The long list of famous patentees with their inventions which a previous chapter contains is an eloquent testimonial to the fact that fame, fortune and an undying place in history will be given to anyone fortunate enough to conceive and work out a new idea which inures to the benefit of mankind. While these famous inventors have been devising and exploiting inventions of wide scope and large calibre there have been an army of small inventors which should be equally as famous and whose inventions will, probably, on the average, return larger proportionate profits to their owners than have a great many of the prominent ones already listed. The writer has in mind small inventions, such as, for instance, Mrs. Pott's Sad Iron; the De Long Hook and Eye; the Gillette Safety Razor; Enterprise Meat Chopper; Junoform Bust Form; Push-point Pencil; Bromo Seltzer; Morrow Coaster Brake; Brass Tips for Boys' Shoes; Mennen's Talcum Powder; Rubber Tips for Lead Pencils; Bundy Time Clock; President Suspenders; Pianola; Castoria; Angelus; O'Sullivan's Rubber Heel; Macey's Sectional Bookcases; Red Dwarf Ink Pencil; 1900 Washing Machine; Tyden Table Lock, and the thousands of similar small inventions, practically all of which are bringing or have brought enormous fortunes to their owners and developers.

King C. Gillette has become a wealthy man from the royalties and profits on his safety razor. While safety razors had been on the market for years, it took Gillette to bring out a better one, patent it, and make his fortune. The inventor of the President Suspender is said to have collected over fifty thousand dollars last year in royalties on the sales of over two hundred thousand dozen pairs of his suspenders. Miss Wolfe, the inventor of the Junoform Bust Form, it was remarked recently, would attain wealth from her royalties. Mrs. Potts is reputed to have collected over half a million dollars from royalties from the patents on her sad iron.

It is also said that the Selden Gas Engine royalties exceed ten million dollars in amount. It is stated that McCormick, the inventor of a Cream Separator, has an annual income from his patents of over thirty thousand dollars. It is said that the inventor of the new-style "pay-as-you-enter" street car will receive a large royalty on every car of that style used in the United States. They are at present coming into use on the metropolitan street car lines. Everybody is familiar with the enormous fortune made by Pullman with his palace car patents.

NOTES.

It is related that when George Westinghouse called on Commodore Vanderbilt to endeavor to interest him in his air-brake, Vanderbilt said to him: "Do you mean to tell me that you can stop a train of cars by wind?" and when informed that in effect that was what was contemplated, remarked that he had no time for fools. Sometime afterward when, through the support of Andrew Carnegie and several others, a successful test of the brake had been made, Westinghouse had the satisfaction, according to the story, of replying to Vanderbilt's request for a conference, "I have no time to waste on fools."

Ottmar Mergenthaler worked twenty years on the development of his linotype machine, and ten years thereafter in perfecting it. The Mergenthaler Linotype Company has paid out twenty millions of dollars in dividends in fourteen years. The romance of the invention of the linotype brings out in glaring letters PERSISTENCE, as Edward Mott Woolley states in "System," of September, 1908, in an article describing the development of the linotype machine.

It is related of Oscar Hammerstein, the well-known theatrical proprietor, that when he was fifteen years old he landed from a steamer at the Battery in New York, after running away from his German home. He was without money or friends, or any place to go. He got a job in a cigar factory at $2.00 per week. Making cigars by hand seemed to him a poor way of doing it, so he began experimenting on his own account, and four years later he had a machine to do the work. He sold this machine for $6,000 cash, and immediately started on a new one, which in place of selling outright he had manufactured on a royalty basis. It is said that he has received over $250,000 in cash from his royalties. Yet today Hammerstein is not known by his inventions, but by the big theatrical enterprises which have earned or lost other fortunes for him at various times.

In the struggle of Charles Goodyear to manufacture a rubber compound that should fulfil mercantile needs is presented a striking, if rather familiar example of what eternal persistence will finally accomplish, and of how it may be assisted by what we call "luck." When he was twenty-one Goodyear entered a rubber house in Philadelphia and began experimenting in India rubber. By chance one day a little rubber mixed with sulphur fell on a stove, and he at once realized what might be accomplished by what is now known as vulcanization. To carry on his experiments he was required to pawn the school-books of his children to raise money. However, he kept everlastingly at it, and was rewarded with a number of international prizes and decorated by several foreign rulers. His name has gone down to fame as one of the successful inventors of the world. The Goodyear Rubber Company bears his name.

The public today is familiar with the record of Thomas A. Edison, who is considered the greatest inventor the world has ever known. The new book which has recently come out, "The Life of Thomas A. Edison," is well worth purchasing and reading. The public press reported he had won his infringement suits and that the "Moving Picture" trust or combination agreed to pay him royalties running into a sum of seven figures.

George Ade, the "funny man," is independent financially from the royalties paid him on his copyrights.

The story of the De Long Hook and Eye Company is the history of an infinitesimal start with an enormous present size.

Sir Henry Bessemer is said to have been paid $10,000,000 in royalties on his steel process.

Emerson, a Baltimore druggist, made a number of fortunes from his invention of Bromo-Seltzer. Likewise Mennen, of talcum powder fame, whose face and name are known all over the world.

Landis, a Franklin county (Pa.) man, sold his "Straw Stacker" patents, it is said, for $50,000 cash,—practically all profit.

This list, if complete, would fill volumes, but it would be a story with the same ending in each and every case.

A careful study of the reason why all the above patents have proved to be so successful emphasizes the fact that inventors, to succeed, must not lose sight of the Six Cardinal Tests enumerated elsewhere in this volume.

  CHAPTER V.

FIELD OF INVENTION

"If a man can write a better book, preach a better sermon, or make a better mouse-trap than his neighbor, though he build his house in the woods, the world will make a beaten pathway to his door."—Emerson.

Inventions, to possess commercial merit, must supersede in utility similar devices already on the market. They must also possess capacity for production at lower cost, as well as having conspicuously superior merit. The field of invention is a broad one, and embraces any new electrical appliances, engineering devices, improvements in steam navigation, agricultural implements, railways, household novelties, novelties in hardware and tools, pencils and toys, vehicles, furniture, toilet articles, wearing apparel, office appliances and devices.

INVENTIONS AND IMPROVEMENTS NEEDED.

Electrical.

A simple, cheap and powerful electric motor; electrical motors adapted to use of either direct or alternating current; improvements in the filaments of incandescent bulbs, something along the lines of the new Tungsten filaments; new, cheap substitute for gutta-percha for insulating; simple method of generating ozone for medical and disinfecting purposes; method for generating electricity direct from coal without the incidental production of light and heat; a new, indestructible incandescent lamp filament; a new style of incandescent lamp that will give more light and use less current; a simple means for preventing the blowing out of fuses, and yet preventing the overloading of the motors; method of extracting electricity from the earth. (NOTE: A number of experiments have been carried out along this line with partial success.) A method of storing electricity generated during a severe electrical storm. (NOTE: This is not considered practicable by electrical engineers, although it is possible that someone may hit on a way of accomplishing it.) A simple, light accumulator for storing electricity.

Chemical.

A substitute for paper pulp; strong, tough, thin, flexible paper; substitute for glass in eye-glasses, telescopes, opera glasses, and other optical lenses; a cheap, artificial substitute for indigo; method for deodorizing petroleum, gasoline, naphtha and similar volatile oils without changing their quality; method of deodorizing asphalt; method of deodorizing paint; method of increasing the life and durableness of soft rubber; simple means for preserving butter; new shoe blacking free from sulphuric and acetic acids; cheap substitute for matches; method of removing nicotine from tobacco; method of utilizing vulcanized rubber scrap; substitute for leather; method for producing artificial mica in large sheets; artificial flavors of tea and coffee, similar to the commercial artificial extract of vanilla; cheap method of producing sugar from starch; method of producing pure carbon; substitute for celluloid; substitute for asphalt; method for producing flexible glass.

Mining and Metallurgy.

First and foremost is the method of hardening and tempering copper; cheap method for extracting gold from brick clay, ore, sand, etc.; cheap method for procuring iron direct from ore without the intervention of the blast furnace; method for producing malleable pig iron; cheap method of producing high-speed steels for tools and the like; machine to separate slate from Anthracite and Bituminous Coal. (NOTE: It should be some process not requiring water settling-tanks.) Process for casting copper without blow holes; solder for cast iron; cheap method for recovering tin from old tin cans and the like.

Railways and Military.

Note.—It has been found extremely hard to introduce railway patents. We would, therefore, most earnestly advise our American inventors not to spend any time and money on inventions such as car couplers, steel railway ties, block signals, and the like. In this class we would suggest so-called "small-inventions."

Efficient air gun as a weapon; improvements in army tents; improvements in dirigible balloons and aeroplanes for military uses.* (*NOTE: This is a big undertaking, and we would not advise any of our clients to enter it.)

Machinery, Tools, Steam Engines, Etc.

Simple means of adjusting ball bearings; attachment for lathes, such as taper cutting devices, grinding attachments; attachments for planers for producing curved surfaces; attachment for drill press for radial boring; new and improved tools of all kinds and descriptions; simple and cheap bone crusher; simple and cheap bone cleaner; simple and cheap casting machine for small foundries; simple and cheap molding machine for small foundries; machine for casting under pressure; substitute for fly wheels on engines; efficient safety stopping devices for engines; substitute for governor; cheap and efficient denatured alcohol motor; substitute for belts and pulleys; simple, cheap and efficient anti-friction bearings; machine for automatically sewing buttons on clothing; tool for cutting ice without waste; cheap music turner.

Recording and Vending Machines, Office Appliances, Etc.

Simple, cheap and efficient cash register; cash register that will throw out false coins; machine for vending newspapers; electrically driven typewriter; cheap substitute for fountain pen; cheap substitute for lead pencil; indestructible writing pen; reliable gas meter; reservoir lettering brush.

Lighting, Heating and Ventilating—Building Construction.

Indestructible gas mantel for Welsbach lights; method of simultaneously lighting all the burners in a room, or house; automatic valve closing device for shutting off gas when not ignited; brick-laying machine; method of glazing without the use of putty; window sash that will not bind or stick in the frame; substitute for sash weights; substitute for spring shade rollers; substitute for carpet nails; new, cheap, springless lock; substitute for hinges on doors; cheap, efficient door check and buffer.

Auto Vehicles.

Durable and unpuncturable tires; cheap and efficient power meter; cheap and efficient dust preventer; improvements in all the details of automobile and vehicular construction; substitute for motor wheels.

Miscellaneous.

Textile:

Substitute for horse hair; substitute for broom fibre; substitute for asbestos; substitute for silk; method of coating cheap fibres with silk; method of spinning asbestos; substitute for an umbrella; one-piece covering for umbrellas, etc., etc.

Printing:

Method for multi-color printing with but one impression; method for printing sheet metals; substitute for printing blocks.* (*NOTE: Must be light in weight, and non-inflammable.) Substitute for lithographic stone; a firm, black, copying, printing ink; method for photographing in colors.

Agricultural.

Machine for harvesting sugar cane; substitute for cotton bale tie; method or machine for exterminating caterpillars; method or machine for exterminating mosquitoes; improvements or new devices for use of farmers, agriculturalists, truckmen, florists, and similar vocations; method or machine for annihilating flies.

General.

Substitute for rubber fire hose; method for profitable utilization of saw dust; substitute for hair pin, or one that will not fall out; envelope that cannot be opened.

WHAT NOT TO INVENT.

• Non-refillable bottles.
• Nut locks.
• Metal railway ties.
• Railroad rail joints.
• Patent medicines.
• Car couplers.
• Hooks and eyes.
• Safety pins.
• Hair curlers.
• Washing Compounds.
• Trolley pole catchers.
• Bending machines, unless absolutely new idea, and style.
• Adding machines, unless absolutely new idea and style.
• Present style typewriters.
• Turbine engines, unless absolutely new idea, and style.
• Submarine boats.

Our reason for advising inventors to stay away from the above classes is on account of the fact of the killing competition in these classes, and the additional fact that the field is absolutely overcrowded. The attorneys that have applied for the hosts of patents for inventors in these lines have "rung all possible changes" in their claims for patents into which it is possible to twist and turn the English language.

Wants Fulfilled.

In a publication on Patents published about fifteen years ago, the following articles were asked for, which have since been invented, and which are making their inventors money:

• Cheap ice machine.
• Denaturated alcohol.
• Cheap calcium carbide.
• Method of preserving milk.

(Note the organization of the "White Cross Milk Companies" in the cities of Philadelphia, Boston, New York, Baltimore and Washington, at this writing. Milk prepared by this process is said to keep for several months, and will be absolutely free from germs and bacilli. It is a new process.)

• Smokeless gun powder (now in almost general use).
• Iron and steel railway ties. (They have been found mechanically impracticable and have been discarded by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company.)
• Safety device for rifles and revolvers. (Everybody is familiar with the "Hammer the Hammer" advertisement.)
• Milking machine.
• Bread cutting machine.
• Pocket cigar lighter.
• Steam heating for trains.

The above list will serve as an illustration of the fact that inventors are persistently supplying what the world needs in the way of new devices and machines.

SUPPLY AND DEMAND.

"Where there's a will there's a way."

Do not imagine that anyone is lying awake at night waiting for your invention to come out, because they are not. All of us consider ourselves pretty comfortable, and we are not bothering much about any new inventions. Another mistake inventors often make is that of endeavoring to make the public want their device. The proper thing to do is to invent something that the public already wants. In other words, "follow the lines of least resistance."

There are many good things which are very ingenious, and perfectly novel and patentable, but which are in lines in which there would not be enough sale in ten years to pay the inventor the expense of getting out patents. Yet plenty of such things are patented almost every week, in this country. "Some time there could be but one customer,—say, the government, or some great corporation,—and there may be reasons which are obvious, and others not so plain on the surface, why you could not even make them a present of your invention."

  CHAPTER VI.

GROWTH OF THE FIELD OF INVENTION

The following pages concisely show the marvelous growth of the Field of Invention from Primitive Man's Three Fundamental Wants, namely, Food, Clothing and Shelter, to the present-day countless necessities of Twentieth Century life. The same marvelous broadening of the field is found in all directions. The few illustrations given on the following pages will illustrate the point, and direct the thoughts of the student unerringly to the almost illimitable sphere of invention.

CHART PARTIALLY ILLUSTRATING THE VAST GROWTH OF THE
FIELD OF INVENTION FROM PRIMITIVE MAN'S THREE
FUNDAMENTAL NEEDS TO THE PRESENT DAY
ESSENTIALS OF CIVILIZATION.

FOOD

Copyright 1909, by Goodwin B. Smith.

SHELTER

Copyright 1909, by Goodwin B. Smith.

CLOTHING

Copyright 1909, by Goodwin B. Smith.

TRANSPORTATION

Copyright 1909, by Goodwin B. Smith.

  CHAPTER VII.

NECESSARY STEPS

"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.