What is a Patent?

The term patent or letters patent is derived from litterae patentes, signifying that which is open or disclosed in contradistinction to lettre de cache, that which is sealed or secret. This term is the keynote of the whole principle upon which the patent system is built up, namely, disclosure. The disclosure must be honest, absolute and unreserved. The penalty for mental crookedness or for ignorance in giving out fully and freely the nature of the invention is severe and direct and is nothing less than forfeiture of the patent itself. The reason for this is perfectly logical and arises from the very meaning, spirit and nature of the relationship existing between the patentee and the government. The term of a patent is 17 years. During this term of 17 years the patentee obtains a monopoly under which he secures exclusive right of manufacture, use and sale. The patent itself, however, is in the nature of a contract between the patentee and the government, presumably for their mutual benefit. The government grants to the inventor the exclusive right of manufacture and sale for 17 years on condition that the inventor shall disclose fully the nature of his invention or discovery, and shall allow the public the unrestricted use of the invention after this term has expired. If he fail in making full disclosure, he has not lived up to the terms of the implied contract and the patent thereby becomes null and void. It sometimes happens that an inventor discloses freely part of the invention, but cunningly conceals some essential step in the process, but if the case is tested within the courts and the real facts are brought to light, the patent will be declared invalid. At the end of the term of 17 years the patent becomes public property, and the article may be freely manufactured by any one. It can never thereafter, as in so many cases in the Middle Ages, become a lost art.

Who May Obtain a Patent?

In order to secure a valid patent, the applicant must declare upon oath that he believes himself to be the true, original and first inventor or discoverer of the art, machine, manufacture, composition or improvement for which he solicits a patent; that he does not know and does not believe that the same was ever before known or used; and that the invention has not been in public use or on sale in the United States for more than two years before the application was filed, and that the invention has not been described in any printed publication for more than two years prior to the filing of the application. Any one who can subscribe to the above conditions may apply for a patent, irrespective of race, color, age, or nationality. Minors and women and even convicts may apply for patents under our law. The rights even of a dead man in an invention are not lost, for an application may be filed in his name by his executor or administrator, and the rights of his heirs thereby safeguarded. The patent in this case would issue to the executor or administrator and would become subject to the administration of the estate like any other property left by the deceased. Even the rights of an insane person may not be lost, as the application may be filed by his legal guardian. If foreign patents for the same invention have been previously issued, having been filed more than 12 months before the filing of the United States application, the patent would be refused. The applicant must state his nationality. It often happens that two or more individuals have jointly worked upon the invention, and in this case the several inventors should jointly apply for the patent. Should they not so apply, the patent when issued would be invalid. If they are merely partners, however, and not co-inventors, they should not apply jointly for a patent, as the inventor alone is entitled to file the application. He may, however, assign a share in the patent to his partner, coupled with the request that the patent should issue to them jointly. It is of the greatest importance that these distinctions should be clearly understood; otherwise, the patent may be rendered invalid.