208 Evolution of the Mechanic Arts. 



ventor is involved in a persistent struggle to enable him 

 to retain possession of rights that belong to him ah initio 

 and dejure. The right conferred by letters patent, as it 

 now exists in law and equity, is in fact merely the right to 

 defend his right after he has armed the Government that 

 grants the letters patent under its seal, and every man as 

 well, for attack upon him, by disclosing the nature of his 

 invention and his methods of working it it is the in- 

 ventor, the creator, of civilization, against the world. 



Of course, if the inventor chooses to use his invention 

 in secret, and its secret use is valuable, he can make his 

 own terms as to sales of products provided his right of 

 secrecy is not invaded by violence. But only a few inven- 

 tions are of value when used in secret, and therefore in 

 general that right is not protective and has no value. 



The difficulties in the way of securing and protecting 

 property rights in ideas brain products; the fact that, 

 notwithstanding these rights are founded as deeply as any 

 others in the Constitution, the Government itself has been 

 the great violator of these rights; that only within the 

 last ten years the United States Courts have held that prop- 

 erty in inventions could not be taken by the Government 

 without compensation ; and that not till recently could the 

 Government be brought into Court to answer for the torts 

 of its own officers against patentees or patent property, 

 or to answer for violation of a contract express or implied, 

 are important and should, with many other branches of 

 the topic, be dealt with at lengtli. The reasons why, and 

 the way in which, the Patent Office is doing more for our 

 civilization than all the colleges and all the cluirclies, 

 together with important necessary improvements in the 

 l)ateut law and its administration in tlie Patent Office, and 

 in tlie treatmen of patents by the Courts, should be con- 

 sidered. \\\\i the limits of this essay permit only this 

 brief mention of these important sub-topics. The final 

 conclusion of it all is, so co-ordinated has the advance of 

 society with brain action become,-^ tliat the nations whi(th 

 protect property in ideas will survive ; all others will 

 evidently perisli. 



Desiring to provide something in the nature of object- 

 lessons for tlie instruction of the Association and. its 

 guests, I phuie before you the four noble volumes of the 

 Patent Office Gazette for 1888. These volumes contain 



