Evening star., 1897-05-15
The Path of the Inventor is Not an
Easy One
when he APPLIES FOR 4 PATENT
Changes That Have Been Made in
the Course of Procedure.
POWER OF A BUREAU CHIEF

Written for The Evening Star.
And still the crowd of office seekers floods
the city. And still the assault on the civil
service wall of decentralization continues
There is more trepidation among those who
are in office, and an increase in Indignation
among those who are out of it, At the
skirt of the array Of office seekers is the
usual spring influx Of inventors. Both office
seekers and inventors are at the mercy in
many cases of bureau chieftains. There
seems to be a tendency toward despotic
rule not only in the House, but in the de-
partments as well. Congress may pass
laws at will, and the President may sign
them, but that is not the end of it. Some
obscure corporal in legislation, quartered In
the Treasury Department or elsewhere,
will take 1t upon himself to declare them
unconstitutional, without waiting for action
by the Supreme Court.
There has been a change in the patent
tired and genial Ben. Butterworth has
again resumed the toga. Applicants and
attorneys were nearly all dissatisfied with
Mr.. Seymours administration. They re-
garded him as arbitrary, If not unreason-
able Before his incumbency, applicants
for patents were allowed two years in
which to complete their applications. When
completed they were examined In due
inventor was allowed two years in which to
amend his case or seek reconsideration.
All this was done under an act of Congress
passed in 1851.
torney applied the law to his own advan-
tage and the disadvantage of the public.
Through technicalities he kept his appli-
cation pending for years. But there were
very few such cases-not one in a hundred.
Mr.. Seymour recommended to Congress that
it enact legislation which would stop such
practices, by shortening the time allowed
an inventor in which to complete and
prosecute his case. Congress paid no atten-
ton to the recommendation. Thereupon
Commissioner Seymour determined to apply
a remedy without waiting for Congress.
Applying for a Patent.
The applications for patents filed average
about 125 a day. There are thirty-five
principal examiners, with perhaps 200 as
sistants. Every examiner and every as
sfstant examiner has his own speciality.
Let us take the case, say, of poor in
ventor living in Oregon. He makes a valu-
able invention and desires to obtain a pat
ent He sends his application with $15 to
the commissioner of patents. 1t Is re-
ferred to the examiner having charge ot
that peculiar class of inventions. 1t Is his
duty to reject 1t, II anything can be found
On which to base a rejection. Nearly co.,
COO patents have been granted in the Unit
ed States. and probably more than mil
lion in the rest of the world. II any of
these anticipate the invention. the examiner
must reject the application. 1t Is not neces-
sary that exactly the same thing should
have existed before, for II anything sub
stantialiy similar can be found the appii-
cant must go to the wall. But more than
this, II anything similar has been described
in any printed publication. in any language.
anywhere In the world. or II without being
patented or described In print, II has been
used anywhere In the United States, the
examiner should reject.
The rub comes all the time upon the de-
gree of similarity which will constitute an
anticipation Of the invention A tremen-
dous responsibility. 1t viii be seen. is thus
thrown upon the examiner. He wants to
be safe It is both his pride and his duty
not to allow a patent to go out that ought
to have been rejected. The consequence Is
that great many examiners reject almost
everything ON tho first examination. No
matter how broadly new the invention may
be-. something can always be found that q