Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIII.djvu/170

160 for three years, the American patent will not continue beyond that period.—An invention is new, in the sense of the patent law, when it is substantially different from anything previously known. In determining the question of novelty, the inquiry frequently arises whether the supposed invention is really novel, or whether it simply consists in a double or analogous use or application of something already known. The application of an old contrivance to a new use, or the producing of a new result or effect by known means, is not the subject of a patent if such new use or effect is analogous to that already known. Thus it has been held that a patent will not issue to the person who first applies to railroad cars a kind of wheel that has been used for other conveyances; nor for a process of curling palm leaf for mattresses after hair had been prepared by the same means. Such uses may be new and useful, but they are analogous to the old, and therefore not patentable.—The discovery of a principle, a natural law, scientific truth, or property of matter cannot in the abstract be the subject of a patent. But whoever makes a new and useful application of any of these things by embodying the principle or law in mechanism, or describing a new process by which the discovery may be made of practical utility, may obtain a patent for his invention, which consists not in the abstract principle but in its practical application. Thus the properties of electricity, the law of contraction and expansion produced in metals by heat and cold, the principle of centrifugal force, and the qualities of heated air, are well known things which cannot be patented; but their novel application to practical uses by described means have come within the scope of the patent laws. The discovery of ether as an anæsthetic, and its application in surgical operations to alleviate pain, was held to be not patentable, on the ground that the claim was for a new effect “produced by old agents, operating by old means upon old subjects;” it appearing that the existence of ether had been before known, as well as a peculiar effect produced when introduced into the lungs of animals. The principle, law, property, &c., may be newly discovered or well known; and so the mechanism or process or means may be new or old. But it is essential that the practical application to the purpose specified shall be new; that the patentee shall describe some means of applying the principle to a useful purpose; and that the means described shall be such that the practical application may be made by a person of ordinary skill. The law, property, or quality of matter is common property, which can be appropriated by any one to a new purpose by a new adaptation. No one can acquire exclusive property in the electric fluid, or in any one of its properties or powers; or in the sun's light, or that actinic power by which pictures are painted or impressed. But any one may devise a way of working with electricity, and that way shall be his; and so he may discover a way of making pictures or representations by light, and that way also shall belong to the inventor. And then any other person is at liberty to discover some other way of using either of these forces or qualities of nature.—The statute specifies that the invention shall be “useful;” but any degree of utility is sufficient, and patents are often granted for things of little or no value. The law simply requires that the invention may be capable of some practical use, however trivial, which is not noxious or mischievous. If the invention be new and useful, it is immaterial how much or how little thought, ingenuity, skill, labor, or money has been bestowed upon it. Whether it was the result of repeated experiments and profound study, or was merely an accidental discovery, is immaterial. The law looks to the result, and not to the manner in which it was produced.—How Letters Patent may be obtained. The applicant for a patent is required to file in the patent office a petition on oath or affirmation that the petitioner, if the inventor, believes himself to be the original and first inventor of the invention, and that he does not know and does not believe that it has been known or used before; and this must be accompanied by a full description of the invention, with drawings and a model where the case admits of it. The application must be in writing, addressed to the commissioner of patents, and signed by the inventor if living, or otherwise by his executor or administrator. Even when the application is made by an assignee, it must be signed by the inventor if living. The specification is a written description of the invention or discovery, and of the manner and process of making, constructing, and using it. It must be so full, clear, and exact as to enable any person skilled in the art or science to which it appertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make, construct, compound, and use the same. If a machine, the principle and best mode of operation must be fully explained, so as to distinguish it from other inventions. The description is followed by the “claim,” in which the applicant must particularly specify the part, improvement, or combination which he claims as his own invention or discovery. Where there are drawings, the specification must refer by letters and figures to the different parts. In the case of a composition of matter, specimens of the composition and of the ingredients sufficient in quantity for the purpose of experiment, must accompany the application. The chief objects of the specification are to make known the precise nature of the invention, and to enable the public from the specification itself to practise the invention after the expiration of the patent. The object of the claim is to fix with accuracy the extent of what is claimed as new. Two or more separate and independent inventions cannot rightly be claimed in one application; but if they relate to the same subject and are necessarily connected, they may be included