The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1869-11-26
PATENTS.

TIE following are the remarks of Hon. |
s. S. Fisher, Commissioner of Patents,
made recently at the fair of the American
Institute, in New York, upon the patent
system:
1t has occurred 20 me, that, standing
here tonight as the official representative
of this system, it would not be inappro-
pirate for me to say few words in its be-
half In the first place no comparison can
properly be made between our system
and that of other countries. In England
and on the Continent all applications are
patented without examination into the
novelty of the inventions claimed. In
some instances the instrument is scanned
TO ascertain if it covers a patentable SUBJ
iect-matter, and, in Prussia, some slight
examination is made into the Character of
the new idea but in no case are such ap-
pliances provided, such corps of skilled
examiners, such provision of drawings,
models, and books, such a collection of
foreign patents, and such checks to pre-
vent and review error as with rs. As a
result, an American patent has, in our
courts, a waltz hat no foreign patent can
acquire in the courts of its own country.
This has rendered property in foreign
patents exceedingly precarious. Such as
are granted have not been subjected to ex-
animation; they have no pTima facie
weight. Yet they may be valid. 1t is true
that no one knows this, not even the in
yentor; but the possibility that they NAV
prove so makes them weapons in the
hands of INSCRIPTIONS men to frighten
and coerce manufacturers who have very
imperfect means, short of litigation, of ar
irving at the truth or falsehood of the
selfasserted pretensions of the patentee.
On the other hand, the inventor is in as
much doubt as the manufacturer. He does
not know what to claim as his invention.
AS he alone is to fix the limit, as there is
TO be no revision, he may claim much or
little, how much or how little he must al
ways doubt. As a consequence, foreign
patents are of doubtful value, and the
whole system has fallen into some disre-
pute.
/ suppose that the foreign patents of
American inventors, that have been comics
of patents previously granted in this coun-
try, are the best that are granted abroad,
and | know that many an English or
French invention that has been patented
without difficulty there, has been stopped
In its passage thr Dugh our office by a refer
ence to some patent previously granted
In this country, or perhaps in the very
country OF its origin. In spite of our ex-
animation, which rejects over one-third of
all the applications that are made, or, more
properly, because of ii, invention has been
stimulated by the hope of protection ::
and nearly as many patents will issue in
the United States this year as in the whole
of Europe put together, including the
British Isles But few days ago | took
up volume of Italian patents to see what
progress the new Kingdom was making in
invention, when | was amused and graft
he'd to find on every page the name of the
universal Yankee, re-patenting there his
American invention, and, | suspect. much
the best customer In the Patent Office of
united Italy. The truth is, we are an in
ventive people.
Invention is by no means confined to
our mechanics. Our merchants invent
our soldiers and our sailors invent
our schoolmasters invent, our pro-
fessional men invent, aye, and our
women and our children invent. Cheap
protection has been a fertilizer that has
produced much growth of brain nd much
fruit of discovery. One man lateIy wished
TO patent the application of the Lords
Prayer, repeated in a loud voice, to pre-
vent stammering; another claimed the
new and useful attachment of a weight,
or other article possessing gravity, to a
cows tail to prevent her from switching il
While milking; another proposed to cure
worms by. extracting them by delicate
line and tiny hook bated with a seductive
pill; while lady patented crimping
pin, which she declared might also be used
as paper-cutter, as a skirt supporter, as
paper file, as child's pin, as bouquet
holder, as shawl fastener, or as a book
mark. Do not suppose that this is the
shleAest flight which the gentler sex has
achl6ed. 1t has obtained many other
patents, some of which have no relation
TO wearing apparel, and are of considera-
bile value
But, am asked, what proportion of all
patented inventions prove to be valuable
To then projectors or to the publici One
tenthy Probably not much more than
that; but, let it be remembered, there are
lew failures so harmless as that of a use
less invention. The patent gives it a
chance to prove itself worthy of the pub
lie patronage. 1t simply declares that if
1T be good 1t shall not be stolen; but, if it
be useless, nobody will want to steal it.
But of all those who enter upon any occu-
patton of life, how many succeed and how
many fail? How many young men have
entered the bar, and have failed to take
rank with Evarts O'Connor, or Brady?
How many have launched their bark laden
with mercantile ventures, and have been
stranded, while Clafiin and Stewart were
sailing into port? How many have been
moved to " start paper" who have lived
rs long, but not TO as much purpose, as
Raymond, Bennett, or Greeley? | sup
pose that nine failures to one success is a
tn fNr e
the world, including that of the inventor;
or, at all events, do not suppose the fail
ures among inventors are more numerous
than among every other class of working
men. As to property in inventions, /
shall not stop 10 discuss it, That a man
having, by long experiment-by patient
thought-by brilliant genius-by the ex-
penditure of time and of means, conceived
and brought TO perfection and embodiment
some new idea, having created some new
substance, put in motion some new ma
chine, put some old force to new work, or
given to some new force field for labor
Is not entitled to call this which he has
done his own and TO set his price upon it,
need not, think, be argued before honest
men? If We owe nothing to the men
who have made this century so illustrious
by their great conceptions, then we owe
nothing TO anybody, and reputation
ought to be the watchword of the age.
We do owe them much, not merely
debt of sentimental gratitude, but a debt
payable in cash, which shall lift them
above want, and place them upon such a
pinnacle of happiness that the world shall
say, Thus shall it be done unto the man
whom the nation delighted to honor !"
How shall We give pecuniary consideration
for inventions? There are two WAYS in
which this might be done. One is by the
purchase, for cash, by the Government of
all inventions for the use of the nation.
This plan is met at the outset by the i'm
possibility of undermining the value. Every
inventor supposes himself to have for
tune In every conception that he puts into
wood and iron. Stealing trembling and
furtively up the steps Of the Patent Office,
with his model carefully concealed under
his coat, lest some sharper shall see il and
rob him of his darling thought, he hopes
TO come down those steps with the pre-
clous parchment that shall insure him a
present competency and that shall enrich
his children. l shoald think if he were
offered a million, in the first flush of his
triumph, that he would hesitate about
touching it without sleeping over il for
night. Yet fourteen thousand millions
would be pretty heavy bill TO pay from a
treasury not over full. Fourteen hundred
millions might be thought an important
addition TO the National debt, or even one
million four hundred thousand, which
would be just 500 apiece for all the pat