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About The Alliance herald. (Alliance, Box Butte County, Neb.) 1902-1922 | View Entire Issue (June 17, 1915)
ARTIN BROTHERS & CO. Koonm 203-205-207 Exchange Building Union Stock Yards, South Omaha Telephone South 607 46, 48 and 50 Exchange Building Union Stock Yards, Chicago Telephone Yards 16 Live tock M ; Commission Merchants South Omaha House JAMES 0. MARTIN BRAD HICKOX II. P. THOMPSON VM. UNDERWOOD. WALTER NITSC1IE, Hog Salesman AL. POWELL, Sheep Salesman A. D. MAJORS, Cashier Cattle Salesmen Feeder Buyer Chicago and South Omaha Correspondence Solicited Chicago House GEO. E. MARTIN IVAN G. MALCOLM Cattle M. J. O'BRIEN I Salesmen JOHN T. MARTIN WALTER A. HANLEY A. S. ROOT, Sheep Salesman W. S. BURM1STER, Office Market Reports Furnished Free on Application X ARE YOU AN INVENTOR? AVillanl I). Eakln Writes Interesting Article About the Woes of the Inventor (Editor's Note This ia an exclus ive and highly Instructive article by Mr. Eakin, on a subject in which thousands of Nebraskans are Inter ested.) To say that the one branch of Un cle Sam's government which is truly self-supporting makes money for him through the issuance of documents that are worthless to the man who pays for them in 99 cases out of 100 Is not an extravagant statement. It Is a fact. "Get a patent" is the wlll-o-the-Wlsp, the gay delusion, that has caus ed thousands of poverty-stricken In ventors or near inventors to pawn their shirts, so to speak, for money With which to prosecute their claims In the- hope of attaining fame and fortune at a bound. One Million I.tNued Over a million United States pat ents have been issued to date. That naturally magnifies the value of his device, all other features being covered by prior patents. But the first thing the man said when we left the building was. "Well, you go ahead and file an application. If I can get a patent, I want to get it." He seemed to think it would be worth the money merely to be able to say to his friends that he had se cured a patent. Him to It His device was all right. In fact, since that time similar devices have velopments for their compensation for that valuable service, which means that their only hope of being paid la in filing and prosecuting an application, whether It is warranted or not. Last year alone there were 6,970 allowed apllcatlona forfeited by op eration of law for non-payment of the final fee, which shows what a larpe number of patents, after being prnpocuted at the inventors' expense and allowed, were not considered . been placed on the market under the worth the final government fee of rpatents that anticipated hU inven- 20 notary to get the letters pat tlon and are destined to save farm-jnt finally issued, ers thousands of dollars. The only) Some firms of patent attorneys op trouble was that someone else was ; crate under a bonded agreement to ahead of him. return a certain part of their fee If a Ills case illustrates the ease with l atent is not secured. Some of their j whlrh n-itent attorneys, if unscrupu- circulars are so adroitly drawn that LAVERTY BROTHERS LIVE STOCK COMMISSION MERCHANTS lous, find it possible to lead an in ventor on and get him to tile applica tions where they can, as they claim, get a patent," but one that is not the noiCful inventor might construe it to mean that government fees and all wo. lid be returned, bu: a ftrlct reading will not permit that con- The hopeful reader also worth the paper It is written on. The .structlon Inventor Is of a hopeful nature, and thinks that it protects him against in fact it is sometimes difficult, as in 'reaction of his claim on any ground, the case irentloned, to convince him j while as a matter of fact t rentes 'that he should give up the Idea. He! only to lnnl rejection on the ground ' . . il 1 ft-li.J flt.l.. ..1.-1- k bis . that prior United States patents have Is about one for every hundred peo ple. Yet how few, how very few, have made the Inventor rich! One of the official examiners In the pat ent office told me that he did not be lieve more than one patent in a thousand was a commercial success. Yet each of the 999 worthless ones cost the Inventor usually or at least frequently an Individual of slender means, 50 to 100 dollars to secure. Since it was established, the patent office has "earned" and turned over to the treasury over 17.000,000. Surely it is an evil that men who i j a n invention. He may even accuse the own sramt-u on m same iumK. ou, attorney, as has frequently happen- if It is finahy rejected upon refer e 1, of trying to steal the invention. once to a foreign patent, o- for want Value of a Patent '' novrlty without reference to an- The value of a patent is detcrmln-jtlclp-itlng patents, or for want of ed by the nature of the claims, which ; utility, or any one of severr.l other form usually brief paragraphs at the , Possible grounds of rejection, it lets end of long specifications. The spec-j them out. They are also relieved Iflcatlons are not the vital part of jfron liability If they get any kind of the patent. They merely disclose. a patent at all. however much they the device and show how It is to be have had to narrow it down by re- operated. They may describe fea tures of the device that are not pat entable or that have been previously patented. They do not secure any have spent days of hard labor and ' rights to the inventor, but on the sleepless nights Inventing something 'other hand represent his gift to the go on and spend their hard earned public. The claims show what par or borrowed money to secure patents tlcular features be claims as his own that never bring them any returns, invention, the exclusive right to But the examiners say, "It is not for make, use and sell them being se us to Judge of the value of the In- cured to him by the patent. The rentlon. The only requirement of specifications may describe a whole the law in this conectlon Is that the threshing machine and the claims device be useful, and if it appears to relate only to the cylinder. As a have even the slightest degree of ruie, the shorter a claim is, the more usefulness, we have no right to with- it covers, as additional words have hold a patent. In fact the degree of not been used to narrow it down, usefulness cannot be foretold until which shows the point In the fre the article has been put upon the ouently told story of the inventor market." SOO Patent Attorneys In the Washington telephone dir- who found fault with hU patent be cause the claims were too short. Tho value of a patent also de- ectory on my desk there are the pends upon whether the device can names of nearly three hundred pat- bo used by itself or is usef ul only in ent attorneys, many of them not law-j connection with eoxethlng else upon yers, who make their living and In some cases large fortunes chiefly from fees for securing patents, al though some of them do make a part of their incomes from infringement causes and other litigation Involving patents already granted. The temptations that beset a pat ent attorney are great. Some invent ors fairly insist on being fleeced. I went with a man from Nebraska to the patent office and after making an examination of the patents already granted advised him that It would not be worth the money or the time to file an application. Then we went to the division In wh'ch devices such as his were considered, and the examiner there, after investigation, told him the same thing that, al though there was a bare possibility that he might eventually secure a patent, It could be a patent only on some little, insignificant feature of which someone else holds a patent, who may not bo willing to buy, sell or license. A patent on a shift-key for a type writer may not be of much value to you if you do not have and can not get the right to "make, use or sell" the typewriter Itself. The Patent Attorney In 99 cases out of 100 the great est service the patent attorney can render his client is, after making the necessary thorough search for prior patents, to frankly tell the Inventor that it Is not worth while for him to proceed, although the device may be "patentable" in that some little curve or creok at the end of a wire or some little notch or some combin ation of parts might be the subject of a worthless patent, so the prelim inary search is very important. Yet some attorneys will make the search peatedly amending their claims. Af ter each rejection, they have a year in which to amend, and so long as they can thus keep the claim alive by repeatedly amending and amending, from year to year, until final rejec tion, they are not bound to return the fee. Is It any wonder that claims are so frequently amended and nar rowed down until quite worthless patents are finally Issued? How many Inventors know that even after a patent has been secur ed, Its validity, if attacked, is not accepted by a court until proven? The patentee cannot secure an in junction t prevent Infringement pending suit unless he can show his patent has heretofore been declared valid by a court or that the public has long acquiesced in its validity, and such public acquiescence must be shown by some positive evidence, as that infringers have ceased In fringement upon protest, that licens es have been sold for a substantial price under it, or that persons to whom it would be a material advan tage to have the patent declared In valid have not succeeded in doing so. So a patent may not mean so much, after all. If They Knew Inventors would not be in so great a hurry to secure patents if it were generally known that they have two years after completing the invention in which to file the application, and anyone but the first Inventor can be prevented from securing a patent on it even though the imposter files his application first. And for that mat ter, if some one should steal the in vention and even secure a patent on it, the invalidity of the thief's pat ent, on the ground that he Is not the first inveutor, cun be proven In court. After the thief has riled his We Sell 'Em High and Pill 'Em Full There are 57 other reasons why you should ship to us Particular Attention Given to the Selling of Ranch Cattle, Stockers and Feeders Market quotations and other information cheerfully furnished on application UNION STOCK YARDS South Omaha, Nebraska ntimnnitttimmmmmt iinsi.'iiiiiiisittmmt free of charge, looking to later de-! apiMcstlon r- true Inventor can fil" an "Interference" In the patent office and the question of which was the real Inventor or the first inventor Is then decided upon proper evidence and the patent Issued to the one en titled. Try Out First There seems to be littl ereason, then, why an Inventor should not try out his Invention commercially be fore applying for a patent, If he has proper witnesses as to the fact and the time of his Invention, except that he must file within two years after his invention is perfected or be con sidered as having abandoned his right. Such a course also has the effect of extending the life of his pat ent, as it Is good for only 17 years from the day it is finally issued, and by filing bis application at the end instead of at the beginning of the v-ver r vr'rd tV-". ! '; protection for 19 years instead of 17 years. Since the patent office cannot deny a patent pn the ground that it would be of lltlte value, the only hope of abolishing the evil of so many worth less patents being issued fs In the conscientious action of patent attor neys, In frankly advising their clients when It Is manifestly not worth while to proceed. NEIGHBORLY ADVICE Freely Given by Alliance Citizen When one has suffered tortures from a bad back and found relief from the aches and pains, that per son's advice is of untild value to friends and neighbors. The follow ing neighborly advice comes from an Mliance resident. Mrs. J. E. Whalev. 4?? R Dreprm -..-.. v,,rp v'inrR dered and the kidney secretions were unnatural. Whenever I stooped, sharp pains darted through my loins and It was hard for me to straighten I tried many remedies, but all failed to help me until I used Doan's Kid ney Pills. They brought relief In a short time and I continued using them until I was free from kidney complaint. I have had no reason to change my high opinion of Doan's Kidney Pills since I recommended tnem some years ago." Price 50c. at all dealers. Don't simply ask for a kidney remedy fhetDanV?1lney Pi the same that Mrs. Whaley had. Foster-Mil-ourn Co., Props., Buffalo, N. Y. Dr. A. J. Hathaway removes corns and bunions without pain, ingrowing nails a specialty. The best people in your city can tell you who I am. Hours from 8 a. m. to 10 a. m.. and Zp. m. to 7 p. m. Residence Dhone m- to 7 D- m- Business office. 11 n p r 2 -: f - - r-1 T or 1 ? ( 1 1f