specimen, in the Patent Office, or that may hereafter be deposited therein, a card made of suitable material, on which shall be printed, in capital letters and figures not less than three eighths of an inch in length, the number of the patent, the name of the invention, the date of the patent, and the name and residence of the inventor.

SECT. 29. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the Commis sioner to cause to be classified and arranged, in such rooms or galleries as may be provided for that purpose, in suitable cases, when necessary for their preservation, and in such manner as shall be conducive to a beneficial and favorable display thereof, the models and specimens of compositions, and of fabrics and other manufactures and works of art, which have been patented, or may hereafter be patented. And said rooms or galleries shall be kept open during suitable hours for public inspection.

SECT. 30. And be it further enacted, That all models and specimens remaining in the office on which patents have been refused, and all models and specimens which may hereafter be presented, and patent refused, shall be returned to the applicants, their heirs or assigns, and if not called for within two years after being notified by the Commissioner, he shall sell them at public auction, and appropriate the proceeds to the Patent Fund.

SECT. 31. And be it further enacted, That the Commissioner shall make such rules and regulations for transacting the business of the office, and for the duties of the under officers, as in his judgment may seem best calculated to facilitate the business of the office.

SECT. 32. And be it further enacted, That all moneys paid into the Patent Office shall constitute a fund to pay the salaries of the officers, and other expenses of the Patent Office; and if any moneys remain in the office on the first day of January, annually, the Commissioner shall pay the same into the United States treasury; and if the money received should not be sufficient to meet the expenses of the office during the year, the Commissioner shall draw on the United States treasury for the amount deficient.

SECT. 33. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the Commissioner to lay before Congress, in the month of January, annually, a full account and statement of all the business transactions of the office during the year past, with such other information as he may deem useful in showing the progress of the arts.

SECT. 34. And be it further enacted, That no patentee shall deprive the public of a right to use any thing which before existed, by reason of making an improvement thereon; his right shall be confined to the improvement added.

SECT. 35. And be it further enacted, That the Commissioner shall cause to be published, annually, a classified and alphabetical list of all the patents granted during the preceding year, and shall retain a suitable number of copies in the office for the inspection of applicants for patents and visitors to the office.

SECT. 36. And be it further enacted, That the Commissioner may purchase. for the use of the library in the office, such books as he may deem best adapted to the object contemplated, not, however, exceeding the amount of two hundred dollars annually.

SECT. 37. And be it further enacted, That no editor, publisher, or other person, shall be allowed to publish the specification or claims of any patent, without authority, in writing, from the patentee, his or her heirs or assigns; and every person so offending shall be liable to a penalty of not less than one hundred dollars, nor more than five thousand dollars, which may be recovered by action in any United States Circuit Court, or District Court having the power and jurisdiction of a Circuit Court.

SECT. 38. And be it further enacted, That the Commissioner shall, from time to time, give the public such information respecting the patent law, and the rights designed to be granted by patents, embracing the rules for the proceedings of the office, as in his judgment may seem best calculated to promote the public good; and it shall be his duty to cause such information to be published in various newspapers, and otherwise, at his discretion.

SECT. 39. And be it further enacted, That the Commissioner shall cause this Act to be printed in a pamphlet form, and shall present a copy thereof to every applicant for a patent, and shall accompany every patent issued with a copy.

SECT. 40. And be it further enacted, That all Acts heretofore passed on this subject be, and the same are, hereby repealed, excepting and saving those Acts relating to the Patent Office building, and other property belonging to that department: provided, however, that all actions and processes in law or equity, sued out prior to the passage of this Act, may be prosecuted to final judgment and execution, either under former Acts, or under this Act, as the court may direct. And provided, also, that all applications or petitions for patents, pending at the time of the passage of this Act, in cases where the duty has been paid, shall be proceeded with and acted on in the same manner as though filed after the passage thereof.

REMARKS.

The Patent Office Department has been transferred from the Department of State to the Department of the Interior; therefore the law should be altered to conform to this change.

SECTION I.

This section provides for the establishment of a Patent Office, and the appointment of a Commissioner, and gives him the charge and custody of all things in the office, and states the amount of the salary he is to receive, which is not named in the present law, but reference is given to the salary of another officer. This brings to mind the answer of Pat Murphy, when he was asked how much he would charge for a day's labor. And indade, may it plase yer. honor, the same price that Bill O'Donahue asks." "Where shall I find him, to ascertain the price?" May it plase yer honor, I cannot tell that." It requires but three words to express the amount of the salary of the CommisKioner. The law uses fifteen words (five fold the number) to give a reference to another officer. The labors of the Commissioner have increased three or four fold since the amount of his salary was established; therefore it is a matter of justice that his salary should be increased in some degree in proportion to his labors.

SECTION II.

This section provides for the appointment of a Chief Clerk and other officers, and specifies their duties and requisite qualifications. The duties of all the examiners require equal ability, and they should all be competent to perform the duty specified; therefore their salaries should be equal.

SECTION III.

This section provides that all the officers shall be qualified by oath to discharge their respective duties, and provides for keeping a regular and systematic account of the business transactions of the office, and for recording official letters, which has not been the practice of the office heretofore, except in part.

SECTION IV.

This section provides for the duties to be performed by the Commissioner and fully explains the object contemplated.

SECTION V.

This section explains and defines the rights designed to be secured to the inTentor, and specifies the term of the patent. A new art may be produced and clamed, in connection with the machinery or process to produce the art. It is therefore proper to insert the word "produced,"

SECTION VI.

This section gives the inventor directions how to proceed to obtain a patent, and confines the evidence permitted to be brought against a native or citizen inventor, to this country.

It is neither just, right nor honorable to deprive a true and original inventor of his invention, because the pirate asserts (on a trial for infringement) that the invention existed in some foreign country unknown to the inventor at the time he made his invention. This country might be deprived of the benefits of an invention for ages, if it were not actually invented here, (even if it did exist in some foreign country.) The inventor should be required to be the first and original inventor in this country. We ought to be independent of foreign countries in things actually invented here. The pirate ought to be cut off from the common, unjust and false plea, that the thing existed in some foreign country previous to the time that it was invented in this country. Suitable provision for the introduction of any thing new into this country, would supersede all cause for such assertion by those who infringe a patent.

SECTION VII.

This section deprives the Patent Office of the arbitrary power to unjustly reject an application for a patent, and cause the inventor great expense and long delay to obtain his rights by an appeal to the Chief Justice of the District of Columbia, which has been the practice heretofore. In some cases the Judge has reversed the decision of the office, and ordered the patent to be issued. The inventor, in such a case, is compelled to pay twenty-five dollars into the United States treasury for the privilege of proving that his rights have been unjustly rejected. The law admits of no indemnity nor remedy for expenses incurred, or loss of time, in such cases. At the same time the inventor is compelled to contend with the most powerful opposition that the combined skill in the office can produce. A greater piece of injustice can hardly be conceived than such operations. The provisions of this section will effectually remedy those defects.

SECTION VIII.

This section provides for granting patents for designs, statues, busts, &c. The rights granted for such objects are more clearly defined, with less words than are used in the present law.

SECTION IX.

This section makes it the duty of the applicant to present his model, (or specimen,) drawings, specification, and fee, all at the same time. This requirement has hitherto depended on the rules of the office. It would be better to have this proceeding embraced in the law, in order that the applicant may know his duty before making his application.

SECTION X.

This section provides for granting a patent to the heirs of a deceased inventor, and is expressed in language more clear, full, and direct to the point, with a less number of words than are used in the present law.

SECTION XI.

This section provides for the sale of an invention, or any undivided part thereof, either before or after the application is made for a patent. A sale of the invention, before the patent is issued, may, in some cases, be beneficial to the poor inventor, by holding out an inducement to others to assist him with funds to perfect and introduce his invention. The provisions of this section also make it a criminal offence for any one to make a double sale of the invention, for the purpose of fraud. This provision is better security for the public, against such fraud, than recording a sale in the patent office, as heretofore practised.

SECTION XII.

This section provides for adding an improvement or amending the specification or claim. The duties of the office in such cases are the same as on an

original application. Therefore the fee of the office should be the same. In case of an additional improvement, it would be better for the inventor to have the improvement added in some cases, and in others it would be better to take out a new patent for the improvement. The inventor can adopt either course by this provision.

SECTION XIII.

This section provides two years' time for the inventor to perfect his invention, and test the utility, by use, before applying for a patent. This provision supersedes the caveat system, and is far better adapted to accomplish the object designed by Congress than a careat, and relieves the patent office from an onerous duty. The inventor who has any fears that his invention may be pirated before he completes it, and applies for a patent, should call his friends to witness the progress of the invention, from time to time, and note the dates thereof. This evidence would answer far better than a careat in case his patent should be contested in law. If the provisions of this section were adopted by inventors generally, many of them would find that their expectations could not be realized, and in such cases they would not throw away their money for a patent, or lose the fee for a caveat. There can be nothing more absurd than to suppose that every new patent granted supersedes all others previously granted, to accomplish the same object or result.

SECTION XIV.

This section provides for granting patents to foreigners who are inventors. In the infancy of our country, the mechanical arts were at a very low state, and it was necessary to restrict patents to home inventors; but the progress of the arts and sciences has been so rapid since that time, that it is now a matter of boast, that our country is not behind any nation on earth in the utility of our inventions; and if any useful inventions are made in other countries that do not exist in this country, the public good would be promoted by the introduction of such inventions. It is therefore for the best interests of the nation to have laws made to protect foreign inventors; and as an encouragement to the inventor to introduce his invention, the fee of the office should be the same for a foreigner as for a citizen.

SECTION XV.

This section provides for the introduction of any useful machine or article that did not exist in this country previous to the introduction thereof by the applicant. The public good actually requires that some inducement should be held out by our government to protect all who spend their time and money in the introduction of useful inventions, whereby the public would be benefited, whether introduced by citizens or foreigners; but the time should be limited to half that of the inventors. Our government should not hold that we are behind other nations in the mechanical arts; but should hold that we are in advance of them; and if any useful thing exists in other countries that does not exist here, we want it introduced, and encouragement should be held out to every one to benefit the country by introducing any useful thing, which may be new in this country at the time of its introduction.

SECTION XVI.

This section provides for making it an infringement on a patent to import articles from any foreign country which have been manufactured or produced by means of an invention patented in this country. For example: In cases Lere the machine, implement, or article patented constitutes the thing to be terbated to the public for use, then this section would not be required, Serause the sale of the article would constitute an infringement; but in cases where the product of the machine patented constitutes the thing to be distributed to the public, then the sale of such articles would not be an infringethent under the present law; therefore the provisions of this section become absolutely necessary for the protection of the inventor.

Cases might arise where the importer was not aware of infringing a patent; and in such cases the court would undoubtedly assess no more damages than merely to transfer the profits of the importer to the inventor; but in case the

importer should continue to infringe the patent, after being duly notified of the fact, then the court should assess threefold damages. It may be thought by some that it would be difficult to obtain sufficient evidence in such cases to convict the importer; it should, however, be borne in mind that it is incumbent on the prosecuting parties to produce the necessary evidence, and that privilege is all that the government can grant, and it is all that inventors ask for in such cases.

SECTION XVII.

This section provides for the extension of time on patents.

In order that the subject may be clearly understood, it is necessary to give a view of the operation and effect produced heretofore by the extension of time on patents, in connection with the infringement of patents by those who have obtained subsequent patents for the same thing.

The Blanchard Machine for turning irregular forms is a fair illustration of the operations of pirates to evade a patent. This invention is designed for working wood, or other materials, and consists in a self-operating machine, which will produce the exact form, shape and likeness of any model or pattern which may be put into the machine. The combination of the several parts which he employs are of the most simple description; consequently he produces the most effectual and valuable combination of the several parts that can be applied to produce the object or result designed; but he, in common with all other originators of valuable inventions, has been greatly troubled by pirates, who call themselves inventors, and who have made and patented several machines more complicated and less effective to produce the same result, and using the principal parts and methods of action which constitute Blanchard's invention. He has been singularly fortunate in convincing Congress of the justice of his claims to protection, and that body has renewed his patent, from time to time, to the extent of forty-two years. This is perfectly right and just, and others have equally just claims to extension of time on their patents, but have not been so successful in obtaining justice from Congress.

We will now take a view of the other side of the question.

The rights granted by an extension of time on patents, are so imperfectly defined in the law, that the same point has been decided differently by different courts.* The law was unquestionably designed to grant the inventor further time to put his invention into more extensive use, and thereby receive a further compensation for the additional benefit he might bestow on the public; but not to claim any additional pay of any one for the continuation of the use of any machine for which he had previously been paid.

After the extension of Blanchard's patent, he adopted a new and different course of management. He did not sell the right to use the invention for a definite sum, but charged a small fee for every article produced by each and every machine, whether the machines were put in use before or after the extension of his patent. This course would be just and right in respect to machines put into use after the extension of his patent; but when he claimed that he could tax the product of his machines for which he had previously sold the right of use, he claimed additional pay for that for which he had previously been paid. It is very evident that the extension law was not designed to grant such a right; neither would such a right be strict justice, notwithstanding the public have been actually benefited a hundredfold beyond what the inventor has received.

The proceedings of the owners of the Woodworth Planing Machine patent were somewhat similar to Blanchard's operations, but rather more bold and barefaced in their injustice. They did not tax the product of the machine, as Blanchard did, but they claimed that they had a right granted, by the extension, to stop the use of all machines in use at the time the extension was granted, unless an additional fee was paid for the right to continue the use of the invention for the term of the extension. Those who use the machines generally

The Commissioner of Patents, in his Report for the year 1845, called the attention of Congress to the subject, and refers to the decisions as follows: "In the Eastern Circuit, it was held by the late lamented Justice Story, that the benefit of the extension did not extend to assignees and grantees; and the distinguished Chief Justice of the United States has held just the contrary in the Maryland Circuit."