This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1908 edition. Excerpt: ...with that class of goods, so that he might buy the competitor's article under the suppoposition that he was buying the patented article. Chapter V. PATENTING A NEW PRODUCT. THERE are three forms of direct patent protection which it is possible to use to obtain a monopoly of a product and one form of indirect protection. The first and best protection would be that of a patent on the product itself. In order to obtain a patent on the product the product must be new. If the product is one which is covered by a patent, but for which the patent is about to expire, it would not be sufficient merely to make a slight improvement, because the patent would cover only jthe improvement. The form of the product covered by the original patent would be public property and anyone could make or use or sell it. It is quite often supposed that by getting a new patent, not only is the improvement covered, but the elements of the product which were the subject of the first patent are also protected. I have shown in the fourth chapter, under the heading "Avoiding Infringement by Omitting an Element of the Claim," that to omit an element of a claim without substituting any equivalent is to avoid the claim. Thus, if the improved product had five elements, A, B, C, D, and E, and the product as covered by the original patent had only four of these elements, A, B, C, and D, the patent on the improvement would cover the use of only the elements, A, B, C, and D, without the element E; and, moreover, the second patent, if it had the effect of covering the product of the first patent, would be void because it covered what must become public property at the expiration of the first patent. For instance, in the first planer, the return of the table was no...

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

"An essential reference for specialists in the economics of technological change."--D. G. McFertridge, Canadian Journal of Economics