The year 1836 marks the beginning of an era in the patent system of the United States. In that year all previous statutes were repealed and a comprehensive act was passed which brought the system somewhat into its present condition, retaining many old features, but introducing new and important changes. In the first place, it created a patent office to be attached to the Department of State, at the head of which was to be a commissioner of patents. The most important provision of the Act of 1836 was the introduction of the policy of preliminary exami nations for the purpose of determining the patent ability of an invention before issuing the patent. The Act of 1836 also provided for a board of appeal to hear appeals from the decisions of the examiner and commissioner against the patent ability of an invention. The patent privilege was now extended to any alien who had resided one year in the United States and who had made a declaration of intention to become a citizen. The fee was fixed at $30 in the case of citizens and resident aliens, $500 for the subjects of Great Britain. and $300 for the subjects of other nations. Provision was also made for filing caveats on incompleted inventions and the policy of reissuing patents was confirmed and extended. Exclusive jurisdiction of eases involving patent rights was conferred upon the United States Circuit Courts. Provision was also made for ex tending the duration of patents for a period of seven years after the expiration of the original fourteen, the power of extension being placed in the hands of a board consisting of the Com missioner of Patents. the Secretary of State, and the Solicitor of the Treasury. Various amendments of the patent laws were made during the succeed ing years. In 1842 provision was made for patenting designs for a period of seven years. By an Act of 1801 the term of patents for inven tions was extended from fourteen to seventeen years; all former acts discriminating between aliens and citizens were repealed; a uniform scale of fees was adopted; and a board of exam iners intermediate between the regular examiners and the Commissioner was established to hear appeals from the former. The whole system of patent legislation was revised and codified in 1870. and brought into its present condition.
A- the laws now stand (Rev. Stat. § 4886) any person who has invented or discovered any new and useful art, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, not known or used by others in this country and not patented or de scribed in any printed publication in this or any foreign country before his invention or dis covery thereof, and not in public use or on sale for more than two years prior to his application, unless the same is proved to have been aban doned, may upon paythent of the fee required by law obtain a patent therefor.
Patents are obtained by making application to the Commissioner of Patents in accordance with forms prescribed by law. The form prescribed is that of a petition together with an oath that the applicant believes himself to be the first inventor. The application is accompanied by a specification describing the invention in a full. clear, and concise manner. Drawings accompany the specification in cases which admit of it. and the Commissioner may require the applicant to furnish the office with a model of the article; but this of late years has not usually been required except where necessary to a correct understanding of the article. The application upon being re
ceived is referred to the proper examiner for inquiry as to whether the article possesses nov elty and utility and whether it has already been anticipated in the United States or abro:;d. If no objection is found by the examiner the patent is issued. If objection is raised by the examiner the applicant may amend his application so as to ehminate from the claims the feat tires that are till. If still refused he may appeal to the board of ex aminers, and from their decision he may appeal to the Commissioner of Patents. Finally, an appeal lies to the Court of Appeal, of the District of Columbia. The fee upon tiling an application is $15; on issuing the patent, ;•:20: on application for extension of a patent, $50: on granting an extension. $50. A prior patent by the inventor in a foreign country doe, not debar loin from receiving a patent in the United States, pro vided the application be made within seven months of the application for the foreign patent.
Where a person has made an inventi .11. Luz has not completed the details to his satisfaction, or feels that he can improve on it after further experiment, he may protect 'himself against a patent being granted meanwhile for the same thing. by filing a 'caveat' in the Patent I nlice. A caveat is a notice which contains a description of the thing claimed as an invention, and con cludes with a request that the inventor's rights be protected until he has completed his inven tion and has an opportunity to apply for a patent. A caveat is kept secret by the Patent Office, thereby avoiding giving information which might be fraudulently utilized by clever persons, and entitles the caveator to notice of the filing of all interfering application for a period of one year. If such notice is sent him, the cave ator, to retain his rights, must file his applica tion. specifications, and, if necessary. models or samples, within three months thereafter. Where he does this his invention is considered to date back to the date of filing the caveat.
The interpretations by the courts of the va rious words and phrases in the sections above quoted form the great body of the substantive law of patents, in connection with the statute it The alternative use of the words tion' and 'discovery' early attracted attention. and the question arose as to whether different meanings were to be ascribed to them. It was undisputed that the mere discovery of a force of nature could not be patentable. as natural forces and elements belong to all mankind. and it was finally determined that the word 'discov(ry' as used was synonymous with 'invention.' :and in volved the exercise of inventive or creative gen ius or faculties. For example. the person who discovered electricity as a force could not Lice obtained a patent allowing him the exclusive use of that force of nature, but Morse, who applied electricity to the communication of was allowed a patent on his system 44 telegraphy. as that was a device calling for inventive genius in its creation, and was not nurcly the finding of an already existing thing.