Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1882-05-06
DlnY Posf-1fgLLIaEIOER.
FoRTY YEABs n TuE PATENT

OFFICE.
The last annual report Of the Con-
missioner of Patents contains com
narrative statement Of the business Of
the Office from 1897 10 1881 inclusive.
Since 1870 the table shows the number
Of applications, the number Of Issues.
the rscsipts, expenditures, and the sur
pluS, whore there has been any. Eight
Of thsss years, fls86, 10, III. 'ss. ~. &C.
81, 81 show . deficiency. the fees re-
csived being slightly less than the OK
peuditurss. Curiously the year 1875
shows . surplus Of nearly f5cD.
though the two preceding and the two
succeeding years we're years Of dsficisn-
o. In 1879 the: surplus had risen o
over ts5OlO. 1t dropped to f35O the
next year, and the next shows . def.
sisney Of $4,000. In ls62 the surplus
was t33,0OO. It fell 70 5000 the next
year; and in 1865 it leapsd from nearly
$1,000 TO nearly $1,000. This was
nsarly doubled the next year. and the
year after, tlss7) It dropped TO less
than ts,CoO. Between 81 and n the
surplus aggregated nearly half million
dsllam. The next -four years we're lean.
ths surplus falling a. low as 5000 in
1879. Since 1876 tho surplus has ranged
from $4,000 70 about &25O,0 }. aggre-
eating In SIX years nearly million dol
Lars.
The fluctuations in the number of
patents applied for and issued have
beeu much LEES marked, though consid-
essble variations are noticeable. The
number issued in 1887 was ~. The
number Of applications reached a
thoasand in 1874, and fye yea-s later
The issues for the first time reached and
siightly exceeded 1000. Tho YER 1855
INV the number Of issues raised to p
900. During the next ton yec-s the in
crease Vas tolsrably steady, rising to -
as in 1864. The number stood At thir-
tssn hundred and odd pretty uniformly
from 1867 until 1875, the number II
applications VARYING not far from 70
90 year. After two years Of gain,
the number dropped Of once more, re-
manning mot far from 1,sOO until 1870.
Last year Il rosa to 1854. with 5000
applications.
The ratio between the number Of ap-
plieations and the number Of grants has
shown considerable variations. During
ths earlier years the proportion of re-
jeetions Vas much greater than Mt pres
sut, amounting in l8l7 TO two-thirds Of
the total applications. This. in the
opinion Of the Commissioner, is largely
attributahle to the fact that the car
lise inventors had fewer opportunities
for discovering what had already been
done in she came fields Of invention.
and, ~ consequence, presented a lar
Gsr proportion Of crude devices aud
rspstitions Of each other. Possibly the
spirit Of the Commissioner had moro to
do with the numerous reflections, some
Of them acting ~ though this business
0f the once vas 20 restrain rather than
70 encourage inventors. During the
past nftssn years the ratio between the
number Of applications and the num-
bsr Of patents issued has been compare
lively stable, and not far from three to
two.
The total number Of patents issued
up 10 1874 was lens than three thousand.
Ten years were required to raise the
member 70 ton thousand. In the next
Ten years they rose 10 over forty thou
sand, and 70 hundred thou sand early
IN 1881. Since then the increase has
BEEN very rapid, moro being issued be-
tween 1871 and 1880 than in the pre-
csding thirty years.
To date about ten thousand patents
have besn n Issued. The highest an
neal rate Of reissue was reached in 1875
and 1876, whsu Il exceeded six hundred.
Since then there has been marked de-
cline, the Reissues for 1881 being All,
The whole oumher of No v patents is
.suod LAT year w&s l6. Ill, Of which 095
were taken By foreigner, chiefly citi-
ssns Of Canada, England, Germany and
France. 4y6s6 patents expired during