^^6 [Assembly 



To properly provide for this, Congress must so inform itself of the 

 duties and details of the patent office as to fully understand and ap- 

 preciate them. 



The whole system, both in theory and practical operation, is pro- 

 gressive, and principles applicable to it at one time, may not apply to 

 it at another. What it was, and what was necessary to govern it, is 

 not a sufficient criterion to determine what it is, and what is now ne- 

 cessary to regulate it. As well might an attempt be made to govern 

 a locomotive by principles applicable to an ox-cart, or the steamer by 

 the philosophy of the Venetian galley. 



The duties of the Examiners are arduous and difficult, requiring 

 great integrity, competency, experience, and elaborate investigations. 

 Their labor constitutes the great work of the office, and the manner of 

 its performance will determine whether the present system will be a 

 curse or a blessing. Their reports are and must be virtual decisions, 

 and the country must rely upon them for results. The papers may 

 pass through the hands of the Commissioner, but the matters to be 

 determined can never pass through his mind ; the extent of the busi- 

 ness and the many nice and difficult questions to be determined, are 

 entirely beyond the capacity of one mind to encompass. A small er- 

 ror, wilful or inadvertent, on the part of an Examiner, may drive 

 away the meritorious inventor with no reward for his labor but injus- 

 tice, disappointment and sadness ; while, on the other hand, it may 

 crush and trample upon the vested rights of others. 



The examiners' time should not be overtaxed. The nature of 

 their duties are inconsistent with such a course. Full opportunity 

 should be afforded them to confer with applicants, hear arguments 

 and explanations, and in difficult cases to consult at length with each 

 other, and not as a matter of courtesy, but as a part of their legiti- 

 mate business. 



As it now is, aside from intolerable delay, the examining force of 

 the patent office is so pressed with accumulated bus'mess as to leave 

 no proper time for such purposes, and if an inventor by dint of effort 



