Whether because of the stories of immense fortunes to be made through patents, or the natural prodnct of the fertile ingenuity of the people of this country, it certainly is a fact that an immense number of patents are yearly granted by the patent office at Washington. It needs but a hasty perusal, however, of that bulky weekly volume, the Patent Office Gazette, to show to to the experienced and educated mind that large numbers of these so-called inventions are destined to quickly sink into oblivion, leaving behind them no other record than that above mentioned, of the time and money expended, and the probably accompanying dreams of future fortunes forever blasted. Because it is certainly true that most of the patents are secured by inventors actuated by a desire to profit quickly and in a large measure from the devices their minds have created. It is also undoubtedly true that many of these inventors have devoted much time and money badly needed for family necessities to perfecting their inventions, which were bound from their nature to have little or no commercial value, and so procure no return for the sacrifices made.

While in no wise wishing to discourage meritorious invention, it is hoped that what is here stated will be helpful to readers and prevent those of an inventive turn from repeating the mistakes and suffering the losses which are, unfortunately, so frequent at the present time.

A few words about inventions in general. Excluding those which are secured by paid employes of manufacturing concerns to protect or improve the control by such concern of some process or machine already owned by them, the majority of patents otherwise granted are obtained with the expectation that the inventor will secure direct and liberal financial returns therefrom.

. Under what conditions is this expectation likely to be realized? Among these conditions may be mentioned that the article be one for which sufficient demand already exists, or a reasonable certainty that such a demand can be created, to warrant its manufacture. This is often a most difficult matter to decide, and expert opinion may vary widely. Not many years ago an inventor offered to sell a manufacturer the patent for a small pin for $750, but the offer was declined. Within a year the same manufacturer had paid in royalties over $1100 for the right to U6e the pin, which was not an exclusive right, or considerably more than the sole ownership would have cost.

Another important condition is that the cost of manufacture of an article shall be within the limit which will permit of its being sold at a satisfactory profit, or permit of its being sold in competition with existing devices. The non-refillable bottle is a good illustration of the above condition. It has been pretty generally reported that a fortune awaits the inventor of a successful non-refillable bottle. Perhaps this is so, but whether it is or not, it certainly is a fact that of the hundreds of patents granted on devices for this purpose, few of them could be manufectured at a cost that would permit of their being generally used, and many of them would be so expensive as to immediately settle the question of their use in the negative. If the inventor had but consulted a competent business man or manufacturer before going to any expense for a patent, the impracticability of the invention would have been made clear to him.

Admitting that there is some merit to an invention, there still exists the question: Can a sufficient sale be developed, without too much expense, to promise a satisfactory profit. In this class are many devices intended for use on street and steam railways. At once is met the great difficulty of securing a trial by a railway of sufficient size so that approval brings commercial standing. Influential friends may be of some value in securing a trial, but more generally this counts for but little. The officials of the large systems are importuned continually by inventors, and a device must possess evident merit to secure a proper trial. A good way to give an invention of this class standing is to interest a small road to allow a trial to be made, and if satisfactory results follow, the larger ones can then be more easily prevailed upon to give trials. But no railroad, large or small, will expend money on an untried or unnecessary device. By unnecessary is meant anything which they can get along without, unless a sufficient saving is effected to make its purchase and use economical. The engineer of one large railway always tells inventors or promoters of untried devices that his road is willing to let others do the experimenting, and they will pay the increased price for the perfected article when they find they have got to have it.

From this brief presentation, it should be evident that the commercial conditions are quite as important as the mechanical ones, and should receive quite as thorough an investigation before time or money is invested in inventive work. If this idea was more generally followed, many patent agents would be obliged to seek other fields of labor, without any great loss to the public, and with considerable saving to many whose visionary ideas or impracticable friends have led them to secure one more foolish patent.

Assuming that a device has merit, is original, and that a promising field awaits the granting of the patent, the value of a patent then depends to quite an extent upon the broadness of the claims. A patent attorney who is working for the best interests of his client, endeavors to have the claims made as comprehensive as possible, many times expecting the first application to be returned for revision or the elimination of some one claim or more, clinging persistently to as much as possible, and conceding slowly only what is necessary to finally secure the patent. Of course such services are expensive and not given by "job lot" firms who obtain patents on the first application simply because the claims are so restricted that no conflicts are likely or desired. Such patents have little or no value for that very reason. An invention must indeed be novel if it does not in some way touch upon the ground covered by another, and skill and care are needed to preserve a strong and valuable patent.

In conclusion, it may be stated that inventors are not usually very good business managers and had best leave the business end to others. The fear of being tricked out of just returns is an ever present one with inventors, but considering the number of failures made by those who attempt to finance their own inventions, the chances of success are decidedly in favor of those who are wise enough to secure the services of a reliable and competent business man; the combined team of inventive aud commercial ability being a strong one and likely to achieve success if success be possible.

Many large manufacturing concerns will not today consider the purchase of an invention unless a price so low as to make the risk of loss a small one. They will, however, give careful attention to anything with merit on a royalty basis, and to most inventors this is by far the best arrangement possible. The business skill, established trade and reputation of the firm are immediately made available to place the invention before the trade, and sales are then being made and profits realized before any inventor, thus unaided, could have got properly started By this arrangement the inventor shows his own faith in his invention, and in the majority of cases will secure as large or larger returns than when managing the business himself, because of the better facilities for developing the invention.