New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1890-07-16
PATENT RIGHTS.
Some Useful Information Regarding This
Much nIisunde rstand Subject.

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some Useful Information Regarding This
Much Misunderstand Subject.
The word patent means s.open;r
and it was first made use Of to describe
the open letters, or letters patent, by
which a sovereign granted to a citizen
or subjecta monopoly Of the exclusive
use or sale of any article.
The word is now, in a sense not
originally intended, applied to the.
secret of an inventor which has by him.
been made open to the whole public in
consideration Of right, for a limited
period to make and sell @the thing in
vented.
The original patent was often for a
monopoly of commodity which the
people already freely possessed. The
king Of England, for instance, granted
to individual subjects the exclusive
right to sell such articles as salt and
vinegar.
Such monopolies as this have been
declared wrongful in England. and have
never existed in the United States.
The only patentable thing with us is a
useful invention OF discovery which has
never before been possessed by the peo-
pie.
The theory Of the patent rights this:
The inventor possesses a secret likely
to be useful to the people, which secret
he reveals freely to the government,
for the benefit Of the general public.
In return for his service in revealing
his secret, the government grants him
the exclusive right, for limited time,
to make and sell the thing which his
invention covers.
The patent, therefore, is simply a
contract between the invenor and the
people, in which the latter grant the
former the sole right for a time to the
profits from this invention, in consider
alton of having the free possession Of
the invention later on.
In this country patent lasts only
seventeen years. After that time all
are free to make full use of the patented
invention without payment of any fee
or royalty-unless, indeed, the patent
is extended by special act of congress.
This extension is rarely granted, and
only in cases where it is held that the
patentee has failed to get the benefit of
his patent.
The term of a patent was formerly
fourteen years, and it was renewable
by the patent Office for seven years
more. This privilege of extension by
the patent office was abolished in 1861,
and the term made seventeen years,
There is much misrepresentation of the
extent and character Of the privilege
which patent really grants.
The government,ing giving patentee
the right to the exclusive possession of
his invention, does not undertake to
guarantee him in that right. The in
vention is, during the term of his
patent, his property; but he must de-
fend it before the law in the same way
that any other property must be de-
Tended.
The possessor of a horse, for in
stance, even if he has bought and paid
for the animal. cannot keep possession
OF it it some other person can prove
that it belongs to him. The holder of
a patent may lose his right to it in
several ways; and if he does lose the
right to it, those who have bought of
him his commodity have no more right
to use it further, or to be Unidentified
~ oAAS 9oSSAA I'LL GklC 1OSS VI Ii OE
its use than the innocent holder of a
stolen horse has to be protected in its
possession.
1t is possible that some other person
may prove that he was in advance of
the patentee in the possession or use of
what the latter has claimed as his
secret or invention. The patentee may
have used fraud in obtaining his
patent; OR he may be selling, as his
patented article, something which is
not exactly what his application de-
scribed.
II the government should undertake
to guarantee to a patentee, against all
Corners. the exclusive right to and pos
session of the thing patented, it would
be granting a wrongful monopoly, boz
cause this would be denial of the
equal right of all citizens to sue and be
sued, and to obtain judgments in ac~
cordance with equity and right.
A thing already freely made and used
cannot be patented. The right to use
it is common to all the people. And
on the other hand, the liability of the
purchaser of patented article to lose
the right to use it. provided it is proved
to infringe some other persons right
full patent, is part Of the defence of
the equal rights of all Youtls's Com
pd7sioaa.