Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1870, by W. H. & O. H. MORRISON, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. Rec. Nov. 20, 1900. PREFACE. The compiler of the following pages lays no claim to the authorship of an original work upon the law of patents. Entertaining the opinion that the speculations even of the most learned are of but little importance to those who are seeking to know simply what the law is, and actuated by a desire to render the work strictly authoritative and practical, he has adopted, almost exclusively, the conclusions of those whose opinions have been dignified with the mantle of official authority. The work is the result of an endeavor to compile from various sources, some of which are not easily accessible, reliable and practical information, which the author has found to be indispensable in the course of his own professional practice, and which he believes will be useful to others. Although intended to convey practical information to inventors, patentees, manufacturers, and others who have occasion to inform themselves particularly concerning patent matters, it is believed that the work will be found useful to members of the legal profession generally, since it sets forth the state of the law resulting from decisions more recent than those of any other work published up to the present time, and contains the exact text of the late act of Congress, by which the entire legislation in respect to patents and copy iii right was repealed, and a more complete and carefully-drawn law substituted. In the preparation of Part II the author has freely availed himself of the publications of the British Patent Office and the standard European authorities. In preparing those portions of the work which relate to the practice of obtaining patents in the United States, he has been greatly indebted to the labors of the late able Commissioner of Patents, Mr. S. S. FISHER, many of whose decisions he has given in extenso. The author is also under obligations to other officers of the Patent Office, as well as to members of the bench and bar of the District of Columbia, for valuable assistance and timely counsel, which he desires most sincerely to acknowledge. 529 SEVENTH STREET, WASHINGTON, D. C., January 4, 1871. CHARLES S. WHITMAN. |