PATENTS AND PATENT LAWS. 245 



upon an equitable basis ? Can not a system be devised, which 

 shall, on the one hand, interfere to the least possible extent with 

 liberty of public industry, and shall, on the other, secure to the 

 inventor a fair reward out of the fruits of his labors ? 



If, as must be admitted by all, the difficulties are so many in 

 the way of securing to inventors their legal rights, and if the 

 expense and perplexity of defending patents is greater than the 

 advantages conferred by them, and if the author of the inven- 

 tions treated of in this work is aware of all this, the question 

 may be asked, why has he availed himself of the patent laws to 

 secure Ms inventions 1 A satisfactory reason, it is believed, has 

 before been given, which is, that during the progress of his 

 experiments he received pecuniary aid from others, stipulating 

 with them that they might avail themselves of a portion of such 

 advantages as might be derived by obtaining patents for these 

 inventions. The protection which is afforded by letters patent to 

 important inventions unquestionably is far better than none at all. 



When any important discovery is made and patented, em- 

 bracing numerous inventions, and when the subsequent im- 

 provements which render the discovery completely successful 

 are patented by the same inventor, as in the case of vulcanized 

 gum-elastic, such patents, if they do not guarantee a complete 

 monopoly of any particular branch of business, give to the 

 patentee the right of action against infringements, and it would 

 be unsafe for the capitalist to engage in the same business while 

 this right of action was in the hands of others. Besides there is 

 at least a satisfaction in holding a just claim to a discovery 

 under the present patent laws, uncertain as they are, in hopes 

 that they may be made better, even if they are trespassed upon 

 with impunity to a limited extent. 



Although the penalty of violating a patent is not so certain 

 of infliction as to prevent unprincipled or irresponsible persons 

 from pirating an invention, yet the liability to prosecution is 

 such that men of capital and character will not be tempted by 

 the profits of a business, to engage in it, to contend with others 

 possessed of capital, who are the owners or licensees of a 



