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

Tho civilized nations or the eaIln
have issued three million patents
and OF this number one million arc
to be found in the files OF the Patent
Office OF the United states.
From time immemorial the right
to grant exclusive privileges was con
sidered the prerogauve or kings.
among other privileges being that OF
life.benefit from inventions and dis
coveries. This prerogative was SO
abused about the time OF EhZabeth
that favorites were even gwen eX-
elusive right to purvey the neces-
saries OF life. Others We're inhiblt-
ed from engaging in occupations
that would conflict with the wishes
and desires of royal favorites. In
1923 King James agreed that In fu-
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 a hostile
way TO the interests OF inventors.
The patent was not even prima facie
evidence that the patentee had made
the invention No margin was con
ceded for possible error. An unapt
title 20 his invention, an illjudged
word in his specifications, an incau-
tious experiment, or the least disclo-
sure before the sealing OF a letters
patent would end patentee's privi-
leges. II was only natural that such
an attitude OF hostility should result
in the issuance OF only a thousand
patents I'm one hundred and nifty
years
Then Watt succeeded in harness
Ing machinery 70 steam, and Ark
wright hitChed spinning TO machin-
cry. This was followed by such n
crop OF infringements that the courts
became fierce battlefelds, and the
| Judges began TO realize that inven-
tors were public benefactors. worthy
OF all honors and material rewards.
! In this attitude they laid tho foun-
/ dalton OF modern patent practice and
| the industrial era that followed.
The idea came with the empire
/ builders 10 jamestown and Cape Cod.
| and in 1871 the colony OF Massachu-
sets granted TO Samuel Winslow a
patent for a new method OF making
| salt In 1916 a patent was granted
| 70 Joseph jerks for an engine for
the more speedy cutting of grass. a"
! This engine" was nothing more than
an old-fashioned moving scythe, but
IL was the first OF a long line OF
Ameri can agricultural machines
which have revolutionized the farm
J life of the world.
The Connecticut colony was strong
! ly In favor OF encouraging inventors,
and in the century preceding the
Revolution granted many patents. In
! 1872 ii passed a general law that
there should be no monopolies grant
ed or allowed except on valuable IN
ventions, the length OF time covered
by a patent being within the discre-
ton Of the general court From that
day TO 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 ito promote the
progress OF science and the useful
arts by securing for limited times TO
authors and inventors the exclusive
rights to their respective writings and
discoveries" When the trainers OF
the constitution inserted that clause
they did as much TO make America
the synonym OF progress as they did
| during the many weeks Of dellberation
on other subjects. Fostered by a sin
gle sentence In that great government
| 81 q Al 4.
and the Atlantic Oceans within easy
communication with one another, and
in large measure helped 10 make
! possible the forty-eight stars in Column.
bias prospective crown.
The honor OF having introduced a
bill for the first general patent law in
America providing aflrmatively for
the granting OF letters patent, belongs
to a statesman OF Connecticut-Ben ia.
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 patent law. He wanted
TO 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. II departed
from English usage in that an exam.
lnation OF the proposed patent was re-
qulred, and when a person got his
patent It 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 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 in its train.
Three years later another act was
passed. and the secretary OF state
alone became the final authority as
70 whether a patent should be issued.
Foreigners we're denied the privileges
and advantages of the patent system,
but this was partially restored In 1900
In 1919 congress conferred upon the
circuit courts the right 10 protect the
holder OF q patent from infringements.