Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1873-01-22
ABOUT PATENTS.
by wM. II. HOOPER.


The vast majority of patents con-
tain no remarkable invention; they
merely make some slight progress
upon existing facts. Not in one greet
tide of invention does improvement
come, but rather in small, gentle
waves, each advancing almost imper-
copubly further than its predecessor.
And it is that slight difference that
gives success to patents The inven-
tive mind is so constantly on the stretch
that similar claims are constantly
made by rival inventors. When pc
troleum first began to enlighten our
darkness, there we're twenty-five claim.
ants at one tine before the Office, all
asking for substantially tho same
mode Of raising oil out OF the solid
earth. And when velocipedes so sud
denly loaped into fashion few years
ago 1872 applicants for velocipede pat
ents were filed within four months,
and Of these thirty-three were cotem-
porary claims for the same idea
Every spring brings forth a crop of
Stoyo patents, each manufacturer pre-
pairing for the coming winter by striv.
ing to surpass his rivals in the pret-
ticst pattern, and the greatest warmth
giving power. Few persons think
much of tho form Of the lamp they
buy; yet lamp patents are renewed
every year. At one timo tho stud
cnt lamp, with its argand burner
yields its manufacturer small for
tune the next year some fortunate
genius notices that two wiclSs give an
imperceptibly larger light than the
argand; and tho patent he obtains
brings him prominence in all the lamp
markets Of the country. One of the
most essential elements in patents IL
novelty yet applications are continu
ally made for patents based on ideas
as old us the Christian era. Pliny
writing in the first century, describes
harvesters for heading grain as ther
in existence on the plains Of Gaul
and Paladius mentions them again il
the fourth century; but both of these
lacked some idea that would adap
them to general use. Tailor's ma
chimes were in smooth running orde
in Paris long before Hunt and How
perfected tho present invention. j
remained for the Americans to lighter
the domestic cares of tho female SCI
throughout the world.
Most patent,rights are limited il
their application: and never attain Il
general circulation. But patent o
wide use, however small the royalty
it pays, benefits the happy inventor
with largo profit. Inventions TO
sewing machines, of which one com
pany makes about three thousand
' week, inventions for the use of India
rubber, for agricultural implements
firearms, and notifications of lcathe
and paper, have accumulated fortunes
, Nor is it possible TO tell the extent Q
the ramifcations of a patent. A fe'
. years since all the dentists Of the cour
!, !, Try combined to break an India-rubbe
' patent every one of them had to pa
royalty whenever he Inserted q sc
of teeth on vulcanized rubber. Thei
combination failed, and the royalt
[, still is paid. One of the most proftG
bic patents ever issued in this countr
was for the manufacture of horst
n shoes. In England one Of the mos
a lucrative has been tho Bcssemer mar
y ufacture of steel Most patents cor
cern themselves with agricultural 9
domestic labor. ln one year tw
hundred and twenty patents wei
granted for cutivatiors, two hundre
and ten for plows, one hundred an
:, eighty for churns, one hundred an
Z seventy-fve for washing machine
one hundred and flty-onc for SEWN
n machines, one hundred and forty ft
stovee, and another hundred and fort
Tor gates. NearIy eIgnlcen nunute
4 patents have been issued for sewing
~ machines and their attachments; an
r the applications for newer invention
como in daily
R For these applications for paten
rights increase much faster than IL
ID population. In 1851 therc were tv
II thousand Of them; in 1870 ninetet
If thousand one hundred and sevcnl
ly one, OF which thirteen thousand thr'
hundred and twcnty-one were gran
ed. Inventive skill does not dcpoI
upon education. Prussia is as w
{, educated as this country; but in lS'
only one hundred and three paten
or were issued in Prussia, as agan
Is; thirteen thousand in this county.
'u Vermont has as good schools as Ma
= sachusetts but the Bay State secur
ton per cent. of all the patents graz
cd TO the nation, while the Gree
Mountain State has less than one ?
cent. To quicken the inventive mil
,v ~. demands large amount OF capital Q
n raped in manufacture, skilled bot
r OF workmcn, and a profit in tho i
provemcnt Of manufactures. Whe
those cocxist patents are in demand
/, AS general rule, valuable invc
y tions arc the result of long years
close thought and much expendilu
of time and money. Capital ne'
offers itself to the inventor withc
the promise of an enlarged and spec
return. Nor do valuable ideas oil
enter tho mind Of the outsider on q
subject. Abraham Lincoln was ve
able lawyer of Illinois when, in Mi
ls49, he obtained n patent for liitl
atoomboafa over riyor bars; but