Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1908-02-14
THE GREAT WORK OF THE PAT.
EMIT OFFICE.

ENl OfFICt..
The life of the inventor Is full Of
toll and disappointment, yet whether
they succeed financially with the pro-
ducts Of their ingenuity, they cause
a vast amount of work to the Federal
government. The American gift for
invention Is as remarkable us ever.
and It has been stimulated by the
system prevailing In the patent Of
Ace In Washington the officials
charged with examining applications
for patents are now much over
worked body, being unable to comply
promptly with the requests they re-
cclve from all parts OF the country.
The duties of "A patent Office examiner
are so varied that he must be well
grounded In law, science and techon-
ogy. After he has passed n severe
civil service examination and enters
the patent office he discovers he is
stu called on to study questions that
tax his Chest energies. For example,
he finds that court decisions are con-
stantly modifying the law councern-
ing patents. The question of inven-
ton comes up in new forms through
fresh patents and helmuss discover now
much real invention Is contained In
such application. Not only has the
literature In this aud other countries
~ be consulted. rs II bears OH the
number and character OF the patents,
but the question of public use and
public knowledge must Le borne In
mind. II the inventor. therefore. is
weary from his eXertions he has the
A., satisfaction of knowing that he is the
cause of considerable unrest to those
who must pass on the merits of his
production.
Apropos of the enormous amount OF
work In the patent office. the lnven-
tors journal notes that the last week
~ report OF tho commissioner Of
patents states there are awaiting ac-
! ton by tho patent office 1875 APP.
plications for patents. Each exam
4 iner therefore, has about 40 cases u
day to his credit. If each OF these
cases, on an average. contains %
claims-each claim being for an In
| yention-each examiner each day has
10 Inventions asking Tor 1000 patents.
Each claim, argues this journal,
: must stand alone in the courts of tho
United States, therefore must be ex-
amined alone with. respect to this
ever varying field of invention called
the prior art" In the United States
there are over 371.7e7 patents. with
an average of Is claims: there are
over 100000 patents in the foreign
countries. With an average OF FIVE
I claims in each ease. Consequently.
! the examiner with his assignment OF
1000 requests Il day. is forced to OK
canine into n prior art consisting
OF over 1S.000.0O0 OF patent inyen-
tons.
| NThere are so many applications
awaiting action by the Office and so
many intricate questions to be set
tied that the department work is near
.ly four monhs in arrears with nearly
10000 case pending. AT the begin
ming OF the Goth century there were
awaiting action by the patent office
$3.50 cases. the year following there
were $50, the next year ll.4S; In
1901. 1923; in 1905, 14,s47. and In
1906 the Office was loaded with o.
$40 cases awaiting action. These
facts show that the life of
an examiner Of patents is an unusual
~ busy one. and also accounts Tor
the delays inventors experience in
hearing the verdict ON their applica-
lions.
The patent Office is certainly re-
markable institution and its work
proves that its establishment was d
wise move on the part of the govern
ment.
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