The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1877-05-24

To give some idea of the wonderful in
crease of business there has been i'm the
| Patent Office it may be stated that there
were only 373 patents issued in the wear
1910, while there were ISL issued for the
week ending February %, 1876. During
the year 1919 the total receipts of the
Office were $50, $50, while the receipts for
the month of March, 1876, were $50, 453
An application for patent consists of a
fee of SO, petition, oath, specification,
| model and drawing. The petition is Il
mere request that patent NAV be issued
, to the applicant. The specification i Il
description Of the invention. and must
be so full, clear and exact, that any one
skilled in the art to which the invention
relates, with the assistance Of the draw
ings, can make and use the same, without
any experience on his part. If the SDc-
cifCation Is not thus clear, the courts
VIII declare the patent null and void if it
is ever brought before them. At the end
Of the specification, and forming part of
1t, is the claim, in which the inventor
sets down what he claims as new, aud to
exactly what he claims, the courts i'm
deciding upOE the question of infringe
mGnt or validity, rigidly hold him. la
case a suit is brought against some one
for making or selling an article or ma
chine, which an inventor considers rs an
Infringement upon his patent, the courts
do not stop to ask how new or meritOri-
GUS the patented invention is, or how
much the inventor might have claimed,
but look to see what he actually does
claim. The oath must declare that the
applicant believes himself to be the first
and original inventor of the described
Improvement, and that he does not know
or believe that the same was ever before
known or Used,-hencc it will be seen
that only the inventor or inventors can
make application for a patent. In case
I,r,y r,FE
istratOr can have the patent issued to him.
The model should not exceed twelve in
CheS square, and should show the inYen-
ton perfectly. The drawings are made
from the model, and should show all
parts so perfectly that the operation of
the machine can be readily understood. !
Where the invention consists of medi- !
cine, composition or mixture, specimens |
of the ingredients are required.
Although the office is presided over by |
the Commissioner of patents who has to |
sign every patent issued, he knows moth |
ing about any one of them, except those |
that have been brought before him on
appeal, nor is it possible for him to do so. |
The inventions are divided up into classes
and each class is under the charge of |
special examiner, who has a number of !
assistants to help him. AS soon as the |
application is filed in the Office, it is sent |
to the proper examiner. whose duty it is |
to thoroughly examine as to the patent |
ability of the invention, and if he finds
that it is new and useful he grants a
patent. If the invention is old, trivial,
or for immoral purposes, which is very
the case, patent is refused.
The examiners are neither called upon to
decide whether the improvement is bet
ter than what has gone before, nor how
useful it is. Having once determined |
that the improvement is new and useful,
and not merely the result of good work
or judgment, they must issue
the patent. If an examiner does wrong
fully refuse a patent, as is very frequent
Iy the case, the applicant can appeal from
his decision to the Board of Examiners,
who, if they think the Examiner is
wrong, reverse his decision and order the
patent to issue. If the board afiirms the
examiners decision, the applicant can
appeal to the Commissioner of Patents,
in person, and in case he is dissatisfied
with his decision, he can appeal to the
Supreme Court of the District of Column
ba, and from this court to the Court of
Equity. Patents were formerly granted /
for fourteen years, with the privilege of
an extension of seven years, by the com
missioner, and as many more extensions
as they could get from Congress. But
extensions have now been abolished, and
are granted for seventeen years,
after which the invention becomes pub
lie property.