Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1872-12-12
An Important Decision Relating 10
the Future Of the Fine Aits.

the commissioner to grant letters patent
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 intent OF this act that the
art Of decoration should enjoy the fos.
tering 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 a
dead letter. Very few suits we're 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 design patents have become almost
universal. No sooner did pattern,
devised and introduced at great expense,
become popular in the market than 1t
was copied by other manufacturer, 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 serious
evil. which seemed to threaten the very
existence of American design, for no
one could afford to employ a corps OF
artists, and incur the cost of bringing
new goods into the market, if his prop
erty in the result was open to be shared
by all the world.
This was the state of the business
which the Gorham Manufacturing Com
pany undertook 10 remedy. They we're,
as every one knows, foremost among
American silver-smiths for the beauty
and novelty of their goods. Undismayed
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 general rule, copied by others,
and the Gorham Company resolved to
see whether the law which had promised
them protection was adequate to furnish
them relief against this great and serious
mischief. They have carried on this
good fight for art and their rights for six
years, unaided save by the moral sup
port of the trade, and the decision OF the
Supreme Court has at last crowned their
courage and endurance with brilliant
triumph. They selected, as the ground
on which to make their fight, the patent
for the design of the well.known Cottage
Pattern of spoons aud forks. The in
FINGERS called their goods the Gothic
Pattern, and had, also, patent, 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 sill
yer, while the imitation was in base
metal.
They proved, by nearly all the leading
of New York, Philadel-
phia, Boston, and the West, that the
defendants goods we're so nearly like
the plaintiffs that ordinary purchasers
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 pat
tern he had ever seen, and which was
estimated by another leading silver
smith to be, in his Judgment, worth
$50, 900 at least. And they called wit
nesses in the trade who narrated ocea-
sions when they had actually mistaken J
one pattern for the other.
None of these facts we're denied hy
the defendants, who rested their case
solely upon the fact, not controversial by
the Gorham Company, that there were
certain differences in the details OF the
two designs, which experts and persons
accustomed to look at silvervare would
certainly observe. And tie question
was thus fairly raised whether patent
for a design was infringed II the IN
fringer was clever enough to produce
upon the eye the sane artistic effect,
and yet vary from the details shown and
described in the patent. The plaintiffs
claimed that II, 10 the eye Of the pur-
chaser, the resemblance was so close
that the patterns were the same, then
that, in law, they must be deemed the
same: while the defendants urged that
il was for experts and designers to de-
termine the identity Of the patterns.
The cause was heard in Newport in
the summer Of 1870, and the views OF
the defendants we're sustained by the
opinion Of the court
This doctrine went to the root OF the
matter. If it were sound, design patents
we're Of ne value, for it is always easy to |
vary the details of work of art, and |
vet preserve tie same artistic effect and |
the same results on the eye Of the OBJ |
server. To such rule the Gorham com
many, and. indeed, the fine arts Of the |
country, could not submit. And they |
therefore appealed their cause to the |
Supreme Court, which has just decided |
it in their favor, and has reversed the |
doctrine Of the court below.
The value Of the doctrine Of this de-
cision to the artistic progress of the |
country can scarcely be oyerrated In
ventors Of designs now stand on the
same level with inventors Of machines.
The beautiful arts may now 90 into BUSH
ness and vie with their mechanical Sis
tiers in the successful pursuit of wealth. |
II will now become more than ever for |
the interests of the great silversmiths TO |
aim at the production of new and varied
compositions, and to engage corps of
trained artists to aid them in their CON-
petition. Fostered and sustained by the !
strong arm Of the law, we may at length
expect to see American manufactures as
admirable for their beauty as for their
For this important result the country
must thank the Gorham Manufacturing
Company, whose courage and resolution
have hrought IL about