GOVERNMENT AND LAW. 



38 



teen years, of the exclusive right to make, use, 

 and vend the invention or discovery through- 

 out the United States and the Territories, re- 

 ferring to the specification for the particulars 

 thereof. 



If it appear that the inventor, at the time of 

 making his application, believed himself to be 

 the first inventor or discoverer, a patent will 

 not be refused on account of the invention or 

 discovery, or any part thereof, having been 

 known or used in any foreign country before 

 his invention or discovery thereof, if it had not 

 been before patented or described in any 

 printed publication. 



Joint inventors are entitled to a joint pat- 

 ent ; neither can claim one separately. Inde- 

 pendent inventors of distinct and independent 

 improvements in the same machine cannot 

 obtain a joint patent for their separate inven- 

 tions ; nor does the fact that one furnishes the 

 capital and another makes the invention entitle 

 them to make application as joint inventors ; 

 but in such case they may become joint 

 patentees. 



No person otherwise entitled thereto will be 

 debarred from receiving a patent for his inven- 

 tion or discovery, by reason of its having been 

 first patented or caused to be patented by the 

 inventor or his legal representatives or assigns 

 in a foreign country, unless the application for 

 said foreign patent was filed more than seven 

 months prior to the filing of the application in 

 this country, in which case no patent shall be 

 granted in this country. 



Applications. Applications for a patent 

 must be made in writing to the Commissioner 

 of Patents. The applicant must also file in 

 the Patent Office a written description of the 

 same, and of the manner and process of mak- 

 ing, constructing, compounding, and using it, 

 in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms 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 ; and in case of 

 a machine, he must explain the principle 

 thereof, and the best mode in which he has 

 contemplated applying that principle, so as to 

 distinguish it from other inventions, and partic- 

 ularly point out and distinctly claim the part, 

 improvement, or combination which he claims 

 as his invention or discovery. The specifica- 

 tion and claim must be signed by the inventor 

 and attested by two witnesses. 



When the nature of the case admits of draw- 

 ings, the applicant must furnish a drawing of 

 the required size, signed by the inventor or his 

 attorney in fact, and attested by two witnesses. 

 In all cases which admit of representation by 

 model, the applicant, if required by the Patent 



Office, shall furnish a model of convenient size 

 to exhibit advantageously the several parts of 

 his invention or discovery. 



The applicant shall make oath that he verily 

 believes himself to be the original and first in 

 ventor or discoverer of the art, machine, manu- 

 facture, composition, or improvement for which 

 he solicits a patent ; that he does not know 

 and does not believe that the same was ever 

 before known or used, and shall state of what 

 country he is a citizen and where he resides. 

 In every original application the applicant must 

 distinctly state under oath that the invention 

 has not been patented to himself or to others 

 with his knowledge or consent in this or any 

 foreign country for more than two years prior 

 to his application, or on an application for a pat- 

 ent filed in any foreign country by himself or his 

 legal representatives or assigns more than seven 

 months prior to his application. If any applica- 

 tion for patent has been filed in any foreign coun- 

 try by the applicant in this countryor by his legal 

 representatives or assigns, prior to his applica- 

 tion in this country, he shall state the country or 

 countries in which such application has been 

 filed, giving the date of such application, and 

 shall also state that no application has been filed 

 in any other country or countries than those 

 mentioned ; that to the best of his knowledge 

 and belief the invention has not been in public 

 use or on sale in the United States nor described 

 in any printed publication or patent in this or 

 any foreign country for more than two years 

 prior to his application in this country. Such 

 oath may be made before any person within 

 the United States authorized by law to ad- 

 minister oaths, or, when the applicant resides 

 in a foreign country, before any minister, 

 charge" d'affaires, consul, or commercial agent 

 holding commission under the Government of 

 the United States, or before any notary public 

 of the foreign country in which the applicant 

 may be, provided such notary is authorized by 

 the laws of his country to administer oaths. 



On the filing of such application and the 

 payment of the fees required by law, if, on 

 examination, it appears that the applicant is 

 justly entitled to a patent under the law, and 

 that the same is sufficiently useful and impor- 

 tant, the Commissioner will issue a patent 

 therefor. 



Every patent, or any interest therein, shall 

 be assignable in law by an instrument in writ- 

 ing ; and the patentee or his assigns or legal 

 representatives may, in like manner, grant and 

 convey an exclusive right under his patent to 

 the whole or any specified part of the United 

 States. 



Keissues. A reissue is granted to the 

 original patentee, his legal representatives, or 



