The republic., 1851-01-30
[coMMuSICATED ]
How nre Patents Granted.

An answer to this question may be summed up
ma follows: Under the present system, in the United
States any person, citizen or an alien, who has
resided one year. and declared his intention to be-
come citizen, can obtain patent for thirty dol
lars. The applicant who desires patent 10 ro-
quired to deposit his petition, specification model,
and thirty dollars; no is required that the
supposed incention i his discovery, as hs
kno,os and that II is NOT an public ,uiM his
sent, it his kno,osdgs; without this oath he has
not complied with the law. This being done, the
case is properly before the Office.
The examiner at the Patent Office Of course knows
lttlcor nothing ofc state OF the particular act the
particular moment in the thousand workshopsin all
creation; but he examines the patents then in tho
office connected with the particular act; he exam
ines printed books and publications; and here bis
examination must necessarily end. The whole
proceeding is secret. The examiner does not dis
cover that the invention before known, and he
reports accordingly tathe Commissioner of Patents,
who thereupon Issues an exclusive grant for four
teen years.
At this point the public are apprsed Of what
has been done. Now, the first announcement Of
this special, secret, parte grant, Is hailed by
the public emitting him who has secured it to
the name Of an inventor. But suppose it appears,
when the public have the opportunity to examine
this secret, parte grant, that. instead of the
grantee being real inventor, he is pirate, who
has used his privilege Of swearing before the office
to appropriate what has long been known and used
by tho public, perhaps, by many different persons
what ID the next step? Just nothing at ALL The
patentee is taken to be inventory and under that
misplaced name receives all the sympathy justly
due only TO true inrcn,0. Every man who, in
opposition to the exclusive grant seeks to continue
in the enjoy of his previous rights is set down
as "a pirate" Such is the popular sentiment
The question naturally arises here, who is right,
who is wrong? Popular sympatby goes in favor
of the patcntee. Honorable, high minded men,
falsely called pirates; and they have redress
remedy relief Is this fair, is jus? They have
law by which to relieve themselvcs from this op-
probrous accusation; possible provision to COM
pei the piracal patentee before the courts to test
the validity Of his patent. A friend of the writer
OF this has been the victim OF this kind of persecu
ton for the past eight years He has spent over
fifty thousand dollars in defending his rights against
a combination Of men possessed of one of thesc
fraudulent patents. and never yet has the title been
tested before judge or juryj and why? Simply
because the holders of the patent would never al.
low it to come totria, yet would institute suit af.
ter suit, many suits at the time, in different
circuits, and, when Debated in one institute an
other. Now, if there had been scire facias to stay
these vexatious suits, and try the iiile the cruel
piracy upon his rights might long since have been
stayed--and the repeal Of the fraudulent patent
might have restored to the people what has so long
been wrestcd from them by who now seek =
prevent any legislation, and maliciously charge
honest men with wrong, while they themselvesare
afraid of law to repeal the grants of pirates on the
PUBLIC.