New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1879-07-15

& making unfrlendly comments III i'S" w
Che course of The Ne,c- York Star concerning
tbe Glover report. The mails TO Memphis are
being sent by way of st. Louis.
AN OVFRBURDENED OFFICE.
-pr SPLENDID PATENT SYSTEM OF THIS COUNTRY
N DANGER OF SUFFERING BY REASON OF HE
INDIFFERENCE OF CONGRESS.
10y TELEGRAPH TO THE TBIBUNEJ
WASHINGTON, July 14.-For seveIai year" I'pi'-
.ontations have annually been made 10 congress
tbat the work of the Patent Office incident 10 the
granting of a patent right was Increasing WIN
great rapidity, and that moro liberal course ol
treatment would be necessary In orGcr 10 enaolo
+be Office to maintain its present STANDARD u
thoroughness. From time to time some smah con-
coss,ons in the way of increased appropriations
have been made by Congress. but in the man, es-
recially since lndiscriminate economy became the
ruling political passion in that body, the treatment
OF the Office has been niggardly
R,. n stroke or two of good fortune, and by the
exercise OF inventive genius guided by long eApcI
ence the Office has been able TO keep cTeul'aplS
ahead OF IT'S work thus far and no general cause
comulaint as to the character OF It's operations OF
ON account of delay has existed Tho rapid de-
yelopmeut of the art of photo-ithoTaphy has rem
dered il independent Of the slow haud-method OF
copying, and makes it possible at very
tr1ilng expense 10 place III the hahus u
every examiner and every one else VINO re-
ouircs it, an accurate copy OF the origlnal
ulaps upon which every one of a particular class OF
patents has been granted. Two years ago the Eng
lsh Government, with extraordinary hueIuity'
cave outright to the American Patent Office a
tull duplicate set Of the plans of all patents ever
Granted in that country, and these, divided into
classes and subclasses, being placed III the hands OK
the examiners in the respective classes, very ma
ierially have slmplled the necessary work OF eA-
animation.
The greatest among the laborsavlng arrange
,pents of which the Patent Office has ayaled Itself,
however is the system Of classification Of the plans
Of American patents; a system which would seem to
have been a necessity from the start, but which in
Its perfect state is really the work OF recent years
md of vast study and experience. By this system
the pho,o-lithogTaphic copies of plans upon which
patents have been granted are classified under lao
general heads and these are subdiyided aggrega-
ting about 1000 sub-claSses of American patents
The limit of Improvement III this direction has
now been reached and Congress must intelligently
roDsiler the subject involved and enter upon
more liberal policy, or the American patent SYSTEM
10 which the whole world is greatly indebted, must
gradually cease to be benefcent and must become
only burden upon the great Industries.
The distinctive feature of the American patent
system is embodied in statute 4,SS6 which provides
that any person who has invented or discovered
any new and useful art, machine, manufacture or
composition of matter, or any new and useful I'M
provement thereof not known or used by
Others In this country, and not patented
or described in any printed publication
in this or any foreign country before his invention
or discovery thereof" may, upon the payment of
fees, etc., obtain a patent therefor In order to
Will IN
necessary in theory at least that in connection
with every application for patent right an exam
inatOn Of the plans of all previously granted pat
ents in this and other countries should be made, in
order 10 determine whether the ideas embodied in
the new application are really novel; Not only this,
but in theory aud TO a great extent in practice,
must the examiner search the scientific publications
Of this and other lands to find out whether
the principles upon which the device in
hand is based have ever been described in
them; such a description rendering the device
uuDatentable To the thoroughneSs with which
this work of examination has generally been per-
formed is due the marketability of an American
patent night quality possessed only in very in
irriOr degree by an English right. The American
patent accepted as prma t9cle, and, IN the vast
majority of the cases. conclusive evidence of the
novelty of the device described and the ownership
of the person named IN II. In the English system
10 such examination is made and cases Of interfer-
ence are matters winch the courts are called upon
80 settle
The increase in the number of applications filed at
the Patent Office has been quite uniform for many
years. / he applications number now little more
Than 20 600 per annum OF these only about two
thirds, OF between $4,000 and 10000, are granted.
Ire total number Of American patents eXtant and
expired Is more than 21GOOO. The average num-
Der OF applications submitted to each individual ex
amlneT III 1893 was 200, while III 1877 II 23S,
the number Of examiners having been increased III
the meantime from thirty-one 10 eighty-eight
IL would doubtless be an easy task TO secure from
Congress an annual increase of appropriation pro-
uort0ned TO the increase In number of applications,
hut this does express the growing necessities of
tie oiice Each years accumulation of granted
patents this and other countries makes necessary
the addition of an equal number of plans to the
various classes which have been described while
tie uumber Of devices and new discoveries to be
considered by examiners which set forth In
scientific works hes never been great now.
u f., due 10 the increase In the of matter TO he
examined that the work of examination IN cOnnec-
ton with any individual applicant Is ten-fold
greater than IL was few years ago.
Patent examiners and experts are already look
ing ahead with some anxiety 70 the future de-
cadence of the system unless tins matter shall be
appreciated and dealt with accordingly by Congress.
lu no department of the Government do the res
pOnsible operatives take more pride and devote
themselves with better general results than in the
Patent Office conscious always that any careless
hess on their part would result in placing some in
it TO pay tribute for years to some undeserving
patentee.
THE LETTER CARRIER CITIES.
THESE EIGHTY-EIGHI COMMUNITIES DIVIDED INTO
TWO CLASSES BY OFFICIAL ORDER-THE MEN
FOR THE ~ 900 SALARIES TO BE CHOSEN SOON.
" .arrtNcToN Iulv 4-The Postmaster Cen