.S7A 1 \VI I.I.I AM .sVA. >//:. V.V, F.R.S. 419 



rrazier ; the grazier thought a long drought, such as the 

 a^rii'ulturist required, was most detrimental to him ; and the 

 miller thought unless he had a deluge of rain every week, his 

 water-power could not be kept up. The case before them was 

 almost parallel to that of his fable. The Committee had under- 

 taken to frame a Bill which should be agreeable to the lawyers, to 

 the patent agent, to the inventor, both rich and poor, and to the 

 consumer, the public at large. At the previous meeting they 

 heard how the representatives of the High Court of Justice found 

 they had trespassed on their prerogative. They thought law 

 without the High Court of Justice would be an abortion, because 

 there could be no compensating claims, such as breach of promise 

 of marriage, brought into a Patent Law suit, and that would be 

 a great pity. Probably the Bill required some amendment as 

 regarded legal procedure, but what was wanted in the patent 

 interest was cheap justice ; a law which did not take up inventors' 

 time for years and years in contending patents, which might pro- 

 bably be of interest to lawyers, but which prevented patentees 

 from following the peaceful mission which it was their province to 

 pursue. Passing from the purely legal question, to that of adminis- 

 tration, he came to the objections brought forward by a very 

 eminent patent agent, who no doubt, being very confident of his 

 own skill and power to advise his client, rather disparaged the 

 interference of a body of examiners and commissioners. Well, 

 what was the object of these examiners ? They might be used for 

 putting down such inventions as, according to the arbitrary mind 

 of the examiners, were not worthy of a patent ; but a careful 

 examination of the draft Bill would show those interested that 

 this point had been properly guarded against, that the examina- 

 tion of the application would act rather as a protection for the 

 applicant than to his detriment. He knew from his own experi- 

 ence, and probably many would agree with him, that sometimes 

 one lodged the provisional specification, and, notwithstanding all 

 care on the part of the patent agent, some specification or some 

 publication turned up to interfere with it. It was not the appli- 

 cant's intention naturally to repeat an old thing, but his ignorance 

 of what had been done before made him spend his time and money 

 needlessly. He thought it a matter of great importance that 

 intending patentees should have, for the fees paid, good and trust- 

 is K -2 



