yielding presser resting on the cloth (Bachelder 

 patent), the spring or curved arm to hold the cloth 

 by a yielding pressure (Morey and Johnson patent), 

 the heart-shaped cam as applied to moving the 

 needle bar (Singer patent) ; all these patents, held 

 by the Singer Company. 66 



The Grover and Baker company contributed 

 several patents of relative importance, but its most 

 important claim for admission was the fact that Potter 

 had promoted the idea. 



The consent of all four member-parties was required 

 before any license could be granted, and all were re- 

 quired to have a license — even the member companies. 

 The fee was $15 per machine. A portion of this 

 money was set aside to pay the cost of prosecuting 

 infringers, Howe received his initial fee, and the rest 

 was divided between the four parties. The advantage 

 to the licensee was that he was required to pay only 

 one fee. Most license applications were granted; 

 only those manufacturing a machine specifically 

 imitating the product of a licensed manufacturer were 

 refused. 



The '"Combination's" three company members 

 each continued to manufacture, improve, and perfect 



Singer has sometimes been credited as the inventor of the 

 various improvements covered by the patents that the Singer 

 company purchased and later contributed to the efforts of 

 the Combination. 



its own machine. Other than the joint control of the 

 patents, there was no pooling of interests, and each 

 company competed to attract purchasers to buy its 

 particular type of machine, as did the companies who 

 were licensed by them. 



In 1860, the year Howe's patent was renewed, the 

 general license fee was reduced from $15 to $7, and 

 Howe's special royalty was reduced to $1 per machine. 

 Howe remained a member until his patent ran out in 

 1867. The other members continued the "Combina- 

 tion" until 1877, when the Bachelder patent, which 

 had been extended twice, finally expired. By that 

 time the fundamental features of the sewing machine 

 were no longer controlled by anyone. Open compe- 

 tition by the smaller manufacturers was possible, and 

 a slight reduction in price followed. Many new 

 companies came into being — some destined to be 

 very short-lived. 



From the beginning to the end of the "Combina- 

 tion" there was an army of independents, including 

 infringers and imitators, who kept up a constant com- 

 plaint against it, maintaining that its existence tended 

 to retard the improvement of the sewing machine 

 and that the public suffered thereby. In the period 

 immediately following the termination of the "Com- 

 bination," however, only a few improvements of any 

 importance were made, and most of these were by 

 the member companies. 



42 



