The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1910-11-17

The civilized nations OF the cart"
have issued three million patents
and OF this number one million arc
10 be found in the files OF the Pateht
Office OF the United States
From time immemorial the rshl
70 grant exclusive privileges VAS con
sidered the prerogative or kings.
among other privileges being that al
life-beueit from inventions and dis
coveries. This prerogative was so
abused about the time Of Elizabeth
that favorites were even given ca
elusive right TO purvey tho neces-
saries OF life Others were inhioit'
ed from engaging In occupations
that would conflict with the wishes
and desires OF royal favorites In
1923 King James agreed that In ~
ture all patents should be granted
only TO inventors OF new manufac-
lures. and TO them only for limited
time But for many years this law
was interpreted entirely in hostile
way TO the interests OF inventors.
The patent Was not even prima fscio
evidence that the patentee had made
the invention. No margin vas con
coded for possible error. An unapt
title to his invention. an ill-Judged
word in his specifications, ali tncau-
tlous experiment, or the least disclo-
sure before the sealing OF a letters
patent would end a patentee's prtvi-
leges II was only natural that such
an attitude or hostility should result
in the issuance Of only a thousand
patents in one hundred and nifty
years
Then Watt succeeded in harness
ing machinery 10 steam. and Ark.
wright hitChed spinning TO machin-
cry. This was followed by such a
crop OF infringements that the courts
| became fierce battlefelds. and the
/ Judges began TO realize that inven.
I tors were public benefactors, worthy
4 OF all honors and material rewards,
! In this attitude they laid the foun-
datiou OF modern patent practice and
the industrial era that followed
The idea came with the empire
builders To jamestown and Cape COD.
and in l641 the colony OF Massachu-
sets granted 10 Samuel Winslow a
patent for new method ~ making
1 salt, In 1916 q patent was granted
| 10 Joseph jerks for an engine for
the more speedy cutting OF grass.
! This engine" vas nothing more than
an old.fashioned moving scythe but
| IL was the first OF long line of
Ameri can agricultural machines
which have revolutlonized the farm
! life Ct the world.
The Connecticut colony was strong
! ly in favor OF encouraging inventors,
! and In the century preceding the
! Revolution granted many patents In
t6T2 II passed a general law that
there should be no monopolies grant
ed or allowed except on valuable "a.
ventions, the length OF time covered
/ by a patent being within the discre-
/ ton of the general court From that
/ day 10 the present. the people OF Con-
necticut have taken out more patents
per capita than those OF any other
state.
The convention that framed the Am
erican Constitution had been sitting
for three months before the patent
question was brought up Many prop.
ositions were introduced. but the final
/ enactment provided that congress
should have the power TO promote the
/ progress OF science and the useful
arts by securing for limited times 10
authors and Inventors the exclusive
] rights 70 their respective writings and
discoveries " When the trainers OF
! the constitution inserted that clause
/ they did as much 10 make America
the synonym OF progress as they did
/ during the many weeks OF deliberation
/ on other subjects Fostered by a sin
gle sentence in that great government
al creed. invention brought the Pacific
and the Atlantic Oceans within easy
communication with one another, and
in a large measure helped to make
! possible the forty-eight stars I'm Column
bias prospective crown.
The honor OF having introduced a
bill for the first general patent law in
| America providing affirmatively for
the granting OF letters patent. belongs
| 20 a statesman Of Connectlcut-Ben
min Huntington He did this soon
after the first session OF the first con-
gress convened. The proposed meas
ure slumbered until the next year In
the meantime President Washington
addressed congress In person. in the
course OF which address he urged the
passage OF a patent law. He wanted
10 give encouragement to the skill and
genius at home, AT the same time en-.
couraging the Introduction OF new and
useful inventions from abroad The
law that followed was signed by Wash
ington. April 10, 1890. Il departed
from English usage in that an exam
nation of the proposed patent was re.
quired and when a person got his
patent IL was prima facia evidence
that the invention had been described
correctly.
The secretaries Of state and war
and the attorney general were cOnsti-
tuted the first patent commission
They waited three months before the
first applicant for a patent appeared.
Samuel Hopkins had invented a new
method OF making pot and pearl
ashes. That patent was issued July
81. 1890, the first of nearly million
which have followed I'm it's train.
Three years later another act was
passed. and the secretary OF state
alone became the final authority as
10 whether n patent should be issued.
Foreigners were denied the privileges
and advantages OF the patent system.
hut this was partially restored in 1900
In 1919 congress conferred upon the
circuit courts the right to protect the
holder OF a patent from infrlngements
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