Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-03-26

su&Sesteu> name was. sdescrtpflve, 1ault
with which the ONCE had simply no pa
'ThI. i. the way H. they said. with
| makes things clean bright. Sun makes
things bright, too. 6erel It can't DO sl-
The proprietor of the soap was, how
ever, an obstinate, determined sort of per-
son, and he took the matter into court
and won his suit. IL
A kodak company had somewhat SIM
liar but even harder time. When 1t ap-
piled for permission to use the word "solio"
In advertising sensitive paper it was
withheld. Curiousiy enough. 1t seemed
that the sun was again the cause of all
the trouble. The trademark Office insist
ed that, as the paper was affected by the
rays of the sun and as the suns most
popular nickname was Sol. the companys
catch-name was descriptive" and, there
fore, quite impossible
The company promptly appealed from
the decision to the board of trade, who
upheld the trademark office. From this
BODY the case went to the first court, and
still the verdict was the same. Ditto in
the second court. 1t was not until the
question was argued before the house of
lords, sitting as the highest court OF APP
peal, that the company won out. There
the lord chancellor remarked that such a
restriction was absurd" And the franz
ers Of the new bill take similar view of
the matter.
A Myriad of Queer Devices.
The new home of the patent office, fin
ished only few months ago, though it
does not compare with the vast and hand
some building at Washington, is infinitely
more up to date than the system 1t shell
tiers. 1t is big and airy and the library
is handsome big room, with over three
miles OF shelving, on which repose over
100000 volumes
Among the specifications contained there
in are many relating to unusually crack
Drained devices. There is one Of ship
which its inventor intended to run by means
Of wind-miHs fixed at the top Of the masts.
There is an interesting process for extract
ing gold which another genius felt sure,
from its beautiful yellow color. must exist
In straw. There Is a plan for a COM
bined gun and plow-the handles of the
idea being that should an honest plowman
be attacked by deadly enemies. he would
not be without serviceable weapon.
Americans Lead in Patents.
In the American corner OF the library
are shelves upon shelves of fat. yellow vol
umes, all marked ~. 8. Patents" and no
wonder, for the British patent office grants
more patents to American inventors than
1t does to those of any other foreign coun-
try-31S9 was the number last year-Ger-
many coming next and France next.
In the library you find the inevitable 1T
one Of the seven ages of man represented
among them-poring over the records OF pa
tents to find out whether the idea upon
which 50 many Of their hopes for the flu
ture are founded has occurred to some one
else already. Inventors get courteous
treatment at the patent Office. There isn't
anyone to say to them as Dickens, in
Little DorTit' made Mr.. Barnacie, IT.,
say:
Look here! upon my soul, you mustn't
come into the place saying you want to
know, you know
How Dickens Grilled the System.
In Dickens time an English patent, con-
sdered merely as a document, was por-
tentous thing. 1t was engrossed by hand
on a parchment sheet Of about the size OF
a big map Of the United States, and bore
a round wax seal fully as large as an ordl-
nary backing box, inclosed in tin case,
greatly resembling the last-named article
To obtain a patent took almost as long as
1t does to get money out OF chancery, ana
cost nearly as much as stateroom on q
crack ocean liner. =
What made Charles Dickens maddest
however was the necessity that existed IN
his day of bribing everybody that had any.
thing whatever to do with the granting OF
a patent. He wrote:
.:Look at the lord chancellor. the privy
seal. the clerk ofAthe patents. the lord
chancellor purse bearer, the Sieih VI tiie
hanaper, the deputy clerk OF the hanaper,
the deputy sealer and the deputy chan-
wax. No man in England could get pat
ent for an India rubber band. or an iron
hoop, without feeling all Of them. I went
through thirty-flve stages I began with
the queen on the throne. / ended with the
deputy chaff-wax. Motel should like to
see the deputy chaff-wax. Is IT a man, or
what is it? Further. I agree that the whole
gang OF hampers and chaff-waxers must
be done away with. and that England has
been chaffed and waxed sufficiently"