The Minneapolis journal., 1901-03-23
WHAT THE GOVERNMENT
DOES FOR THE PEOPLE
vI-How TO GET A PATENT

10 congress an authority which was then con-
sidered Of minor Importance, but which in
the process OF time has done more for the up
building of the United States than the most
vivid imagination could then have conceived
possible The clause to which l refer is
known as paragraph 8 Of section OF article
l of the federal constitution. under which
congress is given the power ITO promote the
progress of science and the useful arts by
securing for limited times to authors and
inventors the exclusive rights to their re-
spective writings and discoveries" 1t Is the
patent systematic outgrowth of that consti-
tutional provision-which is the subject Of
this paper.
1t has ever been debatable question
whether the hope Of reward is a greater in
centive to action than the fear of punish
ment, but it cannot be successfully ques-
toned that the hope of reward has been that
which has transformed the dreamer into the
man Of action, and which has, as has been
well said, stimulated men to transform their
thinking into things
Issuing the First Patents.
The authority conferred upon congress was
soon exercised. President Washington in his
annual message to congress in 1890, called at
tention to the subject, and on April 10, 1880,
the first law upon the subject was enacted.
The Importance Of the exercise OF care in the
granting Of patents would seem to have been
impressed upon congress by the fact that it
constituted the secretary of state, the secre-
tary of war and the attorney general board
to consider all applications for patents. That
this tribunal carefully considered the utility
and Importance of inventions presented for
patent l infer from the fact that only fifty
seven patents were issued under this act
prior to its supersedure by the statute Of Feb
q, 1898. The first patent issued was to Sam
uel Hopkins, July 81, 1890, for making pot
and pearl ashes.'' The act of 1893 remained
in force, as amended from time to time, until
the act OF 1885 was passed. The acts of 1890
and 1893 differed in some respects, the most
important Of which was that under the act of
1873 patent was issued to any one who made
the necessary allegations and complied with
the formal requirements, while the act of 1890
required an examination into the novelty and
utility of the invention. In respect TO the
requirement of an examination, the act Of
1886 followed that of 1890, and since 1896 pat
ents have been issued only after an examina-
tlon and comparison between the invention
claimed and the prior art, so far as known to
the experts of the patent office BY prior
art is meant prior domestic and foreign pat
ents and publications and any known prior
use in this country.
Important Work of the Patent Office,
The scope of this article does not permit
TO the various amendments made
to the act OF 1886. Suffice it to say that
with notifications, 1t remained in force until
the revision of the patent laws in 1870 This
revision was largely a consolidation of rne
statutes then in force. The act of 1870 was
repealed and substantially re-enacted in the
revised statutes Of the United States in
1875
The number of patents granted prior to
July q, 1885, was 9,957, Since that time 6s4. :
S26 patents, not including designs, have been
issued. Since 1896 the receipts Of the Office
and the expense OF conducting it have won
cerfully increased. The receipts during the
year 1887 were less than $780, 900, while the ex-
penses OF carrying on the office exceeded the
receipts by about 1900. The receipts for the
year 1900 were something about 81. $50 600.
with expenses of about 81, ,25O,0O The re-
ceipts Of the patent Office up to the present
time have exceeded its disbursements by over
s., ,O0O, COO
In 1870, when patents were first granted. the
occasional service of one clerk suff1ced to do
The clerical work connected with the issuing
OF patents. At the present time the force of
the patent Office numbers 679. In 1896 ii was
comparatively easy to examine the "prior
art and determine the novelty of the claimed
invention. At the present time the work of
examination is Of enormous magnitude. and
it is not TO be wondered at that patents
are often issued which should have been
rejected.
Great Benefit of the Patent Laws.
The patent laws of the United States are
more benefcent than those OF any other coun-
try, and more labor is performed under them,
with the least pecuniary return to the gov
Crnment, for the benefit of inventors irrespec-
tive of their nationality than is generally
understood. And yet the United States could
have well afforded to bear all the exnenses
connected with the issue of patents without
the payment of any fees by the inventors for
It is invention thai has made POSSIBLE the un-
paralleled growth of the country in popuIa-
lion and wealth. Eliminate the cotton gin.
the reaper, the electric telegraph, the sewing
machine the typewriter, the telephone the
drive well. the rotary web perfecting printing
press, the perfected dynamo and a host Of
other meritorious Inventions and this coun-
try, instead of being world power. would be
a feeble nation, with much of its broad do
main uncultvated, the home OF wild animals
ana still more savage men. The debt Of the
United States to inventors and discoverers
VIII De partially repaid some day by the
erection at the beautiful capital of the nation
OF building of magnificent proportions. in
winch shall be illustrated in appropriate man
rer the growth OF the Industrial arts.
What Inventions May Be Patented
The patent law provides that to the one
who, having invented or discovered any new
ana usefui art, machine. manufacture or com
position OF matter, or any new and useful
improvement thereof, not known or used hv
others in this country before his invention
or discovery thereof, and not patented or de-
scrlbed in any printed publication in this or
any foreign country before his invention or
discovery thereof, or more than two wears
prior to his application, and not in public use
or on sale In the United States for more
than two years prior to his application, un-
less the same is proved to have been aban-
doned, patent, upon due application being
made therefor and upon payment Of the
nominal fee of $35, will issue under the seal
OF the patent office, for a term of seventeen
years, granting to the patentee his heirs or
assigns, the exclusive right TO make use and
vend the invention or discovery throughout
the United States and the territories thereof
referring to the specification for the mar
tlcuiars thereof. Nay, more, the inventor is
required to pay only SIS of the s35 in order
to have the question determined whether ar
not patent shall issue to him. and he il al
lowed a period of six months after the all
loWance OF his application for patent in which
to pay the Anal government fee of $40.
Making Application for a Patent.
Applications for patents must be made in
writing and an applicant must file in the
patent Office a written description of his
invention and of the manner and process Of
making, constructing, compounding and using
It. Such description must be suficiently
full. clear and exact to enable any person
skilled in the art or science to which it apper-
tains to make. construct. compound and use
the same The specifications and claims
must be signed by the inventor and attested
by two witnesses, and when the nature Of the
case admits. the applicant must furnish a