for brushes, cosmetic containers, and trinkets; fittings for automobiles, electrical appliances, furniture, and display fixtures; jewelry, dress ornaments, clock cases, handbag frames, vanity cases, smokers’ articles, signs and advertising specialties, picture frames, handles for cutlery, chessmen, pens, desk penholders, pencils, and many others. Probably the largest consumption is in the making of buttons and buckles. The cast phenolic resins are odorless, tasteless, nonflammable, resistant to oils and greases, and practically nonbreakable. Patents and licensing. The basic patent covering the manufacture of cast phenolic resins is United States Patent No. 1,854,600, issued April 19, 1932, to F. Poliak and A. Ostersetzer, of Vienna, and assigned to Pollopas, Ltd., of London. Many other patents have been granted on variations and modifications of this one. The basic process is also patented in England, France, Germany, and other countries. United States and Canadian patent rights were purchased by the American Catalin Corporation; German rights by the Interessen Gemeinschaft Industrie A. G. (German I. G.); French rights by Kuhlmann Co., and British rights by the Imperial Chemical Industries. These licensing arrangements limited the licensee to sales in his own and, in some instances, nearby countries. The American Catalin Corporation has successfully defended the validity of this patent and has licensed a number of domestic manufacturers to produce cast phenolic resins on a royalty basis. In 1937 there were seven domestic makers of cast phenolic resins located in New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania. These firms produce and market resins under the following trade names: Catalin, Prystal, Joanite, Fiberlon, Phenolin, and Marblette. Production of cast phenolic resins. Production was initiated about 1929 by the American Catalin Corporation. The output increased substantially every year from that year through 1933. Statistics of production and sales are not publishable for the years prior to 1934 because they would reveal the operations of individual firms; they are given in table 6 for subsequent years. TABLE 6.—_Cast phenolic resins: United States production and sales, 1934-37_