Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1888-11-07
SOME PATENT TRICKS.
How Inno cent Inventors nre Bled bJ z
feasionsl Ericks.ers. "A

How Innc cent Inventors Ere Bled b5 Pr2t
feasionsl Erirks:ers. -
When an inventor receives pstetf his
name is immor,alized in the Official Ga
zette, and he Immediately becomes an
object OF attack from horde OF hungry
aspirsnts for money, among whom are
tx CLERKS, patent broker5 and pretended
legal lights Of varying degrees. The
pateutee, says the Scientific American, is
deluged with circulars and letters from
this class Ct gentry. Some write to iu-
form him cOIfdentislly that his patent
is good for nothing: but CT recipe OF 8
certain Zee they will set it right snd meka
il IS sound IS q silver dollar. Others
pleasantly inform the new fsdged invent
or that they have read his pktent vita
great pleasure, consider it 10 be very
valuable invention. II properly intro
duced much money can be soon realized
The state Of lows, thew say, is worth
$4,000; Ohio, $40, 900; Pennsylvania,
SG5. 900, and SO On. AL thss is necessary
IS tc print some circulars ald do little
blowing, which the broker generously
ffers TO do on receipt from the inventor
Of $40 to S50cssh In advance. Another
writes to say thst he has Gu ac.usl e y Of
$4,000 Tor tns patent from Canada, Pro
vided the patent is st once tiksn, which
he will procure on receipt Of the neces
sary money. It i5 almost needless 10
| st these schemes are designed to
fleece The inventor. The so-csled patent
| sellers rarely effect bona fide sale. They
depend upon the advance fees obtained Is
above for q livelihood. Some of them
have thus grown rich ard prosperous.
These pretended sellers try 10 make it
sppesr they arerelisble by giving respect
able references, and cite name of psten-
tees for whom they purport to have sold
| patents. One mode OF procuring these
references is IS follows: They write the
patentee they have customer who will
| buy g county right In Minnesota for $500,
and pay BY deciding twenty-five sores Of
| lsnd In Arkansss really wor $1,000, but
the parties are so anxious to obtain the
patent right they are willing to let the
| land go and take right, in settlement, pro-
vided $50 cash is paid and mort
gage is given for $500. This done, the
patent broker closes the transaction, re-
ceives the $50 csah, which is the full
value of the land, also receives mort
gage for $500, together with the patent
deed. At the same time the broker ia
careful to obtain s written certificate
from the inventor Stating; 81 take pless-
ure in saying that y. Z. & Co. have
sold patent right for me, at my price,
and on terms satisfactory, and
recommend them,' etc. In this way
references are secured which make quite
sn impressive show On circulars, while
the inventor is Sustained OF having been
irp no
One Of the latest tricks Is the follow
ing: The pa!entee receives G letter from
A. & B. asking for how much he will sell
his patent for such and such 5 state. He
replies, giving price, ssY $4,000. The
paten.ee soon after receiving the other
letter from y. Y Z saying thst A. B
write they have correspondent with you
spd now say they have decided to pur-
chase the patent on the terms named,
provided the title and claims are found to
require thst Y. Y. q. shall tx
anime and report upon the patent,
otherwise A. & B. will not pur-
chase; inst il the patentee wishes to
complete the sale, he must remit $50 to
pay for the examination, which is Hork
Independent of the ssle and must be in
depsndently paid. The inventor SENDS
the money; report Is made adverse to
the patentee; no purchase Is made; none
was ever intended. Such are few OF the
adroit schemes now in vogue for sWind-
ling "lnnocen," inventors.
Bills have been introduced in Congress
to protect innocent purchasers OF patents.
I. e., infringers. Might it not also be
well for somebody to formulate s law to
protect innocent inventors?