TO THE PUBLIC. In the commencement of this work the author only contemplated tne suggestion of some amendment to the patent law; but on a critical examination of that statute, he found the several sections improperly arranged, and so many defects were apparent that it was found difficult to make the necessary change without writing out the whole anew, embracing the substance generally of the present law. It was then thought advisable to offer some explanations and give some reasons for the change, together with an account of some operations of the present law; and finally, he concluded to give a general view of the subject, and offer it to the public, in order that the public might express their opinion, and thus put Congress in possession of such opinion before taking up the subject; and in order to defray the expense of printing, and perhaps receive something in addition, to compensate him for the money which the government has unjustly compelled him to pay in order to obtain his rights, (hereafter explained,) he has thought it advisable to secure a copy right, not doubting but that many of his fellow inventors would be willing to pay a trifle for a book giving a fair description of their own rights. The copy right, however, is not designed to claim any right to the proposed amendments of the law dis connected from the other matter. The dry details of the law will be uninteresting to the greater portion of the public, but it is presumed that the other matter connected therewith will compensate the reader for that drawback. Yet all the business portion of the community ought to be familiar with the law of patents, in order to avoid being unconsciously led into an infringement (by unprincipled pirates) in buying and selling patented articles produced by those who do not possess a legal right, which would render them liable to a prosecution for infringement. DEFINITION OF AN INVENTION, Which the Constitution of the United States, and the Acts of Congress, recognize as constituting the subject matter of a Patent. BY THE AUTHOR. It is a thought, an idea first conceived in the mind, and then embodied in a material form in such a way and manner as to produce something new and useful. Something different from what existed before. Something which could not be produced by having a knowledge of what previously existed, without a new thought, a new idea, a new exercise of the mind. It may consist in the discovery of a new art, or a new improvement on any art. A new machine, or implement, of any kind, or an improvement on any machine, implement or article, or any new thing produced by any device whatever, either in improving the form and construction of old parts, composing any machine, implement or thing, or adding new parts to any machine, implement or thing, or a new combination of new parts, or a new combination of old parts, or a new combination of both old and new parts, or a new compound of matter or materials to produce a useful result, and constituting something different from what previously existed, and not interfering with the rights of others, or depriving the public of any thing previously in existence. INTRODUCTORY. The following letter of the Hon. HENRY CLAY, gives an admirable and correct general view of the subject:— ASHLAND, June 27th, 1851. DEAR SIR-I received your letter of the 18th inst., on the subject of a general Patent Law. You seem to think that the appointment of a Special Committee in Congress, charged with the duty of taking testimony of inventors and others, would be most likely to produce a suitable law, calculated to secure the rights of patentees. Repeated attempts, as you know, have been made in Congress to procure such a law, and several Acts have, from time tc time, been passed. I regret extremely that no adequate security has yet beer found, in any of the existing laws, for the rights of that useful class of men; the subject itself is complicated, and the numerous decisions which have been passed, have increased the difficulty of clearly comprehending it. The difficulty I have observed in Congress is, that very few members will give that close and particular attention to the subject which is necessary. With the general principles which ought to be incorporated in such a law, I have some acquaintance, but I do not profess to know all the details which should be embodied in it. As to the plan you propose, of appointing a Committee to take evidence, &c., it may be productive of some advantage, but I doubt whether it would realize all that you anticipate. What is wanted is not so much evidence as to the state of facts, as it is of the law as it now exists-the defects which have been developed in it-and the construction which the courts have, from time to time, given to it. These are matters of research and not of evidence. Why could you not get a meeting or committee of intelligent inventors, and let them agree upon what is needful to protect their interests, and submit their wants to Congress, which could modify or adopt it, as might seem to be right? I regret that I cannot venture to promise you to take charge of the subject in the Senate. The next session of Congress is yet remote, and I am not able to say whether I shall attend it or not; but if I do, I anticipate that my time will be very much engaged by other matters. I assure you, at the same time, that I feel a lively interest in the welfare of inventors, and sincerely hope that they may finally obtain that protection from the law which ought to be afforded to every interest in the country. I am, with great respect, your obedient servant, JORDAN L. MOTT, Esq. H. CLAY. The author avails himself of the foregoing suggestions of the great statesman, whose sound views on national subjects have assisted the national councils during a long period. The author having suffered greatly from defective laws, which have caused him great expense in supporting his patents in a court of justice, and having also been put to great expense in obtaining justice from the Patent Office, (under a former administration,) respectfully submits the following proposed amendments of the law, for the consideration of Congress, all real inventors, and the public generally. Numerous complaints and petitions respecting the granting and extending time on patents, have been presented to Congress, and various modifications of the law have been proposed, from time to time, by both inventors and pirates of patented inventions, the whole presenting such a mass of conflicting matter that Congress cannot tell what inventors really want, or how to make laws, from what has been presented, that will do justice to inventors, pirates, and the public. Therefore, the object of the author is to give a clear view of the subject, and reconcile the whole matter. An invention is a thing that exists, and the only important question which can arise before any court, in a suit for the violation of a patent, is simply this: Was the patentee the original inventor or not? Certainly it requires no intricate complication and multiplicity of words in the law, for the purpose of establishing one simple fact, which consists in the date of the invention. Invention is the great characteristic feature which distinguishes mankind from the animal creation; it originally produced property, and caused men to assemble together, to select individuals to make laws for their mutual protection in the property which each individual had invented or acquired. Every individual in the country has been benefited, in a greater or less degree, by the labors of inventors, and the greater portion of all the property in the nation has been produced by means of their inventions. No class has benefited the country in a higher degree, and no class has suffered more for the want of just laws to protect their property, without expensive and ruinous litigation. Complaints against the patent laws seldom, if ever, arise amongst those who pirate the |