American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1879-01-04
Patent Plumber.

i s Patent Plumber.
Congress having entered upon an ex
animation of the legislation in regard t,
inventions and the abuses that hav
grown up under it, why should not tn
inquiry be extended so as to embrac
the entire Legislation and ascertain if; i
is not founded upon false theory! Tn,
theory. is that an inventor. ia entitled t.
an absolute property in his invention
and no one should be permitted to use
itIwithout his consent. This opinion
like many others on which we habitual
ly act, has no sanction except its age,
t'and the numbers who have given it thei,
assent. An inyention is not the produc,
of the inventors labor or. thought, but
the product of all the labor and all the
thought of the past, with a slight addi-
ton only by the Inventor; The contri-
button is at best bat small, as .compar-
ed with the entire laber:and thought OF
all others which enter into, it and have
rendered the new, combination possible
What has been done by others has pro-
duced the possibility and the necessity
Efor new applications or some of the forces
Of nature. What any individual has done
would have been accomplished. in a
brief time. by soma other of those
whose labors were. tending in that di-
fection... One can not look at the his
tory of any of the greatinyentions with
out being fully convinced that II the in
ventor had never lived. the invention
would haye'been perfected within . very
short time after that at which it was Civ
en- to thesworld; that from the extend
ed desire to attain the given. object, the
Widespread efforts to accomplish ii, and
the Stock of 'knowledgs common. to all
who were working to discover the little
yet to be fou1dJ that little, could not
long escape the search of all. IF Watt
had not lived hesteam-engine would
have been known. II Morse. had died
in infancy the electric telegraph would
have. been perfected and used, and each
with the delay OF only a few months. In
faat,, there Is, scarcely any Of thefgreat
inventions whose PATERNITY is not dis
puted, and which was not perfected at
about the same tune by different indi-
II the one who perfected an
to, day has any exclusive right
to it, has . property of, it, has not the
one who perfects the same to- morrow,
without any knowledge of the work Of
the other, an equal righta
There is no foundation for the claim
by any inventor of the right to the ex-
elusive use of his invention, and society
Is under no obligation to recognize or
protect any such claim.
The only reasons for giving any right
% an inventor Is that he has conferred a
benefit upon the public, and such bene--
It should be recognized, and that by
Iuch recognition tho number and value
II inventions would b inereased. While |
he validity Of these REASONS for any
action might be ques-
Toned, yet such action - these reasons
would require might be taken without
serious detriment to the public. But
,uch action would not be the levying of
! tax of $3.50, O00, COO or $500, 000, 900 a
7ear upon the people of the United
States under the operations of the pat
mt laws, of which very small fraction
8 received by-inventors.
There should be no tinkering of these
,atent laws. They are based on the as
of a right that has no exist
,nce, all wrong in theory, and practi-
ally an enormous and continuing rob-
,ery of the public by the governmental
W ncy for the benefit of class, and
he most of the class without the slight
st pretext for claim of any kind upon
he public. .4-.t
A single instance will illustrate the
working of the patent laws: Take the
lumber of sewing-machines manufac-
ured in the United States as shown by
he census tabi-s of 1879, the average |
ost of manufacture $3.50, and add
$50 as a fair profit, and the excess
'ver these sums for which they were sold
would give the robbery of the public,
under, the patent laws, as
$35, 100000 per year. And
# this immense sum only small frac-
ion, perhaps less than thousandth
,art was received by those who, by any
INVENTION, had contributed to the per-
ection of the machines.
The patent laws are not only charge
bile with this species of robbery, but
With the robberias perpetrated by the
1rmy of persons. some operating in
very locality, who are engaged in SELL
ng territorial and other rights in
PATENTS which are of no value. These
mall .stealings must each year aggre-
,ate very large sum- Let Congress
epeal all, the patent laws, and save
he public from the wrongs per-
,etrated under them. Then, if it
$ desired to stimulate inventors by
ewarding them, do it directly. Let the
proofs of the making of any invention
,e made and preserved, the invention
70 into use and give the inventor the
light to apply for his reward at some
ime, say at any time after three years,
which claim shall be passed upon by
like the Court of Claims,
which; if the invention is found to be
Iseful one, shall award to the inventor
UNI not less than one amount nor
,reater than another, depending on the
'alue of the invention, and the award to
e paid to the inventor or his heirs, and
lot to any assignee or creditor. Let it