THE LAW OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, 373 



of it should have taken out a patent ; for want of this, any one not 

 reprinting his book had the right to make and use account-books 

 framed on his plan. By way of contrast is the story of a large blank- 

 book, each page of which was marked in spaces, these spaces being 

 numbered to correspond with imaginary bonds and coupons, the idea 

 being that as fast as coupons should be paid they might be kept each 

 in the space appropriate to its number, or any notice received relative 

 to a bond outstanding might be pasted in the space allotted to that 

 bond, for ready reference. The contriver of this " book " patented it, 

 and the Court said that he was right ; it was not a literary work, but 

 an invention. 



All know that during ten years past improvements in the Office 

 have been made, of which the system of printing patents for distribu- 

 tion and the issue of the " Gazette " are prominent examples. Im- 

 provements continue. The classification of subjects of invention has 

 been revised, and is republished in the " Gazette " for January 4th 

 last. As now framed it arranges patented inventions in twenty-four 

 divisions, these being divided into one hundred and sixty-four classes, 

 and these again into nearly three thousand sub-classes. Persons desir- 

 ing to inform themselves with regard to the state of the art in any line 

 of invention can gain much knowledge by procuring the specifications 

 and drawings in the sub-class containing such invention, or can sub- 

 scribe for future specifications and drawings in any desired class. 



The number of patents which have been issued has now reached 

 nearly a quarter of a million. To examine as many of them as is 

 often necessary for determining the novelty of an application involves 

 so much delay and expense that three successive commissioners have 

 earnestly recommended the preparation of a digest. Congress, this 

 spring, authorized this work, and appropriated ten thousand dollars 

 for the expense. 



There have been noteworthy decisions on the effect of an inventor's 

 disclosure of his invention, or of his delay in applying for a patent, to 

 impair his right. They indicate that the importance to inventors of 

 " keeping their own counsel " is not sufficiently understood. An in- 

 ventor may make use of his invention to test its operation, ascertain 

 its defects, and mature improvements, quite freely ; and, if these are 

 his purposes, the facts that the use was openly known and was benefi- 

 cial to the public are not fatal to his right. For example, the patent 

 for the Nicholson pavement was contested on a showing that in 1854, 

 before applying for a patent, the inventor laid a block of the pavement 

 in a Boston street to test its merits. The Supreme Court said that as 

 he had not used or allowed others to use it for profit, but only by way 

 of experiment, there was no abandonment. But a slight disclosure by 

 way of sale or manufacture for sale may destroy the right. For ex- 

 ample, an inventor's making three sets of articles of ladies' wear for 

 two ladies of his acquaintance, who wore them until they were worn 



