Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1872-12-12
An Important Decision Relating TO the Flu
ture of the Fine Arts.

ture of the Fine Arts.
In the decision of the suit OF the zGernam
Manufacturing Company vs.. w hlte, the gu,
preme Court Of the United States mas renoereo
signal and important service TO tneotR n
of the fine arts By the statute of 1872, Con-
press authorized the commissioner 20 grant let
fars 7nafent to those whose industry, genius,
efforts and expense" should produce new de-
signs for printing, statues, bas relieves; IN Short
for all forms of ornamentation. 1t was the in
tent of this act that the art of decoration should
enjoy the fostering care and protection which
has conferred such conspicuous benefits upon
the American inventions in the mechanic arts;
and in constituting this law in such manner as to
give practical protection to the designer, the
Court has, doubtless. lent valuable impulse to
the artistic culture of the country.
Although passed twenty years ago, this act
has remained almost wholly q dead letter.
Very few suits were brought under it at the
Circuit and, until the present, none have been
carried to the Supreme Court.
The result has been that infringements of de-
sign patents have become almost universal. No
sooner did pattern, devised and introduced at
great expense become popular in the market,
than it was copied by other manufacturers, who
thus, without risk, and almost without loss of
business consideration, enjoyed the fruits of the
genius and enterprise of others. This became
at last a serious evil which seemed to threaten
the very existence of American design, for no
one could afford to employ corps of artists,
ana incur the COSG Vi UEtuglHS uCW ROOuS iuJO
the market, if his property in the result was
open to be shared by all the world.
This was the state of the business which the
Gorham Manufacturing Company undertook to
remedy. They WERE as every one knows, fore
most among American silyer-smiths for the
ed by the growing practice. of infringement
which disgraced the trade, they kept large
corps of artists in their employ, whose business
it was to devise new and beautiful forms and
decorations. These WERE as a general rule,
copied by others, and the Gorham Company
resolved to see whether the law which had
promised them protection was adequate to fur
nish them relief against this great and serious
mischief. They have carried on this good light
for art and their rights for six years, unaided
save by the moral support of the trade, and the
decision of the Supreme Court has at last crown
ed their courage and endurance with brilliant
triumph. They selected, as the ground on
which to make their fight, the patent for the de-
sign of the well-known Cottage Pattern of
spoons and forks. The infringers called their
goods the Gothic Pattern, and had, also, pat.
ent, but the Gorham Company charged that
this was an evident copy of their design, varied
only for the purpose OF escaping. the law. 1t
was an additional grievance in this case that the
cottage goods were In silver, while the imitation
was in base metal.
They proved, by nearly all the leading silver
smiths of New York, Philadelphia, Boston and
the West, that the defendants goods we're so
nearly like the plaintiffs that ordinary purchas-
ers would mistake the one for the other. They
further showed the great value of their design,
which was pronounced by an eminent dealer
the best plain pattern he had ever SEEM, and
which was estimated by another leading silver
smith to be, in his judgement worth $500OO at
least. And they called witnesses in the trade
who narrated occasions when they had actually
mistaken one pattern for the other. @}@
None of these facts were denied by the de-
PENDANTS, who rested their case solely upon the
fact, not controverted by the Gotham Compa-
ny, that there were certain differences In the
details of the two designs, which experts and
persons accustomed to look at silverware would
certainly observe. And the question was thus
fairly raised whether patient for a design was
infringed if the infriDger was clever enough to
produce upon the eye the Same artistic effect,
and yet vary from the details shown and de-
that if, to the eye of the purchaser, the resem
blance was so close that the patterns were the
same then that, in law, they must be deemed
the same while the defendants urged that it
was for experts and designers to determine the
identity of the patterns. Ha., ..'c- H1l 80
The cause was heard in Newport in the Sum-
mer of 1870, and the views of the defendants
were sustained by the opinion Of the Court,
This doctrine went to the root of the matter.
If it were sound, design patents were of no
value for it is always easy to vary the details
of work of art, and yet preserve the same
artistic effect and the same results on the eye of
the observer To such rule the Gerhan
Company, and inded the fine arts of the coun-
try, could lot submit. And they therefore
appealed their cause to the Supreme Court.
which has just decided in their favor, and has
reversed the doctrine of the Court below.
The value of the doctrine of this decision to
the artistic progress of the country can scarcely
be overrated. Inventors of designs now stand
on the same level with inventors of machines.
The beautiful arts may now go into business
and vie with their mechanical sisters in the sue
cessful pursuit of wealth. 1t will now become
more than ever for the interests of the great sill
versmiths to aim at the production of new and
varied compositions, and to engage corps of
trained artists to aid them in their competition.
Fostered and sustained by the strong arm of the
law, we may at length expect to SEQ American
manufactures as admirably for their beauty as
for their ingenuity. HIaEE s@HNH
For this important result the country must
thank the Gorham Manufacturing Company,
whose courage and resolution have brought it
about. 80 - 49,
lad lss re9a