The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1912-01-03
PATENT DEPARTMENT
DOES BIG BUSINESS
One of the Few Departments Of
the Government That Turns
In Comfortable Surplus

There were received in the last MS
|cal year 65.154 applications for me-
chanical patents, 1915 applications
for designs. 206 applications for reis-
sue, 6,s57 applications for trade
marks, s7s applications for labels. and
266 applications for prints. There
were 34,42S patents granted. including
reissues and designs, and 1871 trade
marks, SIC labels and 1s1 prints were
registered, according to Commissioner
f. B. Moore.
Seven Million Dollar Surplus
The number of patents that expired
was 22,546. The number of allowed
applications which were by operation
of law forfeited for non payment of
the final fees was 7,09S. The total re-
Iceipts of the Office We're s1,9S7,77S.5S;
the total expenditures We're sl,s57.-
001.S5, and the net surplus of receipts
over expenditures was $30,776.73. The
total net surplus for all years of re-
ceipts over expenditures of all kinds
Gncluding salaries of the forcei is now
s7,029,00437. This surplus covered
into the treasury represents the net
earnings of the bureal, and it has all
been paid by the inventors.
New Law Desired
The passage is recommended Of
certain bills introduced in congress.
The most important deals with the
safeguarding of applications from pos
sible mutilation or fraudulent amend
ment DUNG the tendency in the patent
office and with increasing the cer-
tainty of examinations of applications.
1t provides that there shall be re-
quired to be filed with ali application
for patent, in addition TO the drawing,
two Photographic copes of such draw
ing. This imposes upon every appli-
cant for patent an additional statutory
requirementt-to-w to file with each
application of which a signed at at
tested drawing forms part two photo
graphic copies of such signed and at
tested drawing.
The purposes of this requirement
are Cd to guard against and enable
the detection of unauthorized changes
in the original drawing or abstraction
of such drawing and substitution Of
another; (2) to lessen the danger of
serious mistakes on the part of the
Office in failing to detect interferenees
between co-pending applications for
the same invention.
Other amendment bills change only
the word claimant" in section 4S93
to read applicant ami the word
Claimant in section 4S17 to read
"patentee.''
The word claimant is not, in my
opinion, the proper word to use in
these statutes. In all other statutes
relating to patents the inventor IS
formally referred TO as an applicant"
or as ''patentee." These two statutes
are the only ones using the word
''cla imant." These amendments,
therefore will bring the statutes into
conformity with the other statutes re-
lating to patents.
The application for a patent is not
a claim against the government, and
the attorney in a patent case is not
prosecuting a claim against the gov
eminent. The patent, on the contrary,
is in the nature of a contract and is so
construed by the authorities on the
subject and by the courts. The inven-
tor having created something new, Of
fers by his application to fully disclose
his invention at once and to give it to
the public at the end of II years, pro-
vided the United States will allow him
to have the exclusive possession
thereof in the meantime. In granting
a patent for an invention the govern
ment is not parting with anything pos
sessed by the public prior to appli-
cant's disclosure. If the inventor
chooses not to disclose his invention,
but to practice it in secret, the public
is the loser. In payment for the in
vention the inventor obtains the right
to bring suit in the federal courts
against infringers during a period of
IL years.