Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1881-06-15
GETTING PATENTS,
how THE THING 10 DONE.

Familiar as tho results 0f the work ol
the patent office are 10 tho majority oi
Us, there arc many Who do not under
stand tho modus Operandi Of getting q
patent, The government has wisely
made the procuring ot patents not only
cheap, but always snppoRlng tho appli'
cant has something new, excessively
easy, An inventor IL not required In
this country. as ho n In some Of the
European states, to become acquainted
with mysterlGa alOngsile Of which those
OF Eleusls were chllds playi nor IL he
constantly enc0nnterlng yeSqtious tech,
nicalities which "gyo him pause"
Given tho invention, which must DO
"new and useful" tho government re-
auires tho inventor TO iile petition Tor
tho patent; an oath that ho II, ~ far IN
he knows, the original inventor; speei'
iicatons containing fall and very clear
description OF his invention, such q do.
scription, In tho words OF the rules OF
practice OF tho patent office, "as viii
enable others skilled IN thoart to which
Il pertains to mako and use the same"
drawings which show clearly tho ma
chinory, II machinery II be- and, when
II IL practicable, q model which can be
worked,
The tests applied by the examiners OF
tho patent oillcc as to tho nowness OF
an invention aro very severe, Not only
IL II compared with the many thousands
Of patents granted in this country, II has
to stand comparison with oil OF the
known inventions Of other countries,
Tho patcnt'oilcc reports Of oil govern
ments that issue such publication aro
searched. II tho invention stands these
tests IL Is then examined ast to its useful
ness, Tho last OF these IL seldom mado
by an examiner, for the simple reason
that applications aro not often put in
for things which would be Of no use at
all. Patents, however, are often refused
for machines prejudicial to public
morals, as, for example, gambling con-
trivanccs.
The invention having been perfected,
tho specifications have to be written
out. These must contain description
Of the invention, clear, full and expressed
in the plainest possible manner
The specifications having been writ
ten, the drawings have to bo made. The
Office requires that they shall be Of uni
form size, ten by fifteen inches, made
upon stiff calendored paper, and that all
lines shall be clear and absolutely black.
There is an excessively good rule now
in operation in the patent office. In
cases where new drawings are required,
owing to technical errors in those first
sent, the imperfect ones are sent to- the
examiners, in order that there shall be
no delay in the examination. We think
it would be we'll for the commissioner
to extend this rule to the point of not re-
curing new drawings from applicants
unless the patent is to be granted. As
things are now the office makes new
drawings at actual cost 1t maintains a
large staff of draughtsmen for the con-
venience of inventors, and in this, as in
everything else connected with its work.
ings, shows itself animated by spirit OF
great libemlity and desire to make
everything rs easy as possible for the
applicant. The demand, then, for the
fees for new drawings when the patent
is ultimately refused is one which is not
in consonance with the spirit in which
the institution is carried on. and is
often severe tax on the inventor. AS
the examination into the application can
take place with the old drawings, and
under the present rule does take place,
the work Of the Office would not be in
jured by the proposed extension. With
the various papers the applicant is re-
auired to send in model, when one is
practicable. This model must not ex-
ceed one foot in length, breadth or
height. .
The application being complete, it
goes through the Office in its order, this
being determined by the date Of the
filing of the papers. By special request
of one Of the heads of government de-
partments applications for patents may
be taken up out of the regular order.
Such a request is not often made, as
may be supposed. When the application
has successfully passed the examiners
the patent is granted by the commits
sioner. This gives to the inventor the
sole ownership of the invention, within
the limits of the United States, for a
period of seventeen years. His inven-
tion has become property in a legal
sense, and he may treat it exactly as he
would any other kind of property-he
may sell it, lease it, mortgage it, or
give it away. If it is of great value he
will make his fortune if he holds on to
it, by royalty or any other means; or II
it is worth nothing commercially he will
have lost his time and his money.