xiMKTIIIM; AUDIT I'A'l i;nts 11/ 



greed and selfishness a uiraih of perpetrating- fraud under Hie guir-e of 

 patents. Inventors who have been granted patents for inventions are 

 quite frequently as ignorant of patent law as are the people. 



Tf we question a man who has beeoine rich out of some patent he may 

 swell up and tell us that he knows all about patents when lie knows 

 very little about them. He may have become rich by owning a patent 

 or by stealing one. 



Some look with disfavor upon patent ownership because they think 

 that were it not for that they could receive the benefits from the patent 

 without paying for them. We have a good chance right here in this 

 book to examine that idea. A few years ago there did not exist on the 

 face of the earth such a thing as the trap nest described herein. 



It is a case of a "new thing under the sun,'' unless proven, in the 

 courts provided for the purpose, to be an old one. 



Now how would the reader have ever heard of it if I had not spent 

 my good money to advertise it? Why should I do that if not to make 

 something so that I ran advertise it some more, and make it of use to a 

 lot more people? 



Sometimes people say, "Well, I will make it a little different that will 

 be all right." Now that has no bearing whatever. AVe cannot tell by 

 looking at a patented thing what the inventor's rights in it are based 

 upon. 



Another tiling that is not commonly understood is the matter of im- 

 provements on patented things. 



A change in the appearance, the form or the working of a thing does 

 not constitute improvement unless the change creates greater efficiency 

 or utility in some direction favorable to the public. It must be in fact 

 an improvement that expert opinion will recognize as such. An im- 

 provement even if a patent is obtained for it does not grant the right to 

 use any previously patented feature of the device. For this reason it 

 is the rule to either sell such an improvement to the owner of the patented 

 device or purchase from him the right to use his part of the improved 

 thing. 



He can grant such use or not, as he likes. Those who would 

 dabble in invention with a view to the obtaining of a patent or avoid- 

 ing infringement upon the rights of others should consult a regular patent 

 lawyer of good repute. 



That reminds me of a story. It is said that an old lawyer by the 

 name of John Strange was about to die. He was consulted in regard 

 to his epitaph. He requested that the stone be incribed "Here lies an 

 honest lawyer.' Asked if that was all he replied "That is enough." 

 "Why! your name must be added,'' his wife said. "No" he replied, 

 "when they read that they will say: 'Here lies an honest lawyer, 

 that is Strange!' " Now I don't know if the point is in the "honest 

 lawyer" or in the idea that a lawyer could lie in death as well as in life. 

 The reader can judge. 



The Patent Office publishes a (iazelte that illustrates all patents and 

 gives the claims upon which the rights of the inventor are based. This 

 Gazette is published for the benefit of the public and shows them what 

 they cuimot make or use except by consent of the owner. The inter- 

 pretation of patent claims is work for which patent lawyers and experts 

 onlv are qualified. The description of the patent and its illustrations 

 describe the invention so clearly that, at the expiration of the time 

 limit of the patent, those who are skilled in the art to which it applies 



