246 GOODYEAR ON GUM -ELASTIC. 



patented invention. There is therefore much in favor of those 

 whose business is made in any good degree exclusive by a valid 

 patent, and little hope of success in the same business for those 

 who infringe upon or attempt to break the patent. If the object 

 of the infringer is to break down a patent, he commonly finds it 

 a fruitless undertaking, for if he succeeds in doing that, he does 

 not thereby gain any exclusive advantage for himself, but he 

 breaks the patent at his own expense, and throws it open for 

 the benefit of the public at large. 



Such a policy is obviously short-sighted ; for, to say nothing 

 of the injustice of the course as relates to the inventor, or those 

 who honorably and fairly purchase of him, it is not the best 

 course for the individual desiring to possess himself of the same 

 advantages, or to participate in an improvement. It is far 

 cheaper for any one engaging in a new business to pay to the 

 patentee a fair consideration for a license, and to have fairly 

 imparted the knowledge which the experience of the inventor 

 has necessarily given him, rather than attempt to gain the same 

 information by experiment and usurpation. 



