I' \IKNTS. 



701 



an average year is in excess of 500. Tho present 



practice df the ollice d",-, nut call for u model 

 excepting when required liy the commissioner, 

 which, of coiir.se, reduces the amount <if space 

 requisite fur keeping up tin- work of tin- depart- 

 ment. There arc, ho\\c\er. about 'J.'i.OOO models 

 already in th cases which require repairing;. 

 It is frequently necessary to refer to the.ni in 

 considering new applications for patents, and 

 i hen- is naturally a considerable amount of 

 breakage and wear and tear. Tho models at. 

 present in hand arc of almost inestimable benefit 

 to inventors, by enabling the examiners to con- 

 duct their investigations with greater expedition 

 than would otherwise be possible. The commis- 

 sioner regards it as a public calamity that the 

 office ever suspended the rule requiring models 

 in all cases, and he considers its readoption as 

 most desirable. 



In connection with the commissioner's report 

 for 1891 (published in the " Gazette " of Feb. 2, 

 1892) are several now appendixes of great his- 

 torical interest, showing, with a completeness 

 not before attempted, the relations of the Patent 

 Office to the prosperity of the country. 



An enormous majority of our great manufact- 

 uring interests were originally based upon in- 

 ventions recorded in the Patent Office. Tho 

 patent laws do not exist for the benefit of in- 

 ventors so much as for the advantage of the 

 public, and the sooner the representatives of the 

 people can be made to understand this fact the 

 sooner will the office be freed from the fetters 

 that now limit its usefulness. 



The Library. In the Patent Office is a de- 

 partment known as the " Scientific Library," and 

 during recent years much work has been done in 

 arranging and indexing books and patents. The 

 library contains about 60,000 volumes, and last 

 year's expenditure for its support was $2,670. 

 Authority has been recently received from Con- 

 gress to exchange the " Official Gazette" with 

 other scientific publications, and this has prac- 

 tically resulted in an increase in the fund availa- 

 ble for the purchase of books. In connection 

 with the library work is a classified abridgment 

 of the patents already issued, for the prosecution 

 of which an appropriation of $10,000 was made 

 by Congress several years ago. No additional 

 funds have been forthcoming, and that amount 

 has already been expended. 



Litigation. 1889. The Supreme Court of 

 California, Hill vs. Miller in a case where an in- 

 vention is specified as part of the capital stock 

 of a partnership, held that a patent on the in- 

 vention becomes partnership proper! y. 



Before the Supreme Court of Indiana it was 

 held that the trade-mark "Akron Dental Rub- 

 ber " was infringed by the legend " Non-secret 

 dental vulcanite, made according to our analysis 

 of the Akron Dental Rubber." the last three 

 words being printed large and in red. while the 

 rest of the inscription was small and black. 



In the case of Monroe vs. Bedell et al. the Su- 

 preme Court of New York held that the adoption 

 of the name ' Old Sleuth " to describe a series of 

 books did not give the plaintiff an exclusive right 

 to the word ' Sleuth " in the titles of books. The 

 complaint was dismissed with costs. 



The Supreme Court of Ohio, at Cincinnati, 

 held that an article having a distinct commer- 



cial value of iU own can not bo made a trade- 

 mark by being attached to another arli( 

 hold with it. This case is known a* " H.M I, f ( at. 

 vs. Bishop ,l n/." Tin- instance in ]nnt wan a 

 scarf or other ornamental pin attached to the 

 cigar and claimed as a trade-mark ; tl 

 could readily be detached and u*.-d for personal 

 adornment. ' 



I'-iio. March. 1'nited State* Supreme Court. 

 Kvory r*. Hurt. Patent -V.i.:;;:,, ft 

 Held to be for the manufactured article, not for 

 a mode of producing. A mere improvement in 

 degree is not invention. 



A case of considerable interest has been tried 

 in the Ka-iern District of Massachusetts, the 

 Western District of Wisconsin. nd the Northern 

 District of Illinois, Judge Blodgett presiding in 

 the latter instance. The Consolidated Roller 

 Mill Company, it appears, holds patents relating 

 to rollers used in mills, and claims exclusive 

 rights thereon. If sustained, the company can 

 claim royalty from nearly all proprietors of roll- 

 er mills in the United States. In the two lust 

 of the courts named above the decision is ad- 

 verse to the claimants, in the first it was in their 

 favor, and it is understood that it will now be 

 appealed to the Supreme Court. 



The United States Supreme Court held that a 

 United States patent is not terminated by the 

 forfeiture for any reason of the corresponding 

 foreign patent, but that it continues until the 

 legal term of the foreign patent ends. This de- 

 cision relieves American inventors of a very em- 

 barrassing condition. Heretofore if a foreign 

 patent has been granted for an invention and an 

 American patent taken out for the same, the 

 lease of life of the latter was limited by that of 

 the foreign patent, which was likely to come to 

 an end at any time through non-payment of 

 dues, which are usually in foreign countries ar- 

 ranged on an installment plan. 



An official decision holds that an inventor who 

 conceives and describes an invention in such a 

 manner that another can construct the thing de- 

 scribed is entitled to a patent as against an in- 

 ventor whose conception was of later date but who 

 filed his application first ; this provided the orig- 

 inal inventor uses reasonable diligence in perfect- 

 ing his invention. 



October. United States Circuit Court, Eastern 

 District of Pennsylvania. Justice Butler. Wright 

 vs. Postel. An improvement in card-gilding 

 machines declared invalid because, though the in- 

 ventor proved priority of invention, he did not use 

 due diligence to perfect and patent his invention. 



.September. The United States Circuit Court 

 of Massachusetts, Judge Colt, the Pullman Car 

 Company vs. Boston and Albany Railroad, held 

 that the Sessions and Pullman patents, is>? and 

 1889. covered all devices involving hood or ves- 

 tibule between railway carriages. This decision 

 caused mud adverse comment, as vestibules or 

 hoods practically similar to the Pullman device 

 were in use about 1860 on the Housatonie Rail- 

 road in Connecticut. Nevertheless, this objection 

 has not been set aside. 



July. The United States Circuit Court. Syra- 

 cuse. 'N. Y., Judge Wallace, Tibbe & Sons vs. 

 Heineken, for infringement of patent on corn- 

 cob pipe, held that filling the cob from the out- 

 side with a plastic self-hardening cement was a 



