The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1911-08-25
One MILLION
PATENTS ISSUED
Ohio Inventor Gels Distinction
Sought by Many,
AMERICA LEADS The WORLD.
Thirty Per Cent of All Patents Have
Been Issued In This Country-Nearly
10000 Granted Before Serial Plan of
Numbering Was Adopted.

Been issued IN ! MS Country-Nearly
10000 Granted Before Serial Plan of
Numbering Was Adopted.
Announcement of the issue of the
millionth patent (since they have been
serially numbered) was announced re-
Gently by Commissioner Edward b.
Moore. 1t was issued to an Akron
(O) man for a puncture proof tire for
automobile and other vehicles, depend
ing upon rubber springs for its re-
siliency.
Commissioner Moore said the appli-
cation came up in the regular order
of business, was numbered and car
ried through the regular channels and
was signed without ceremony Nu-
merous requests were received from
various inventors for this distinction,
but they were not needed.
EngIisnman Got First Patent.
This patent, although numbered
100000, is in reality not the mil
lionth for the reason that prior to July
%, 1886, there were granted 9,957 pat
ents without numbers, so that count
ing from the first patent granted, July
81, 1870, and including the 9,957 un.
numbered patents, the millionth patent
would be the one numbered 990,043, is
sued April IS, 1911. The first one was
granted to Clarence Thorvald Hasen
Of Lancaster, England, for machine
to make tubes from fibrous materials.
The American patent system was
founded by an act of congress April
10. 1890. Thomas Jefferson, then sec
retary Of state, inspired it and may
be said to have been its father He
took great pride in it, it is said, and
gave personal consideration to every
application that was made for a pat
ent during the years between 1870 and
1793
Under this act applications for pat
, ents were examined by a board of COM
missioners consisting of the secretary
of state, the secretary of war and the
attorney general, and after having
been passed upon bytthis tribunal they
still required the certificate of the at
torney general and the signature of the
president The first board consisted
of Thomas jefferson, secretary of
state; Henry Knox, secretary of war,
and Edmund Randolph of Virginia, at
torney general. The first patent was
granted to Samuel Hopkins on July 81,
1870, for manufacturing potash and
| pearlaSh.
Fees Then and Now.
The act of 1890 prescribed the fol-
lowing fees for the granting Of patents,
which are in striking contrast with
those eXacted today: For receiving
and filing the petition, 80 cents; for fl
ing specifications, per copy sheet con
tanning 100 words, 10 cents; for max
ing out the patent. 50; for aftiXing the
great seal, 81; for indorsing the day of
delivering the same to the patentee, in
Guiding all intermediate services, 10
cents" Today the government fees
amount to $35.
In 1893 the patent laws were revised,
and from that time until 1886 no sys-
TEN was maintained and every appli-
cation that was made was granted In
1886 congress passed new laws that
are the foundation of the present pat
ent laws. 1t was in this year that pat
ents were first numbered, July %, 1886.
Patent No. 1 was granted to John Rug
giles Of ThOmaston, Me-, for locomo-
tive steam engine for inclined planes
Since that time 1,S25yOO0 applications
have been made, of which 1,000,G00
have been granted. There are 90,G00
! pending; the rest are abandoned. These
represent an approximate expenditure
OF 100000 in government fees from
the inventors alone.
Under these laws TACT of 1893 the
board of commissioners was abolished,
and the power to grant patents was
vested in the secretary of state. 1t
was not until 1886 that the Office of
commissioner of patents was establish
ed. Henry L. Ellsworth was the in
! cumbent
Grinding Out $4,000 a Year.
America leads the world as an in
ventive nation, France coming next,
with 445,O00 patents; then Great Brit
ain, with 100000; Germany, with 25O,-
O0O;, Belgium, 24O0OO; Canada, 135,OOO.
| The Bahamas and Liberia share the
'bOOby" prize, with two patents each
The total number of patents granted
by all nations of the world is $780,
900, Of which 30 per cent have been
granted by the United States.
The patent Office is now granting
patents at the rate of $4,000 a year,
/ applications being received at the rate
Of 65,O00 per annum, the examination
Of which requires 375 examiners.
Owing to the enormous increase in
the business Of the patent office in the
last few years its building has become
very much overcrowded, and Commits
sioner Moore hopes that congress win
appropriate the 100000 now In the
treasury to the credit of the patent