"In any business, it is to-day's unknown facts that wreck the machine tomorrow. Therefore, find out the facts."

Almost all inventors show an unusually needless amount of haste in rushing off to an attorney and applying for a patent, even before they have given their idea any practical demonstration whatsoever. This is, in the opinion of the writer, all wrong, and is not the most practical way to proceed. The application for patent, and filing of carefully drawn specification and claims, is, of course, highly important and necessary, but it should not be undertaken until after the most searching, practical tests of the invention, as well as the most careful investigation as to the public demand for your idea, as it is from the latter source that profits will come. The care with which your specification is written, and the claims drawn, will regulate the strength of your protection against infringers. Don't forget that the red seal and blue ribbon on a worthless patent are just as red and blue as they are on a high-grade, "suit-proof," one that has stood the tests of the courts from bottom to the top.

WHAT THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT SAYS.

"The specification and claims of a patent, particularly if the invention be at all complicated, constitute one of the most difficult legal instruments to draw with accuracy, and in view of the fact that valuable inventions are often placed in the hands of inexperienced persons to prepare such specification and claims, it is no matter of surprise that the latter frequently fail to describe with requisite certainty the exact invention of the patentee, and err either in claiming that which the patentee had not in fact patented, or in omitting some element which was a valuable or essential part of his actual invention." Topliff vs. Topliff, 145 U.S. 156.

The highest court of the land thus puts itself on record in reference to the importance of having the specification and claims of your patent properly drawn. It is equally as important to have your models, drawings, patterns, etc., accurately designed and executed.

Every week the "Official Gazette," published by the U.S. Patent Office, is chock full of new, novel and ingenious devices on which patents have been granted, but which are in lines in which the demand and sales are so very restricted that the profits in seventeen years will scarcely pay for the cost of the patent. As Dr. Grimshaw, Ph.D., M. E., a celebrated inventor and scholar, known to many Americans, and at present residing in Germany, so aptly puts it, it is well to remember "There are some lines in which competition is so fierce that there would not be any use in coming into the field. If the Marquis of Worcester, Watt, Fulton and Morse, Whitney and Howe, Edison and McCormick, and a dozen more of the great inventors of the world, past and present, were to put their heads together, and get up a new car-coupler, the chances are that they could not get thirty cents for the patent. The thing is overdone."

Many, many, hard-earned dollars are annually expended by inexperienced inventors in the building of ornate, nickel-plated models that from a practical, business stand-point are commercially impossible, and never will amount to anything. While they are splendid in "theory," and pretty to look at, and talk about, yet in "practice" and real utility they are of no value. Don't go to the expense of a model until you know your device is patentable, mechanically practicable, commercially salable, and in demand in the markets of the world, and in a class in which there is no killing competition.

Caveats have proven to be, oftentimes, worse than worthless. The Government fee is $10; the attorney fee from $10 to $25. When you file your application you are notified by the U.S. Patent Office of an interference suit, if someone else happens to file an application along similar lines. It is then "up to you" to show that "you thought of it first," usually a very expensive and disappointing task. Don't apply for a caveat, is the writer's advice.

Confidence is the bed-rock foundation of all business today, so don't be afraid of anyone trying to steal your idea. A simple and inexpensive means to follow is to have a rough pencil sketch and description of your idea, dated and signed by yourself and two competent witnesses. Then, if the question of priority of invention is raised, you have a strong document to substantiate your claims to priority.

If your idea will pass muster on the Six Cardinal Tests, (1) as regards patentability; (2) as regards mechanical practicability; (3) as regards its possession of superior merit and low cost of production; (4) as regards a large and constant public demand for it; (5) as regards to its being better, cheaper and more salable than similar devices already on the market; (6) as regards to the competition it will encounter,—then, and only then, are you justified in spending time and money in applying for a patent, and having proper working model built, etc. Don't rely on your own judgment in such matters,—it is of necessity greatly prejudiced, and rightly so. You, as an inventor, are in the same relative position as the mother of a new baby. Both of you undoubtedly feel that your offspring possesses all the graces, and has no bad points whatsoever. But your invention does not have as good a show, at least no better, than the new baby has of developing into a "world-beater" or prodigy. In both instances it will require careful development, much study, and the hardest kind of work to make a moderate success of the new infant. Another point to remember is that the one who is responsible for its successful development is entitled to more credit and greater rewards than the father of the idea or infant.

A Patent Attorney, must, of very necessity, be disposed to find practically everything submitted to him "to be patentable." Some firms go so far as to mail their guarantees that ideas are patentable, but your idea has five other points in which it may "fall down." Mere patentability is only one-sixth of the necessary ground you must cover. Your friends may think you are a genius, a wonder, and you may be, but don't let their adulation turn your head to the extent of your forgetting the six tests necessary to your idea's success. If you are sick, you go to the best physician you can find; if your horse is sick, you send for a veterinarian; if you are required to go to Court, you retain a good lawyer to represent your side,—you don't try to cure yourself, or your horse, or defend yourself. You go to a specialist in these lines. Follow the same sane method in your patent matters. The "no-cure-no-pay" doctor is not highly regarded, neither are patent firms that do a "contingent fee" business on the "no patent-no pay" basis. Cut rates are also to be shunned. Good service demands and can exact commensurate returns. Economy in these matters is a poor policy to pursue.

Analysis of the Six Cardinal Patent Tests.

"If I am building a mountain, and stop before the last bucketful of earth is placed on the summit, I have failed."—Confucius.

First: Would it be possible to cover my idea or invention by a good, strong, basic patent?

First and foremost, the thing to do is to find out if your invention can be properly covered by a good, strong patent,—a basic patent, if possible, and if not basic, at least, one covering some novel elements which would prevent unscrupulous imitators and dealers from substituting "something just as good" for your invention. In this connection we might say that any bright attorney can find some way in which an alleged patent can be issued practically on anything, so very little dependence can be placed, as a rule, on "preliminary searches" that are furnished "free of cost." Expect to pay at least $5.00 for it, and ask for the references the search develops. We place the covering of an invention by strong letters patent first, as we consider it of the utmost importance that an invention, to be a commercial success, must grant its owner a virtual monopoly.

Second: Is my invention mechanically practicable?

There are a great many ideas which of themselves are good, and still are not of themselves of any value. It is of equal importance, in order to make a success of an invention, to have it conform to certain recognized mechanical principles, and capable of economical production through the regular trade and manufacturing channels. In other words, an invention nowadays would be seriously handicapped if it was necessary to revolutionize the present equipment of factories to bring it out.

(In this connection it might be interesting to note that Thomas A. Edison, in an article published in "The Star," of Washington, September 17th, 1908, said that in his opinion Wright Brothers were working on the wrong principle with their flying machine. In Edison's opinion the machine should not be dependent on the skill of the operator, but should be capable of automatic operation somewhat similar to an automobile or the locomotive.)

Third: Can my invention be more cheaply manufactured than similar devices already on the market?

If your invention will enter the markets of the world in close competition with other devices of similar nature, it is necessary that it possesses the possibility for lower cost of production than the articles it will meet in competition. If it costs more to make, it will be heavily handicapped from the start. If it costs less to make it will have this additional advantage pulling in its favor from the start.

Fourth: Does my idea possess conspicuous novelty and superior merit over similar devices already on the market?

The established, advertised article in the markets of the world always has a great advantage over new and relatively untried devices. A new article, to succeed, must show at a glance that it is "something better." In addition to that, it must have superior merit which will at once make it possible to bring about a quick sale in competition with the article already on the market. If your invention is better, costs less to produce, has more "talking points," dealers will be quick to buy it. Otherwise, possibly not.

Fifth: Is there a large, constant, public demand for my invention, or its product?

Public demand for anyone's invention practically regulates its success, from a commercial standpoint. If there is no public demand for it, there can be no individual profit derived from it. In other words, it is useless to apply for a patent on any art, machine or process where the demand for its use is very limited. For instance, it would be ridiculous to patent a process for performing one single act or function, the demand for which would cease as soon as the act or function was accomplished. To illustrate, some years ago, while building the City Hall, in Philadelphia, it was necessary to raise the enormous statue of William Penn to the top of the tower. This was quite an undertaking, and a great many bright men cudgeled their brains as to the best means of accomplishing the result. It would have been very foolish to patent the means by which the statue was put on the top of the tower, because after it was placed on the top there would be no further demand for the process or means by which Penn was raised to his elevated position.

"Little and often fills the purse" is a familiar quotation to many of us, and is especially applicable to the profits to be made from inventions.

Sixth: Is there killing competition in the class to which my invention belongs?

If your device is likely to run into a section of the trade of the world where questionable tactics and high-pressure methods are necessary to keep one's head above water, our advice to you would be, "Don't do it!" as it would possibly be better to "follow the lines of least resistance," and spend your time and money on something where you would have a better chance for success.

In the year 1909, what chances do you think an inventor would have in starting a business in competition with the United States Steel Corporation, or the American Sugar Refining Company, or the Standard Oil Company, or the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, or the Paper Trust, or the Bell Telephone Company, or the Moving Picture Trust, or the American Can Company, or the Baldwin Locomotive Works? These enormous aggregations of brains and capital would make it quixotic to attempt to compete with them in the markets of the world. Yet you may be able to invent something they would be glad to purchase!

If your patent is weak or deficient in any one of these six cardinal tests it is heavily handicapped to just that extent in the race for success. Do not depend on your own judgment, as your judgment is naturally prejudiced, and will not, most likely, reflect a dependable forecast of the public attitude toward your invention. It will be cheaper in the long run to get reliable counsel in these respects before you start, rather than learning it from bitter experience.

THE UNITED STATES CAPITOL.