The Evening post. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1888-1889, 1888-11-19
SOME PATENT TRICKS.
How Innocent Inventors are Bled by Pro-
fessional Tricksters.

HOW Innocent Inventors are Bled by Pro
fessional Tricksters,
When an inventor receives patent his
name is immortalized in the Official Ga
sett0, and he Immediately becomes an
object of attack from horde of hungry
aspirants formoney, among whom are ex.
clerks, patent brokers and prete nded
legal lights of varying degrees. The
patentee, says the Scientific american is
deluged with circulars and letters from
this class of gentry. Some write to in
form him confidentially that his patent
sgood for nothing but on receipt of n
certain fee they will set fright and make
it sound as silver dollar.
Others pleasantly inform the new
fledged inventor that they have read his
patent with great pleasure and consider il
to be a very valuable invention prop
erly introduced much money can be soon
realized. The State of Iowa, they say. is
worth $4,000; Ohio, $4,000; Pennsyl-
vania, $65,000 and so on. All that is
necessary is to print some circulars and
to do a little blowing, which the broker
generously offers to do on receipt from
the inventor of $40 to $50 cash in ad-
vance.
Another writes to say he has an act
ual offer of $4,000 for the patent from
Canada, provided the patent is at once
taken, which he will procure on receipt
OF the necessary money. 1t is almost
needless TO suggest these schemes are
designed to fleece the inventor. The So
called patent sellers rarely effect bona
fide sale. They depend upon the ad-
vance fees obtained as above for a liveli-
hood Some of them have thus grown
rich and prosperous
These pretended sellers try to make it
appear they are reliable by giving re.
spectacle references, and cite names of
patentees for whom they purport to have
sold patents One mode Of procuring
these references is rs follows: They write
the patentee they have a customer who
will buy county right in Minnesota for
5000 and pay by deciding twenty-five
acres of land in Arkansas, really worth
$1 600, but the parties arc so anxious to
obtain the patent right they are willing
to let the land go and take the right in
and mortgage is given for $500.
This done, the patent broker closes the
transaction, receives the $50 cash, which
is the full value of the land, also re-
ceives q mortgage for $500, together with
the patent deed. At the same time the
broker is careful to obtain a written Ger
tiflcate from the inventor stating: 81 take
pleasure in saying that X. Y. 2. & Co.
have sold patent right for me, at my
price, and on terms satisfactory, and |
recommend them, ETC." In this way ref
erences are secured which make quite
an impressive show on circulars, while
the inventor is so ashamed of having
been so easily duped, he keeps mum.
One OF the latest tricks is the follow
| ing: The patentee receives letter from
A. q B. asking for how much he will
sell his patent for such and such State
lie replies, giving a price, say $4,000.
The patentee soon after receiving the
other letter from Y. Y. H., saying that
A. q b. write they have corresponded
with you, and now say they have decided
to purchase the patent on the terms
named, provided the title and claims are
found to be correct.
To ascertain this they require that X.
Y. u. shall examine and report upon the
patent, otherwise A. & B. will not pur-
chase; that if the patentee wishes to
complete the sale he must remit $50 to
pay for the examination, which is a
work independent of the sale, and must
be independently paid. The inventor
sends the money; a report is made adj
verse to the patentee; no purchase is
made; none was ever intended. Such
are few Of the adroit schemes now in
vogue for swindling innocent" in,
| ventors.
Bills have been introduced in Congress
to protact innocent purchasers of patents
.. e., infringers. Might it not also be
well for somebody to formulate a law to
| protect innocent Inventors