New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-01-10
SELECTIONS FROM THE MAIL
TAKING OUT PATENTS.
NEED OF ATTORNEYS BY INVENTORS TO DRAW
Up PAPERS.


UP PAPERS.
NO the Editor OF The Tribune.
Sir: In your issue Of December a. under the
heading Taking out Patent" you give ADVICE
which long experience with patentees convinces me
Is unwse. ! not patent attorney OUT
mechanical engineer. to whom people come 10 nave
fhelr patented articles manufactured or put INTO
commercial shape. I. therefore. see almost daily
che results OF a poorly drawn patent II your al
vice should be followed. and personal application
made to the Patent Office the chances are that
some error may be made by. the applicant because
he misunderstands the instructions from the onee'
or for some reason. he fails to comply with them'
and there occurs delay This Is easy 10 De sup
posed. anything done for the first time is not
likely to be well and correctly done. Delays are
not easy for an inventor TO put up with' anu al
times make all the difference between the success
or the failure OF invention as. for instance wheh
the delay Of patent causes the loss OF business
season.
There is a yet more serious reason why the per-
sonal application Is unwise. The employees or the
Patent Office are continually behind their work.
and II an application comes In from man whose
name Is not known as that OF competent attorney
It means additional work for the employees, as they
have TO 60 over every detail with great care, While
the name OF well-known attorney is an assurance
that all the legal forms properly complied witn'
and the examiner give his attention at once 70
the invention. which hastens his report
The examiner Is quite sure to reject some OF
The applicants claims and to require change in
the wording Of others or perhaps. he Is not Wiling
TO grant what is really right. and the applicant Is
at sea, and has to take his application TO an at
torney after all. Much time is thereby lost IN
short. personal application to the once r Is nos
likely to receive the attention IL wouiu receive
through a well-known attorney. because it causes
more work at the office.
and !, has been said that "a m ana T hs
Do rnnSs ant n he
patentees can make their own drawings and write
and n s so hat ms sab Ss
paid for; and If mans time be worth anything. It
s than o try o o the work Snadd
of economy nothing is gained by the latter plan.
ana rs no used Gn S Shas s is pretty
70 make mess Of 1t. to his own disappointment
nS to the loss Of those who have to
This is sort of provisional protection for length
Of time This is likely to create an erroneous ,.s
sp a csa s
conceived. and that time is required to mature it;
no apple application IL for ra Similar patent Without notify
aTg the Of the that another nT" %
both parties as to priority Of invention OF course
sss s 6 to & Sqt ss
thus Justly obtain his patent; IN spite Of the
II ocsS NJ ssd sns
with an Endorsement to the effect that within is
s ne Cf ise c be ssH s
mand its delivery and It will serve the same pur-
SSss as 'ne eaVea wn'n Is only 10 es'a0'" '"e
a search is an outlay we'll expended. and most
son Be patsntaSls and the case IS lsi,
has been dome but not all as the ordinary search
does not extend to foreign patents and the Am ne
made in another country before the American
You recommend that II the inventor has no means
70 TAKE AXE Of thu the nysn0n Of oa
sold. the purchaser can manufacture under a the
as and Se and
rich Il is clear that the inventor may have great
feature and Value Of his patent which is the ex
elusive right TO manufacture Is already gone.
person amount q he HTSa's
sSss w shf It M
IA: ~ sSSs 5 &
Saeny assert that badly drawn patents are ali
too common, and that to make personal applica.-
ton fer patent to our Httpt P PSnE L the NJ heht
Hoboken. N. j.. Jan. g. 1894
4 The writer Of this letter misinterprets The
Tribunes recent hints on this subject in two par
ticulars 1t was not our intention to suggest that
every inventor was capable of drawing his own
papers; and we distinctly mentioned the time
limits within which a caveat is serviceable But
Mr. Forbes so admirably amplfes and supple
ments The Trbune's own advice that we gladly
print his letter.-Ed)
Mr.. GLADSTONE AND GENERAL TRACY.
10 the Editor Of The Tribune.
Sir: A New-Yorl paper says that Mr.. Gladstone.
IN the House Of Commons last week. saw ft to sheer
at the prediction of ex-Secretary of the United
States Navy General B. F. Tracy that at the
present progress of Navy building for two years to
come France and Russia would have fifty battle
ships while England would have only thirty-one. Let
him sheer. We like Mr., Gladstone because he Is
with the people of Britain, but when he sneers or
Gneezes at opinion Of ex-member Of our
Republican Cabinet, respectfully refer him and
his Government to the annals Of the War Of 1872
and ask his opinion of the comparative value and
tonnage of the American and British Navy.
j. II. HARDY.
,nir V Ian 1904