The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1890-05-09
What the Best Judges Declare an Invention
to Be.

The late Judge Hall, of the Unite
States Circuit Couit, says:
| "An invention, in the sense of tn
patent law, means the finding out, th
contriving, the creating of something
which did not exist and was no
known before, aud which can be r ad,
useful and advantageous iu the pur
suits of life, or which can add TO tn,
enjoyment of mankind.
'In other words, the thing patent
ed must be new; and it must be usefu
to an appreciable extent, though the
measure of that usefulness is not ma.
terial. ANY degree of utility appreci
able by jury is sufficient, upon the
question OF utility, to sustaina patent.
LConover vs. Roach, vol. iv Fishers
Patent Cases, p. 16.)
And Judge Sawyer, late of the Su
preme Court of the United States, de.
fines inver lion in the following Ian.
guage:
"1nvention is the work of the brain,
and not of the hand. If the conception
is practically complete, the artisan
who gives it reflex and embodiment in
q machine is no more the inventor
than the tools with which he works
Both are instruments in the hands of
him who sets them in motion and pre-
scribes the work to be done. Mere
mechanical skill can never rise to the
sphere of invention. The latter involves
higher thought, and brings into &C.
tivity higher faculty. Their do
mains are distinct. The line which
separates them is sometimes difficult to
trace; nevertheless, in the eye of the
law, it always subsists. The mechanic
may greatly aid the inventor, but can.
not usurp his place." { Blandy vs..
Griffith, vol. iii. Fishers Patent Gases,
p. 616)
But while, as Judge Sawyer asserts,
the boundary line between the domain
of invention and mere mech anical skill
is strictly drawn, yet some of the most
valuable inventions have been 80
simple as to lead one to think that
they were obvious, and did not rise to
the dignity of invention.
Concerning the simplicity of inven-
ton, the late Judge Story, of the Su.
preme Court of the United States, re-
marks:
"The simplicity of an invention, so
far as being an objection to il, may
constitute its great excellence and
value.
"Indeed, to produce a great result
by very simple means, before unknown
or unthought of, is not unfrequently
the peculiar characteristic of the very
highest class OF minds" Ryan Va.
Goodwin, vol. j. Robb's Pa tent Cases,
p. 729)
1t not unfrequently happens that a
sudden lucky thought gives a man a
small (sometimes lsrge) fortune-the
outgrowth of an important invention.
More than quarter of century
ago, the late Judge Shipman of the
United States Circuit Court of New
York embodied the idea in one of his
decisions:
"A subject matter to be patsntable
must require Invention. but it ia not
necessarily the result of long and pain.
full study, or embodied alone in
complex mechanism. A single fash of
thought may reveal to the mind of
the inventor the new idea, and frail
and simple contrivance may embody it.
Some inventions are the result of long
and weary years of study and labor,
pursued in the face of abortive expert
ments, baffled attempts, and finally
reached after the severest struggl es,
while Others are the fruit of single
happy thought (Magc Rufile Com
pany vs.. Douglas, vol. ii. Fishers p at
tent Cases, p. 1857
Other opinions. similar in purp ort,
might be added; but these are sufficient
to dime what constitutes patent.
able invention, which is imt ortant in
formation for every inventor to know.