The Black Flag - 2
In the opening up and development of any new art based upon a fundamental discovery
or invention, there ensues naturally an era of supplemental or collateral inventive
activity--the legitimate outcome of the basic original ideas. Part of this development may
be due to the inventive skill and knowledge of the original inventor and his associates,
who, by reason of prior investigation, would be in better position to follow up the art in
its earliest details than others, who might be regarded as mere outsiders. Thus a new
enterprise may be presented before the world by its promoters in the belief that they are
strongly fortified by patent rights which will protect them in a degree commensurate with
the risks they have assumed.
Supplemental inventions, however, in any art, new or old, are not limited to those which
emanate from the original workers, for the ingenuity of man, influenced by the spirit of
the times, seizes upon any novel line of action and seeks to improve or enlarge upon it,
or, at any rate, to produce more or less variation of its phases. Consequently, there is a
constant endeavor on the part of a countless host of men possessing some degree of
technical skill and inventive ability, to win fame and money by entering into the already
opened fields of endeavor with devices and methods of their own, for which subsidiary
patents may be obtainable. Some of such patents may prove to be valuable, while it is
quite certain that in the natural order of things others will be commercially worthless, but
none may be entirely disregarded in the history and development of the art.
It will be quite obvious, therefore, that the advent of any useful invention or discovery,
great or small, is followed by a clashing of many interests which become complex in their
interpretation by reason of the many conflicting claims that cluster around the main
principle. Nor is the confusion less confounded through efforts made on the part of
dishonest persons, who, like vultures, follow closely on the trail of successful inventors
and (sometimes through information derived by underhand methods) obtain patents on
alleged inventions, closely approximating the real ones, solely for the purpose of
harassing the original patentee until they are bought up, or else, with the intent of
competing boldly in the new business, trust in the delays of legal proceedings to obtain a
sure foothold in their questionable enterprise.
Then again there are still others who, having no patent rights, but waving aside all
compunction and in downright fraud, simply enter the commercial field against the whole
world, using ruthlessly whatever inventive skill and knowledge the original patentee may
have disclosed, and trusting to the power of money, rapid movement, and mendacious
advertising to build up a business which shall presently assume such formidable
proportions as to force a compromise, or stave off an injunction until the patent has
expired. In nine cases out of ten such a course can be followed with relative impunity;
and guided by skilful experts who may suggest really trivial changes here and there over
the patented structure, and with the aid of keen and able counsel, hardly a patent exists
that could not be invaded by such infringers. Such is the condition of our laws and
practice that the patentee in seeking to enforce his rights labors under a terrible handicap.
And, finally, in this recital of perplexing conditions confronting the inventor, there must
not be forgotten the commercial "shark," whose predatory instincts are ever keenly alert
for tender victims. In the wake of every newly developed art of world-wide importance
there is sure to follow a number of unscrupulous adventurers, who hasten to take
advantage of general public ignorance of the true inwardness of affairs. Basing their
operations on this lack of knowledge, and upon the tendency of human nature to give
credence to widely advertised and high-sounding descriptions and specious promises of
vast profits, these men find little difficulty in conjuring money out of the pockets of the
unsophisticated and gullible, who rush to become stockholders in concerns that have
"airy nothings" for a foundation, and that collapse quickly when the bubble is
pricked.[21]
[21] A notable instance of the fleecing of unsuspecting and credulous persons occurred in
the early eighties, during the furor occasioned by the introduction of Mr. Edison's
electric-light system. A corporation claiming to have a self-generating dynamo
(practically perpetual motion) advertised its preposterous claims extensively, and actually
succeeded in selling a large amount of stock, which, of course, proved to be absolutely
worthless.
To one who is unacquainted with the trying circumstances attending the introduction and
marketing of patented devices, it might seem unnecessary that an inventor and his
business associates should be obliged to take into account the unlawful or ostensible
competition of pirates or schemers, who, in the absence of legal decision, may run a free
course for a long time. Nevertheless, as public patronage is the element vitally requisite
for commercial success, and as the public is not usually in full possession of all the facts
and therefore cannot discriminate between the genuine and the false, the legitimate
inventor must avail himself of every possible means of proclaiming and asserting his
rights if he desires to derive any benefit from the results of his skill and labor. Not only
must he be prepared to fight in the Patent Office and pursue a regular course of patent
litigation against those who may honestly deem themselves to be protected by other
inventions or patents of similar character, and also proceed against more palpable
infringers who are openly, defiantly, and illegitimately engaged in competitive business
operations, but he must, as well, endeavor to protect himself against the assaults of
impudent fraud by educating the public mind to a point of intelligent apprehension of the
true status of his invention and the conflicting claims involved.
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