LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. ©I^pl'^;^ inpjjris]^ -^a.-^.. Shelf ,S-&1- TJNITED STATES OF AMERICA. PROFIT FROM INVENTION, BEING SUGGESTIONS AS TO THE MAKING OF PRACTICAL IMPROVEMENTS IN THE USEFUL ARTS, PROTECTING THEM BY LETTERS PATENT AND DISPOSING OF THE MONOPOLY. BY 1 fl n^ WILLIAM EDGAR SIMONDS. HARTFORD : PUBLISHED BY THE ACME COMPANY, 1883, Copyrighted 1S83 by William Edgar Simonds. a4 CHAPTER I. MAKING AND PROTECTING INVENTIONS, How to Invent. It may be thought that it is be- ginning unnecessarily near the foundation of things to discourse upon the manner of making inventions, in a little work, the main purpose of which is to outline reasonable methods to be followed in attempting to realize profit from undeveloped invention — that is, in- vention undeveloped in a commercial sense ; but the realization of profit from an invention depends primarily and legitimately upon there being real value in it, upon its utility and practical character ; and what is said under this head has largely for an object the suggestion of the ends to which invention should, in the first place, be directed in order to attain utility, practicability and, con- sequently, profit. It is beyond the power of these pages to literally teach how to invent ; it is beyond the power of any mere form of language to do this. No mere words can endow a brain with the subtle and wonderful power of evolving from its inner self positive intellectual creations. If this power could be imparted and conveyed by words inven- tion would soon cease to attract unusual attention or to have extraordinary money value for the science would be PROFIT FROM INVENTION. taught in the schools, would be formulated in books, and when an invention is found needful the person needing it would simply consult such books or counsel with the professor of the science and, /r^^f/t?/ the required inven- tion would vault full grown upon the scene. Invention, like the arts, poesy, painting, and sculpture, is a gift, an endowment of nature, often rising to the height of genius. Like all natural gifts it can be culti- vated and strengthened by exercise till the acquired power as little resembles the original crude gift as the sturdy and branching oak, assaulted by a thousand storms, resembles the green and succulent twig newly sprung from the parent acorn. This gift is probably the possession, in a greater or less degree, of all human beings of sound mind ; and it does not seem to require inventive capacity of the highest order to produce important improvements. Many inven- tions which have made their originators rich and famous, have been the product of minds that lay no claim to kin- ship with genius. The quality of mind and character which led Goodyear to pursue the ignis fatuus of hard rubber till, in a happy moment, he stumbled on the cov- eted secret, can hardly be called genius. That inventors are often geniuses is too plain a matter to need statement ; the names of Whitney, Blanchard, and Ericsson are too familiar. Still it is true that most men, and women too, can become inventors of that which will give sub- stantial gains, if not fame, by the aid of rightly directed attention and perseverance. The habit of careful observation, of intelligent atten- tion to all that goes on around and about one, is the most valuable habit that can be acquired in any calling of life; MAKING AND PROTECTING INVENTIONS. its worth can not be estimated too highly by him who would become a practical inventor. The man who goes about with his eyes open to that end constantly dis- covers, in his work and in his recreations, some place where an improvement can be brought into useful play. Nine hundred and ninety-nine ladies daily care for their feathered songsters and daily sweep up the seeds scat- tered under the cage, making no special mental note thereof ; the thousandth lady notes it and wonders if a seed cup can not be devised which will prevent the nui- sance ; she has taken the first, possibly the most impor- tant, step toward invention. Many men go a-fishing and are perpetually troubled by an unmanageable float, accepting the annoyance as fore-ordained from the beginning ; an observant man goes for finny prey and wonders if a better float can not be devised : he, too, has taken the first step toward in- vention. Some time before the telephone made its suc- cessful advent, a toy composed of a string with a cup at each end, and used for communicating spoken words through the stretched cord, came into wide notice ; one of our well known monthly magazines contained a comi- cal cartoon showing this toy. Thousands of people used the plaything, with gentle, momentary wonder, and had no special thought about it, but observant men noted with deep interest the transmission and reproduction of sound vibrations, asked themselves if the same phenom- ena could not be effected with a metallic cord and for longer distances, then bethought themselves of the electric wire, made the experiment indicated by this collocation of ideas, and the wonder-working telephone was the result. Any one who is the friend, or companion of veteran Profit from invention. inventors knows there are habits peculiar to the genus. Note book and pencil are never absent from their pockets ; where a valid want is observed the want is noted down and afterwards pondered upon till a device for filling it is conceived ; when conceived, the concep- tion, too, goes into the book in the form of concise de- scription or rude sketch, either or both, made at the time and place of conception : sometimes the result is an in vention of magnitude, oftener one of minor importance. For every device that a veteran inventor patents he gen- erally has a score or so of unpatented ones in his note books and papers. This habit of constant and careful attention to one's surroundings will sooner or later lead to the discovery of some want, the filling of which by a new and useful de- vice will prove profitable. Having by the aid of observation made the discovery of a material want needful to be filled, there is then requisite a steady perseverance in holding the matter in mind and in thinking of ways to accomplish the desired result. To the veteran inventor, at least so far as other than complex inventions are concerned, this is generally a matter of minor difficulty. Indeed so readily will a man, of long experience in devising new mechanisms or even in dealing with them as an expert or so- licitor, think of parts requisite to accomplish given motions and functions that it would almost seem that in- vention is really only a science that can be taught and learned ; but he who accepts that idea accepts a mistake ; the gift is from God, its improvement may be taught. Invention is made up of two elements : discovery of a want to be filled and conception of means for filling it ; the former is practically as important as the latter. MAKING AND PROTECTING INVENTIONS. Steady perseverance in holding a discovered want in mind, all the while intently striving to devise a contri- vance for supplying it, will be almost sure, sooner or later, to eventuate in a conception of the desired con- trivance. The inventor gifted by nature with a genius for his art has, prominent among all his other powers, that of projecting before his mind's eye, upon a back- ground visible only to the imagination, a picture bold and sharp of the offspring of his brain. For all this no one need be discouraged if he spoils scores of fair sheets of paper with his pencil or dozens of shapely pieces of wood with his knife and gimlet before he attains a satis- factory conception of his invention. The power of making mind pictures will grow by exercise, but the tyro will be much more apt to mould his invention by succes- sive improvements to practical perfection if he embodies it, even crudely and imperfectly, in tangible materials. The practice of the veteran inventor of keeping by him a note book wherein to sketch and describe his concep- tions, as well as his discoveries of wants to be supplied, is a good practice for the beginner. He will soon be sur- prised at the progress he makes and, aside from the prac- tical phases of success, there is no purer enjoyment than that of giving birth to a genuine mechanical conception and seeing it take form and shape in a sketch however rude. It is an excellent custom to date all memoranda and sketches of inventions : almost all valuable inventions are litigated at some period and in proving the time of making an invention such original dates are the best of all evidence. It is an excellent, not to say necessary, thing for him who would become a mechanical inventor to familiarize 8 PROFIT FROM INVENTION. himself with the construction and operation of machinery in general : a knowledge of specific means of effecting nearly all movements and motions — a knowledge which is not only elementary but is also much more than that, can be acquired by a study of such a work as "507 Me- chanical Movements " by Henry T. Brown, a small and inexpensive but very valuable book ; a costlier and more elaborate work is Knight's Mechanical Dictionary ; the regular reading of such a periodical as the Scientific American is an educating process of value in this con- nection. The suggestions under this head can not perhaps be better brought to close than by permitting a veteran in- ventor of elaborate and successful machinery to reveal his mental processes in making an invention, it being re- membered meanwhile that in his case such processes are the ripe fruit of a long life devoted to invention in a special line, accompanied by comprehensive and accurate knowledge of all the mechanisms and parts of mechan- isms used in that line. Erastus B. Bigelow, now de- ceased, in his lifetime an inventor of large and deserved fame in connection with looms, particularly carpet looms, said : f " My first step toward an invention has always been to get a clear idea of the object aimed at.] I learn its re- quirements as a whole and also as composed of sep- arate parts. ) If, for example, that object be the weav- ing of coach lace, I ascertain the character of the several motions required, and the relations these must sustain to each other in order to effect the combined result ; secondly, I devise means to produce those mo- tions ; and thirdly, I combine those means and reduce MAKING AND PROTECTING INVENTIONS. them to a state of harmonious co-operation. To carry an invention through the first and second stages is comparatively easy ; the first is simply an investiga- tion of facts ; the second, so far as I can trace the op- erations of my own mind, comes through the exercise of the imagination. I am never at a loss for means in the sense above explained. On the contrary, my chief difficulty is to select from the variety always at com- mand those which are most appropriate. To make this choice of elementary means and to combine them in unity and harmony — to conduct, that is, an inven- tion through its last practical stages — constitutes the chief labor. " In making this choice of elementary parts one must reason from what is known to what is not so, keeping in mind, at the same time, the necessary combinations, examining each element not only in reference to its peculiar function but to its fitness also for becoming a part of the whole. Each device must be thus ex- amined and re-examined until harmony and unity are fully established. I find no difficulty in effecting that concentration of thought which is so necessary in pursuits like mine. Indeed it is not easy for me to withdraw my mind from any subject in which it has once become interested until its general bearings, at least are fully ascertained. I always mature in my mind the general plan of an invention before attempting to ex- ecute it, resorting occasionally to sketches on paper for the more intricate parts. In building a machine a draughtsman prepares the working drawings from sketches furnished by me which indicate in figures the proportion of the parts, I never making anything with lO PROFIT FROM INVENTION. * my own' hands. I do not like even drawing to a ' scale." Preliminary Examination. Having arrived at the point where an invention can be sketched or intelligently described, even though minor details may not be fully worked out, it is then desirable to call in a bit of pro- fessional help : it is advisable, at this stage, that the in- ventor should have an examination made of the models and drawings in the Patent Office in order to ascertain if the invention is probably new and patentable. For this purpose the inventor should go to a reliable solicitor of patents, about whom more hereinafter. The fee usually charged for this service, in matters not complex, is a small one ; and the service is well wortli the price, — there is no work done by solicitors so poorly paid as this. The examination is advisable to the end that if the in- vention is found to be fully anticipated, the inventor may at once drop it and thereby save future time, trouble and expense, and also to the end that if the invention be found partly anticipated the inventor may be taught what to avoid ; not infrequently, from such examina- tion, the inventor may get valuable hints and suggestions to materially aid him in perfecting and maturing his device. Reduction to Practice. Passing safely the stage of preliminary examination, the inventor's duty then be- comes that of giving practical embodiment to his concep- tion. It must be made to work and that efficiently. Upon this point of the practical working of an invention the inventor can hardly be too severe or critical with him- self. He must not give over his efforts until he is sure. TAKING AND PROTECTING INVENTIONS. II beyond a doubt, that his invention will practically supply the want for which it is designed, wholly irrespective of any of those little allowances that sanguine inventors are apt to make for these children of their brains. There may be cases where an invention will prove pecuniarily successful when, though it may not work perfectly, it is yet the best thing so far found for the purpose, in hand ; such a dependence is obviously a poor one for it will probably be comparatively easy for some future inventor to perfect the incomplete invention and thus interfere with, if not destroy, the first inventor's prospects. The embodied invention must be made as simple as possible. There are many people, among them some in- ventors, who seem to think that a complicated arrange- ment of wheels and levers is, in itself, an admirable thing ; they are as pleased as children with the glitter and clink of the moving parts. A greater mistake was never made. To attain the utmost simplicity is almost a test of genius and is, on all accounts, a prime desidera- tum. Simplicity brings cheapness and that, other things being equal, governs the world. Simplicity makes a de- vice easy to be understood, lessens liability to breakage, and, in every way commends the article to those who will become its users or consumers. If difficulties arise in working out practical details, or some parts persist in working awkwardly or unsatisfactor- ily, it is well to consult some expert mechanic and procure his aid in solving the difficulty. It is not a rare occurrence that one's mind, by long dwelling on a subject, becomes rutted when a mind freshly applied to tlie same matter would instantly see a way out of the rut ; and a good me- chanic, conversant with various common ways of accom- 12 PROFIT FROM INVENTION. plishing a given result, may be able to instantly offer the desired suggestion. An inventor runs no risk of lawfully losing his inven- tion by calling in skilled help to solve difficulties in de- tails ; the suggestions of the mechanic would need to amount to a substantially different invention in order to vitiate the inventor's claim to the completed and per- fected device. About all that Morse originally contrib- uted to the production of his electric telegraph was the main idea or principle thereof ; scientific men and skilled artisans practically embodied that idea and yet Morse was rightfully held to be the inventor thereof. Choice Among Inventions. There is something of a choice to be exercised, when choice is possible, as to the kind of invention to be made. Those who are not looking for fame but only for money returns may safely confine themselves to small inventions which remedy a defect in some contrivance already in use or which supply some domestic, business, or agricultural want. Good toys, well pushed, are sure to prove remunera- tive : the return ball, a wooden ball at the end of a rub- ber cord, is a favorite instance. Household articles have about the most extensive market possible ; large fortunes have obviously been made from the fruit jars now so common. Small articles require but little capital for their manufacture. On the other hand the public has to be educated up to the use of any new article designed for general consumption and this sometimes proves to be a task of magnitude. Perhaps the best kind of an in- vention, the one most readily and legitijnately turned MAKING AND PROTECTING INVENTIONS. I3 into money, is a new machine or process for cheapening the production of some common article of extensive con- sumption ; in developing such an invention there is no education of the public to be accomplished, the public goes on buying the same thing to which it has been ac- customed, at the familiar price, the manufacturer mean- while reaping his harvest of gains from the cheapened cost of production ; the only person who needs to be ed- ucated to the use of an invention of this sort is the manufacturer, and he is almost always intelligent, enter- prising, and glad to investigate any and all things which offer a reasonable hope of cheapening the cost of his goods. The Success of Inventions. Let a word be said at this point as to the average success of inventions. There is a widespread notion that hardly one patent in a thousand pays. The idea is a delusion founded upon superficial observation. The great public hears only of those inventions which dominate the public mind and which count their profits by millions of dollars, the electric telegraph, the sewing machine, hard rubber, and the telephone for instances. It hears and knows nothing of the multitude of patents taken by manufacturers solely for use in their own mills. Nor of another mul- titude of patents which give their owners modest gains, a few thousand or a few tens of thousands of dollars. A patentee seeking an extension of a patent for a slight improvement in wagon-wheel hubs admitted a profit of $61,000 ; another admitted a profit of $65,000 on an im- provement in tempering wire ; and another admitted a profit of $73,000 on a tuck-marker, all of which were in- 14 PROFIT FROM INVENTION. ventions which, with thousands like them, the general public did not know the existence of. The proportion of paying patents is very much larger than is dreamed of by the public. The sober truth is that if there exists a royal road to wealth at all it lies through the gate of the Patent Office. Let no mere dreamer plant these words as seed in his mind for in his case the fruit will be wholly visionary ; but to him who is willing to work, and still work and wait, these are rightful promise of golden fruition. Prudent Precaution. Let another word be said as to the measure in which a man should devote himself to invention. No one should make invention the main business of his life, his reliance for a livelihood, till his success is sub- stantial and assured, unless he is possessed of so much of this world's goods that he and his dependents will not suffer if his hopes be never realized. Let the tyro go slow and feel his way. Let him, if he will, devote every evening in the year to invention and ponder upon it at every spare moment in the day, but let him not relax his industry in his regular vocation till he is in such circum- stances that it matters little whether he labors. In almost every community there may be found men who sadly need to heed this caution, men gifted with powers of invention, men of many admirable qualities of character, good mechanics whose services are always in demand and who are capable of earning, with but ordi- nary industry, more than enough to support themselves and their families in ease and comfort but who are often at their wits' end to pay their rent and procure the com- MAKING AND PROTECTING INVENTIONS. 15 mon necessaries of life, all because they will constantly neglect their regular work to give form and substance to the creations of their brains. Not only does the course they pursue make them ex- ceedingly uncomfortable in the mere matter of living but it effectually deprives them of the chance of ever ac- cumulating the small amount of funds necessary to perfect the smallest invention and introduce it to public notice. Taking Patent. Having made a new and useful in- vention and, also, having made sure that it will work efficiently and that it has been simplified and perfected as much as is practically possible, it then becomes neces- sary to acquire a monopoly of it by securing proper let- ters-patent therefor. This is a matter upon which most inventors need to have and to heed sound advice. A patent is a document which needs for its proper preparation an unusual com- mand of language, an acquaintance with the art to which the improvement relates, a good knowledge of law in general and an accurate acquaintance with patent law in particular. It must be drawn with direct reference to the multiform and ingenious attempts that are altogether likely to be made to evade it, and with reference to the persistent and subtle assaults that will be made upon it in litigations. Judge Story, who was fully qualified to express an opinion of the highest value, judicially spoke of patent practice as the metaphysics of the law ; the refinements known to that practice in his day were but elementary \o those of the present age ; there are no litigations l6 PROFIT FROM INVENTION. known to the courts that bring into exercise the learning, elaboration and exhaustive thought common to patent practice. How idle then it is to expect to have a patent properly drawn by a person without that learning and experience which fits him to prepare in advance against rapiers so keen, wielded with such consummate skill ! Again and again the Commissioners of Patents have warned inventors against cheap and incompetent solici- tors, particularly against those who procure patents on the so-called "no patent, no pay" plan, but there always have been and probably always will be men who expect to get something for nothing, who will unduly weigh a dollar and hope by some chance to get proper profes- sional service at a rate less than the properly skilled prac- titioner can afford to work for. A patent is a document as to the strength, validity, and proper execution of which most inventors know abso- lutely nothing ; they are compelled to trust entirely to the ability and integrity of the agent they employ ; the parchment, ribbon, and seal of a positively worthless patent have precisely the same outward seeming as those of another patent which embodies the results of the lar- gest experience, the widest range of appropriate learn- ing and the utmost painstaking. Inventors can not af- ford to put the blind trust, which the circumstances exact from them, in any other than the best agent procurable. It is safe to employ a lawyer actually engaged in patent practice ; it is safe to employ a mechanical expert of standing and reputation ; and it is safe to employ a few, and only a few others ; their standing and reputation should rest on something more substantial than their own assertions, spoken or printed, MAKING AND PROTECTING INVENTIONS. 17 The inventor, having selected his solicitor, should re- quire of him reasonable promptitude in the prosecution of the application, but he should give time to contest, in the inventor's favor, all points that ought to be contested; no strength of claim should be sacrificed merely to get a patent quickly. Any solicitor, who is worthy of confi- dence, ought at reasonable times to be ready to show an inventor just how his application stands and to show him all papers, pro and con, connected therewith. CHAPTER II. PREPARATION FOR SALE OF INVENTION. Models. In preparing to undertake the negotiation of an invention, if it be susceptible of illustration by model, it is so far advisable to have a small, perfect-working model thereof that it may be said to be necessary, this in order to conveniently and effectively explain it at differ- ent times and places. It is also in the highest degree desirable, in such case, to possess at least one full-sized machine that will work to perfection ; and if such a machine is not too large and costly the inventor should, by all means, have one made. The model is advisable, that the inventor may take it from place to place to explain the invention and interest proposed buyers in it. The full-sized machine is advis- able to convince those who begin to take an interest, and doubters generally, that the invention is perfectly practi- cal. If, beyond question, a full-sized machine would be too large and costly for the inventor's means, then he should have, in its place, complete and artistic drawings in elevation, plan, and detail. In the making of the small model and the full-sized machine, it is not enough to construct a rude device PREPARATION FOR SALE OF INVENTION. I9 which, in a halting and awkward way, will illustrate the principle of the improvement. They should be most carefully and perfectly made. The mass of minds will much more readily understand and practically appreciate the principle of an invention if the mechanical execution is perfect. Whatever the after-made machines may be, the first one, made for show, should be a perfect-working mechanism, hand- somely finished. The inventor will usually find, at his best, enough to apologize for without being responsible for poor workmanship. It is much easier to interest a man or a crowd of men in a fine piece of mechanism, even if the device be old, than in a new but roughly-embodied invention. The tea, coffee, and spice merchants understand and take advantage of this fact when they place in their windows handsome specimens of small steam engines, which are supposed to be always grinding fragrant Mocha or Old Java, the merchants well knowing that many of the passers-by will stop to take a look at the painted and polished machinery, and will thereby be drawn to look at their merchandise. If the embodied invention be a small and inexpensive article, as a shirt stud, mouse trap, toy, line holder, or the like, the inventor will do well to have a number nicely made, which are not only convenient to hand to different parties, but, also, give an appearance of actual manufacture entered upon. If the invention be a new process or compound, the inventor should provide means and apparatus for handily and handsomely illustrating the process or compound and its effects, 20 PROFIT FROM INVENTION. First Cost. The profit to be derived from an im- provement is the thing that will induce a buyer to invest in it. He will want to know with all possible certainty, approximately, at least, what the expected profit is. One requisite to the furnishing of the desired information is the ascertainment of the first cost of the embodied invention in the course of practical business. If the invented thing be something complicated and costly, the inventor should be able to show, either from his own knowledge or from the knowledge or calculations of some competent person, what its first cost is. Good authority would be that of a person accustomed to make or otherwise have intimately to do with other mechanisms or articles of the same general nature ; mechanical engineers are sometimes able to give accurate and reliable estimates of the cost of new machinery. The best of authority is the offer of a responsible machine builder or manufacturer to construct the machine or other thing for a specified price. If the invention be a small and inexpensive device, it is well to have such a number of them made as will accurately demonstrate the first cost. A slight difference in the first cost of a device often determines whether it will be commercially a success or failure. If the improvement be a new compound or process, the cost of putting it in practice should be similarly determined. The Individual Profit. As already suggested, the profit to be made upon the invention, as a whole, is the legitimate line wherewith to attract buyers. One im- portant factor in arriving at this gross profit is th^ PREPARATION FOR SALE OF INVENTION. 2 1 determination of the profit upon a single article, or, as it is above termed, the individual profit. The profit made upon a single article is, aside from incidental expenses, the difference between the first cost and the retail price at which it is finally sold to the con- sumer. This whole individual profit is commonly divided into three and sometimes four parts : the manufacturer's profit, the wholesale dealer's profit, and the retail dealer's profit. There is sometimes, intermediate between the manufacturer and wholesale dealer, the jobber or com- mission merchant. The w^hole individual profit is to be apportioned among these parties. As the first cost is a fixed fact, the determination of the retail price determines the individual profit. The retail price, in an estimate, should be fixed at a figure which will give fair profits to all the parties named. If the improvement be upon an article in common use, a flat-iron, for instance, and the first cost of the article is substantially the same as that of the common article, it is well to adopt the scale of prices and profits which obtains in trade upon the common article, and depend upon large sales for proper gains. If, however, the scale of profits upon the common article is unreasonably low, it is well to advance somewhat upon it. If the first cost of the improved article is somewhat less than that of the common article, it is well to adopt the retail price of the common article and apportion the gain made thereby among the specified participants therein. Such a course is a substantial help, especially at first ; it makes a strong appeal to the wholesale dealer and the retailer, and these are the parties whom it is most difficult, and, at the same 22 PROFIT FROM INVENTION. time, the most desirable to enlist in favor of the in- vention. If the first cost of the improved article is greater than that of the common article, and the profits upon the common article will not bear reduction, it is requisite to advance the retail price proportionately. There is no general correspondence of profits, to the three or four participants therein, on different articles ; the profits on different manufactures differ widely and with little or no reference to a common standard. The only general rule that can be given, in this respect, is to ascertain the scale of prices and profits that obtains, from the manufacturer to the consumer, in the trade upon articles nearest akin to the device under consideration, and then assimilate, as far as possible, the profits upon the new article to this scale, varying, however, as any good and substantial reason may dictate. An enquiry put to a friendly dealer in articles of the same class as the new improvement will elicit what the common trade profits are. If the invention be a new process, the inventor should follow the same general course, as above indicated, and be prepared to show what the gain is in using the new method as compared with the old, and what increased profit is secured thereby. The same general direction applies to the case where the invention is a new machine for making old products, as, for instance, a machine for making brick. The reader will notice, possibly with surprise, that these directions for getting at the individual profit read as if they were intended for a person entering upon the I>REPARATI0N FOR SALE OF INVENTION. 23 actual manufacture and sale of the patented article, while he, the reader, intends to do nothing of the sort, but simply to sell his patent to some one else who shall make and sell the patented thing. It must be remembered in this connection that the buyer of the monopoly will want to know the profit incident to actual manufacture and sale ; and if the inventor puts his estimate upon any other than an honest and reasonable basis, some hard-headed man will expose the error and destroy the confidence of an intending buyer in all the inventor's representations. The Market. Having ascertained the first cost and determined the selling price, and thereby determined the individual profit, it then remains to ascertain, as near as may be, how extensive a market is open to the invention, and thereby reasonably approximate to the entire gross profit derivable from an invention. If it is an improvement useful to both sexes, children and adults alike — an improvement in shoes or stockings, for instance — it will have for a possible market the whole population of the entire country, a matter to be deter- mined by consulting the census. If useful to adult males only, to adult females only, to male children only, or to female children only, it will have for a possible market about one-fourth of the entire population, which is made up, in round numbers, of males and females, as well as of children and adults, in about equal parts. If the invention is one useful in every family, its entire possible niarket will be about one-eighth of the whole number of souls, there being on an average one family to every eight persons. 24 PROFIT FROM INVENTION. The census reports contain such full statistics of the different trades, professions, and callings of the people of the United States, and such full classifications gener- ally, that there can often be gathered therefrom how many there are of any class or classes of persons to whom an invention is of peculiar utility, and the whole of such class or classes constitutes the entire market pos- sible to an invention. Instead of being directly and immediately useful to any large class of persons, an invention may be an im- provement in the manufacture of some standard article of general consumption, flour barrels for instance, the production of which is in comparatively few hands, and then it is desirable to ascertain the amount of the annual production of such articles ; or it may be an improved process, say of smelting iron, and then it is desirable to ascertain how many tons of iron are annually smelted in the whole country. The census reports are of great value oftentimes in pro- curing information of this sort. When they do not serve the purpose, the librarian of almost any large public li- brary can direct to the proper sources of information. The editors of specialist or trade papers are often able and willing to either give the desired information or to put an enquirer on the right track. The wants which inventions are designed to fill are so many and various that it is impracticable here to do more than to suggest the kind of information needed and the common sources of acquiring it. The monopoly given by a patent lasts seventeen years, and one factor to be taken into account, in computing the PREPARATION FOR SALE OF INVENTION. 2 q entire possible market for an article, is its durability. If the article when once sold to the consumer will last him ten years, it follows that the market for that article, within the term of years covered by the monopoly, is not so large as it would be, if, in the natural course of things, it lasted but a short time and then required renewal. Having settled upon the extent of market possible to an invention, the entire possible profit to be derived therefrom can be readily computed by multiplying the individual profit by the whole number required to fill the entire possible market. A word of caution may not be inappropriate at this point. This entire possible market is always something enormous, but it is only theoretically possible, not really so, as all business experience proves ; and no inventor should either himself believe, or seriously pretend to others, that it is actually possible to reach and supply so extensive a market. The calculation indicated is only valuable as showing the mine that the owner of the monopoly has to work in; the richer and more valuable the mine the greater the worker's probable profits. The actual market possible to be reached and supplied is probably about one fourth the theoretical entire market. Capital Required. Another thing desirable to be preliminarily arrived at is a knowledge of the approxi- mate amount of capital necessary to suitably work the invention. Unless the amount required is clearly and obviously small, it is a subject which the inventor should not be anxious to broach ; if it be small it is a matter 4 PROFIT FROM INVENTION. which the inventor may legitimately urge in favor of the improvement. An entire lack of knowledge on this subject may prove a stumbling block to an intending buyer, and it is well for the inventor to preliminarily give the matter some consideration. Little can be offered in the way of sug- gestion, upon this topic, for the amount of capital requisite varies with a multitude of circumstances which have little or no lawful connection with each other : it is a matter that is largely determined by the practical business tact and sagacity of the operating party ; one man would need or seem to need double the amount required by another man, and, even at that, the latter might be the more successful of the two. Let us suppose that the invention is some small article that is wholly made by casting ; then the cost of a suit- able number of patterns and the cost of a stock sufficient- ly large to fill all ordinary orders, including cuts, labels and packages, are proper subjects of enquiry, and they are about all that are legitimate, for rent, printing, adver- tising, and the like, are matters too indefinite to be en- tered upon. Price to be Asked. This is precisely the thing as to which the average inventor seeking to sell his monop- oly most ardently desires precise and definite informa- tion. It is also precisely the thing as to which it is most difficult to offer suggestions in the nature of general rules. It is pretty safe to say that inventors are more apt to overestimate than underrate the money value of their in- ventions. PREPARATION FOR SALE OF INVENTION. 27 As a matter of course the more profit there is to be reasonably expected from the monopoly the more valu- able it is. If it appeals to a small and widely dispersed class, its value will be correspondingly limited. If it is a new and radical improvement in the manufacture of some staple article of large, constant and imperative de- mand, like the Bessemer steel process for instance, a quarter of a million dollars would be a reasonable price on an outright purchase ; the inventions of hard rubber, the sewing machine, the electric telegraph, the telephone, and the Woodbury planer were each easily worth that sum and more. If the invention be a meritorious improvement on some low priced article in general use a few thousands of dollars would usually be a fair price. Again, if the in- vention be a valuable improvement on some important agricultural implement, a reaper or mower for instance, from twenty-five to fifty thousand dollars would not be an exorbitant price. For a toy few inventors need expect more than two or three thousand dollars. In no case can the inventor expect to get more than a fraction of the value of the invention, for the buyer has to take the risk of public appreciation of the invention, to take upon himself the trouble and expense incident to developing it, and his gains will come piecemeal. The buyer should have the lion's share of the probable profit, as an inducement to embark in the enterprise. The advice of friends who are in business, particularly if their business is such as to make them practically con- versant with the market for the device under considera- tion, will often be of value in fixing a price to be asked for the invention upon an outright sale, 28 PROFIT FROM INVENTION. It would seem that an approximate price ought to be arrived at by first computing the theoretical entire profit possible to the invention, calling one-fourth of this the actual possible profit, and one fifth this last sum the selling price. Price of Territorial Rights. Having fixed upon a gross sum to be asked for the whole monopoly, it is easy to determine proper prices for grants of territorial rights; and it is well to be prepared to name such prices. If ten thousand dollars is fixed upon as the value of the whole patent, a State right thereunder will theoreti- cally be worth just such a part of ten thousand dollars as the population of the State bears ratio to the population of the whole country. Take, for instance, the State of Connecticut, and use the census of 1870 ; its population is about 540,000, while the population of the whole United States is about 38,000,000 ; theoretically, the value of the right for this State may be expressed thus : 3tw¥¥§T7 of $10,000 = $142, or, not to put too fine a point upon it, $150 ; but the patent owner cannot afford to sell the right for one State at the same rate he would sell the right for all the States as a single transaction. It is not unreasonable to treble this theoretical value of $150, which would make the right for the State of Con- necticut worth $450, or, in round numbers, $500. Having ascertained in this manner the price to be put upon the right for a State, the price of a county right can be deduced therefrom in a similar manner, and the value of a town or city right can be deduced in like manner from the price of a county right. PREPARATION FOR SALE OF INVENTION. 29 Royalties. A royalty is a duty paid by one who uses the patent of another at a certain rate for each article or quantity manufactured or sold ; and it is desirable to be able to name a rate therefor. This mode of realizing profit from an invention is as common as any, perhaps the most common. If the invention has real merit, and the party who undertakes to pay the royalty acts in good faith and exerts reason- able energy, it is ^generally the most profitable for the inventor in the long run. If the improvement be one of doubtful merit, clearly this mode of disposing of it is not advisable ; in such case an outright sale or nothing are the alternatives. Outright sale, when a suitable gross sum is received, is probably preferable to most inventors, and it is to be said in favor of such a course that the inventor is thereby freed from any danger of injury arising from the bad faith of the licensee, as well as from dangers arising from litigation. After all is said, however, a royalty contract is, under suitable conditions, the most profitable in the end. The royalty to be asked, when an invention is rented out in this way, varies somewhat with the article or thing which is the subject of the contract. On high-priced, expensive articles, particularly if the market therefor is limited, a relatively high royalty is proper. On low- priced articles of large consumption a low rate of royalty is most profitable for all concerned. On articles of moderate price and fair demand, mowing machines, for instance, the royalty should stand at a medium point in the scale. 30 PROFIT FROM INVENTION. Royalties commonly vary, upon different manufactures, from three to ten per cent, of the manufacturer's selling price. Such articles as boots and shoes, and improve- ments in making them, stand at the bottom of the scale in amount of percentage paid as royalty, and such things as jewelry and philosophical instruments stand at the top; agricultural implements stand about midway. In any case, it is not best to leave the manufacturer free to make as few as he chooses of the licensed article, for he may choose to make none, and then the inventor will realize nothing, while the manufacturer will still retain his license. The best precaution in this regard is to have a- clause in the agreement compelling the licensee to pay royalty upon a specified minimum of manufacture annually. The manufacturer should also agree to use his best endeavors to build up and maintain as large a trade as possible, and not to make or sell any competing article. When the question of the minimum amount of royalty to be annually paid cannot be readily and satisfactorily agreed upon, a year's experimental trial will generally enable both inventor and manufacturer to come to an understanding. All agreements of this nature should contain a con- dition that at stated times, usually quarterly or half- yearly, the licensee shall render to the inventor a true and accurate account of all the patented articles made and sold by him within the term covered by the account, and pay the royalty due thereon within a specified num- ber of days thereafter. It is well to have the right to require the licensee's oath to the truth of such accounts, and also the right to examine the licensee's books, PREPARATION FOR SALE OP INVENTION. 3! If one manufacturer will undertake to supply the whole market, he is usually given the exclusive right for the whole country. No manufacturer would be likely to take a license and bind himself to pay a minimum royalty unless he either had the sole right or the whole right for a certain territory. It is, of course, more profitable to the inventor, other things being equal, to have a number of licensees ; but, with some exceptions, the difficulties of attaining this end are too great to render the attempt advisable. There are, however, cases where it is proper, and when objections will not be strongly urged by manu- facturers. Take the case of an improvement in car wheels ; the consumption of these in the whole country is so large that no one concern could reasonably under- take to supply the whole demand ; and freight charges, where there is but one manufacturer, would, in some instances, necessarily be so high as to be prohibitory. In such a case a licensee having the exclusive right for the Eastern States, another for the Middle States, and so on, would be the right and proper thing. Shop Right. A shop right (so-called) is the right to use the patent or manufacture under it at some shop or manufactory. It may be restricted as to place or amount of production, or left unrestricted. It cannot, as a rule, be considered advisable to make sales of rights of this sort unless the right be restricted in both these particulars, and a yearly rent be reserved, which would make the character of the license approxi- mate to that of a royalty license. A shop right, when a percentage royalty is not 32 PROFIT FROM INVENTION. reserved and the amount of production is unlimited, is almost sure to prove a nuisance; for although a factory may have been doing only a small business previous to the acquisition of the shop right, it might thereafter expand its operations so as to practically interfere with sales of goods under the patent throughout the whole country. The royalty element should, if possible, be introduced into a license of this sort ; that is, an annual rental should be reserved for a certain specified and maximum production. If this is not done, the licensee should be restricted as to the territory wherein he may sell the patented goods or the products of the patented machine or process. An instance can hardly arise where it is advisable to grant a perfectly free and unrestricted shop right, unless the price paid for it is tolerably near the value put upon the whole patent. When a rental is reserved, its amount can be arrived at by following the suggestions laid down under the head of " Royalties." Where the license is restricted only as to the territory wherein the products may be sold, its price can be reasonably fixed at three fourths the value of the entire and exclusive right for that territory, sug- gestions as to determining which are to be found under the head of " Price of Territorial Rights." The inventor's remaining right to sell other licenses within the territory may be said to be worth the remain- ing fourth of the value of ihe exclusive right for the territory. CHAPTER III. METHODS OF SALE. Patent Brokers. From time to time there appear in various periodicals, more particularly those which make a specialty of patent matters, the advertisements of parties who hold themselves out as following the business of selling patents ; and most inventors who take patents receive the circulars of one or more such advertisers. They, almost without exception, profess in their adver- tisements to do the business on commission. At one time a New York auctioneer advertised regular sales of patents at auction. The inventor who has been casting about here and there in the endeavor to sell his improvement is not unlikely to hail these announcements with uncommon delight, and hopes to find through them a haven of rest for his troubled barque. Let him make haste slowly in dropping anchor in such waters. The writer has seen the cards of a number of these advertisers, and also the answers received to letters of enquiry written to them. Without exception, these answers have disclosed the fact that an advance fee, commonly dubbed a ''booking fee," varying from $3.00 in one instance to $250.00 in another, is charged by these 5 34 PROFIT FROM INVENTIOK. commission agents. There was a striking similarity in these circulars ; in one case two were found, parts of which were identically the same, word for word, although they professed to issue from " offices " (?) a thousand miles apart. These patent brokers advertise to sell on commission. The writer has yet to become acquainted with the instance where a preliminary fee is not charged by such advertisers. This is not the course pursued by other commission houses ; they always pay their own expenses, and generally advance money upon goods consigned to them before they are sold. For a patent broker to first advertise to sell on commission, and then charge an advance fee, is to act deceptively and untruthfully. When an inventor is treated to such an experience, he should be warned thereby, and refuse the proffered assistance for that particular bit of deception. It is as certain as can be that some of these advertisers are arrant swindlers. In the past they have hailed from a small town in Michigan, then from Philadelphia, then from Nashville, and so on through a dreary catalogue. They sent out circulars to inventors describing their offices, their large corps of salesmen, and their astonish- ing facilities, all of which existed only in imagination, always remembering to charge a paltry advance fee of three or five dollars, and giving some specious reason for the charge. Advertisers of this sort are, as past experi- ence proves, swindlers pure and simple. The trifling fee they charge can do nothing material toward presenting an invention to public notice, and it can have no other intended destination than the pocket of the swindler. The Michigan concern kept on at this business till they METHODS OF SALE. 35 had accumulated hundreds, if not thousands of models, which they tumbled into closets and pocketed the fees thereon, while confiding inventors waited till heart-sick for tidings of sales which never came. The law at length hunted out and broke up this nest of swindlers. While it is not doubted that men have sometimes honestly undertaken to make a business of selling patents generally, there is just as little doubt that these efforts have always been short-lived ; these projectors have either become solely interested in some one valuable invention and given up the general business, or they have soon realized that, from the nature of things, the occupation is not legitimate and practical. A single invention of real merit is enough to occupy the time and attention of a man or partnership ; to fairly handle a number at once is not practically possible. The experi- ence of the writer and of others known to him has been such in this regard as to cause this mention of advertising patent brokers only to warn inventors against them. When one of these advertisers will undertake to sell an invention wholly at his own expense, without any advance fee, when the model entrusted to him is of no consider- able value, and the assignments of patent made in pur- suance of sales are to be signed by the patent owner, no particular risk is run in entrusting sales to such an one ; but under no other circumstances can it be considered advisable, in the light of past experience, to employ one of these advertising brokers. As for the project of selling patents at auction, it is too absurd to merit serious consideration. Probable Buyers. Before considering methods of presenting an invention to the notice of probable buyers, ^6 PROFIT FROM INVENTION. it is a reasonable thing to give a little thought to the question of who the probable buyers are, for upon the answer to that question depends, to some extent, the methods to be adopted. The most legitimate market for a new improvement is, plainly and obviously, among that class of men who are interested business-wise in matters and things of a like nature, notably manufacturers who make and sell kindred articles or who use ^kindred machines or processes, for their experience best fits them to understand and appre- ciate its value, and their business is such as to enable them to most readily develop it and make the develop- ment profitable. Another class of persons who may be termed probable buyers are men out of business and seeking employment. Still another class of probable buyers is the speculative class, including those who are speculators by deliberation and intention, and also those — a much larger number — who are unconsciously speculative and are ready to grasp at a new thing which holds out reasonable hope of more than ordinary gains. So far as reaching them by any system is concerned, the unemployed and the speculative classes are, to all intents and purposes, one class. Personal Local Effort. The step that will naturally first occur to the inventor in undertaking to dispose of his monopoly is an attempt to find a customer in or near his own locality, and it is a right and proper thing to do. He can, from local sources, make a list of all the manufacturers within a reasonable distance of his home whom he will do well to approach personally, one at a time. METHODS OF SALE. 37 Failing to find a customer among one of these, he may- well attempt, by local advertising or otherwise, to interest some one of the other classes of probable buyers. The suggestions hereinafter contained, adopted in practice to the purpose in hand, throw light on the details of procedure. Stock Companies. A great many patents, upon inventions of more than trifling value, are realized from by making them the property of stock companies which are either specially chartered by the State or national legislature, or are organized under the joint stock laws which exist in most, if not all, the States. This is a per- fectly legitimate and often an easy way of realizing profit from an invention. Sometimes the inventor takes his pay wholly in cash, but oftener either partly in cash and partly in stock or wholly in stock. The mode of operating is as follows : The inventor, let it be supposed, wishes to realize $10,000 in cash and $10,000 in stock, and it is necessary to have $15,000 actual cash capital to carry on the busi- ness. In such a case the nominal capital of the company can reasonably be fixed at $100,000. First of all let there be reserved $15,000 of this nomi- nal capital to be used in securing the aid and countenance of one or more men of means and influence, to be given away by the inventor for that purpose ; this part of the operation is usually confidential between the inventor .and those whose aid he seeks, the stock being, in the or- ganization of the company, set to the credit of the in- ventor and afterwards transferred to those to whom it has been promised ; if no deception is practised in the 3^ PROFIT FROM INVENTION. premises, the proceeding is a proper one ; the burden of securing the subscription of the whole capital stock should fall mainly on those who are to get this reward and the transferred stock is pay for the service ; if the inventor be asked whether he is to make such transfer he can not truthfully do less than say that he intends to suit- ably pay those who effectively help him ; he is not called upon to state the precise details of the arrangement. The inventor must, therefore, reserve for himself in all $25,000 of the capital stock. This leaves $75,000 in stock to be sold whereby to realize $25,000 in cash — $10,000 for the inventor and $15,000 actual working capital. To raise $25,000 cash upon $75,000 of stock, each share needs to be sold for only one third of its nominal value, which, of itself, is an inducement for parties to invest in the stock. To make this operation successful the inventor must be able to show, by trustworthy facts and figures, a toler- ably sure prospect for paying from six to ten per cent, dividends upon the nominal capital ; if he is able to do this and acts with a fair amount of shrewdness in secur- ing the help of men of the right sort by the aid of the $15,000 in stock, set aside for that purpose, his task is not difficult. The inducement he can hold out to investors is mainly hope of gains from dividends ; sometimes an equally potent factor is the prospect of official position in the company. When such companies are organized it is common for the services of the inventor to be retained in some capacity, so that he is well paid by present cash, by stock and by future employment. If the inventor is content to take his pay entirely in iviETiiobs OF sale* J9 stock then his task is just so much the easier, and if he is able to organize his company without giving away any stock, this again lightens the burden he must put upon the paying members. If he is willing to put his invention against, say, $10,000 actual cash capital, then he may be able to find one, two or three men who will put in the cash ; in short, there are many ways in which the programme may be varied to meet the particular cir- cumstances of different cases. The details of the organization of such corporations should be performed under the direction of a competent lawyer, who will see that the local laws governing such matters are complied with. The subscription paper, commonly called the '' articles of association," is usually the only legal paper needed until the capital stock has been subscribed. A word of caution is perhaps necessary in this matter. Let the inventor have nothing to do with that plan of organization, unhappily common in States where the law permits it, of making the patent pay for the whole capital stock. The performance is either idle or knavish ; the certificates of stock in such companies no more represent money than do the printed advertisements having the similitude of "greenbacks." Let the inventor beware of enlisting any mere adventurer or schemer as an assistant in getting up his company by means of the stock set aside to secure assistance ; let him enlist a man or men of means and influence, or no one. And, in organizing the corporation, be sure that the legal counsel is com- petent, and that no tail of personal responsibility attaches thereby. 40 PROFIT FROM tNVENtlON. Negotiation by Correspondence. The first thing to be done in attempting to negotiate by correspondence is to procure a list, more or less complete, of the manu- facturers who have to do with matters akin to the invention to be sold. There are persons in all the large cities who make a business of furnishing, for a reasonable consideration, as small or as large lists of this kind as are desired. Mer- cantile agencies, directory publishers, and editors of trade journals are generally able to direct an enquirer to such a party. Frequently a directory of the whole of a particu- lar trade throughout the whole country can be bought ; Poor's Railroad Manual is such a directory as to all the railway companies ; any large dealer in the article in question can inform an enquirer whether such a directory of his trade is published and where to procure it. Again, there are published, for almost all the sections of the country, business directories which give all the trades within a certain section ; the New England Business Di- rectory, published in Boston, is such an one. It is not always necessary to get an entire list at first, but it is de- sirable to get one of considerable magnitude ; if it does not suffice, the list can be enlarged afterwards. Having procured such a list the next step is to proper- ly present the invention to the manufacturers therein in- dividually. For this purpose a carefully prepared printed description and an as carefully prepared form for a writ- ten letter are requisite. If the invention is susceptible of illustration by a wood cut or engraving, the printed description should bear one. The description should be clear, concise and accurate ; if the inventor is not suffi- ciently skilled in the use of words to perform this task MfiTHOBS OP SALE. 41 well and thoroughly, he should have it done by some one who is. The engraving should not be a cheap and taw- dry affair, but should be executed in first rate shape. The paper and printing should be in keeping and both of the best. All floridity or ornamentation should be avoided, but a few dollars more or less should not be spared. When finished, the printed paper should bear throughout the air of a fine piece of work devoid of all mere ornament. Let this paper simply describe the invention and its operation and uses. Its advantages, with some other matters, are better reserved for the letter which is to accompany it. The same care and thoroughness that are prescribed for the preparation of the descriptive paper should be observed in preparing the letter. The letter should call the attention of the receiver to the improvement de- scribed in the accompanying paper, state the need, want, or difficulty which it is designed to supply or remedy enumerate the advantages it has over its strongest com- petitor, give the first cost and the individual profit, state to what class or classes it appeals for a market, show from reliable data how extensive that market is in and throughout the whole country, suggest or intimate rather than directly state the amount of gross profit to be derived if but a fraction of the entire possible market be reached, and invite consideration and an offer either for the whole monopoly or for any portion of it either by outright purchase or by royalty paid on the manufacture The letter should be modest in tone but positive in state, ment, and give the authority for its statements of fact when they reasonably require it. When once properly prepared one form of letter will answer for all cases, and 6 42 t'ROFlT FROM INVENTION. that fact warrants great care in its preparation. Its chir- ography should be clean and perfectly legible, a fine or- namental hand is not a detriment. It may be thought that all this carefid direction about such simple matters is superfluous and over nice, but it is not ; a man who is nicely but not showily dressed com- mends himself to one's good graces at first sight and the same is true of printed and written matter. The differ- ence between the well and the ill dressed man is only a matter of detail, so it is between an uncouth and a fine circular or letter ; the difference in the whole effect is one of substance. It is not well to name a price, but, if possible, draw an offer of one from him to whom the letter and circular are sent. Let a word of caution be dropped here as to the use of the word "Patent." Avoid it: speak of the inven- tion, the improvement or the monopoly, but speak of the patent as rarely as possible, for there is a prejudice against the word. Many men have been tricked and cheated by sharpers dealing in patents, and many foolish things have been paraded before the public eye under that brand. The prejudice vanishes when people discover that the patent covers a genuine improvement, but it is not well to wake any prejudice needlessly. This caution applies not only in getting up this circular and letter but in all attempts to dispose of a patented invention. The description and letter having been properly pre- pared are to be sent to the manufacturers. In the judg- ment of the writer it is not best to approach all the manufacturers simultaneously, though that is a matter as METHODS OF SALE. 43 to which opinions may well differ, but to approach a portion of them at a time, selecting each time those who are located at considerable distances apart ; if one who receives the circular and letter finds that his neighbor has also received them the thing is cheapened with him thereby. The whole list of manufacturers should be ex- hausted if a sale does not ensue without. When an answer is received looking toward negotiation a gentle effort at least should be made to get an offer of terms, a thing that the inventor can reasonably urge on the ground that the manufacturer, being in the kindred business, is better qualified to set a price than the inven- tor. If terms have to be named, such should be offered as have already been decided upon in accordance with suggestions hereinbefore contained, and the advisable manner of stating them is to say that for reasons thus and so the inventor deems such a sum or such a royalty not unreasonable. When an offer is made the inventor should most carefully consider before rejecting it, even if the price named be a disappointing one. If it is thought that better terms can be obtained it is well to inform the correspondent that while the inventor is greatly obliged for the kind offer made, yet it falls so far short of his reasonable expectations that he must further consider it. A rule which should be imperative in all business matters comes into play here : never be rude or perem- tory in declining an offer, but always express yourself in the kindest and pleasantest terms of which you are master. It is possible but it is not probable that an invention of real merit can run the gauntlet, in this manner, of all the manufacturers in the country, whose business is of a kind 44 PROFIT FROM INVENTION. to naturally interest them in the invention, without find- ing a purchaser. Newspaper Advertising. This is a matter that should be conducted either with a view of reaching a class of manufacturers or of reaching the unemployed and speculative classes of probable buyers ; for this pur- pose the unemployed and the speculative are a single class, and a different kind of paper should be used to approach them than is used to reach the manufacturers. If an inventor has already unsuccessfully approached all the manufacturers by correspondence, it is obviously not advisable to thereafter spend money in newspaper advertising specially adapted to reach the^same class. A large portion of almost every class of manufacturers may be reached by some specialist periodical, and if an attempt is made to reach a class of manufacturers, through newspaper advertising, the paper or papers should be used which go to that special class. While such advertising in specialist journals should not, immediately at least, follow a thorough course of at- tempted negotiation by correspondence, it can well be used independently or as preceding or accompanying the correspondence enterprise. Any reliable advertising agent will be pleased to furnish on request, free of charge, a list of all papers which circulate among special classes of manufacturers and dealers, and to give the lowest prices for advertising therein. Where there are a number of papers which can be used it is to be noted that it is better to insert a small ad- vertisement in a number of papers than to occupy a large space in a few, and an advertisement should METHODS OF SALE. 45 continue long enough to make sure that every reader of the paper sees it more than once or twice. If the inventor is not skilled in planning advertise- ments it will be well for him to get some one who is, to prepare the announcement for him. Simple as such a matter may seem, it is not a common accomplishment to be able to put into a small space, in an attractive and striking manner, a notice of anything which shall say just enough to induce the reader to take interest in the thing advertised. Suppose the invention to be an improve- ment in coach varnish ; an advertisement something like the following would not be inappropriate : NEW COACH VARNISH.„e"„.,t;:^!^„;^rera; is for sale. T. W. Copal, Huyshope, Conn. This will occupy but a few lines of space and yet will say enough to interest varnish and coach manufacturers therein. The proper periodicals in which to insert this particu- lar advertisement are the Oil^ Paint and Drug Reporter^ the Harness and Carriage Journal^ and the National Car Builder of New York City, the Furniture Trade Journal of Chicago, and the Carriage Monthly of Philadelphia. When an answer to such, or any advertisement is re- ceived the descriptive circular and letter already sug- gested, or at least the substance of them, can be used in making reply. ^ The inventor, having once determined to advertise, should not fail, if his means permit, to continue his ad- vertisement, either in a monthly or weekly journal, for 46 PROFIT FROM INVENTION. three months, for the experience of veteran advertisers in other matters shows that unless a person has a more than ordinary interest in the thing advertised he needs to see it more than once before he will be moved to take any active step with reference to it. A step which may sometimes be advisably taken before a special line of newspaper advertising is entered upon, and may perhaps be well taken as the opening step to all advertising, either by circular or periodical, is to have the invention illustrated and described in the read- ing columns of such a paper as the Scientific American : by this means, the inventor will, at a reasonable rate, be- come possessed of a good engraving of his device, which he can use on his descriptive circular, and he will have handsomely presented his improvement to the notice of a large, if somewhat miscellaneous, class of people inter- ested in invention and mechanical matters generally. Such an illustration and description in the reading columns is a good and valuable thing to have in the specialist periodical as a beginning to the common form of advertising. The editors of these papers are willing to permit this guasi advertising in their reading columns, upon new things, as a matter of news. A regular reader of the Scientific Aj/iericajt will notice that there appear therein, not infrequently, the advertise- ments of parties who profess — and their professions are apparently bona fide — a desire to possess themselves of some new and good invention, generally in the way of manufacturing the goods on a royalty ; these seem to in- dicate that this paper is, by many at least, recognized as a medium for inventors ; and it seems advisable in re- sorting to any newspaper advertising, in order to dispose METHODS OF SALE. 47 of an invention, that this paper should at least be inclu- ded in the list used. The San Francisco Scientific and Mining Press seems to occupy a somewhat similar though more limited field on the Pacific slope. In attempting to reach the speculative and unemployed classes it is well to use a kind of papers of which the New York Herald is the leader and foremost type, the Boston Herald falling not far behind : in these papers two forms of advertising are suggested as advisable on alter- nate or different days, one form which announces a val- uable improvement without naming it specifically, and another form which gives the nature thereof. Perhaps an inventor who intends to advertise in one or more of these papers can not do better than to procure copies of three or four different issues of the N. Y. Sunday Herald and study the best forms of advertisements of this sort contained therein ; those that strike him favorably will be likely to have the same effect upon others. The field for advertising of this sort is illimitable, and, unless the inventor is an expert in such matters, it can not be advisable to do more in this line than to use a very few of the foremost papers of this type, for a limited time, supplemented perhaps by the use of one or more papers published in the inventor's own locality. Where an inventor is seeking to sell local rights, or to establish local agents for the development of his in- vention, he can with advantage use a class of local papers, those prominent in cities. of moderate size, throughout the whole country or any section thereof : by informing a reliable advertising agent what amount of money he proposes to spend, what his object is, and what class of persons he desires to reach, an inventor can often get 48 . I'ROFtT FROM Invention, sound and valuable advice and direction as to the papers proper to use. There is nothing to prevent the use of the specialist and the general papers at the same time, or to prevent their use concurrently with attempts at negotiation by correspondence. Let the inventor be cautious and wary about general advertising : it is very easy to throw away money in that direction. As to the modes of newspaper advertising herein referred to, let them be considered simply as sug- gestions of different methods, among which oftentimes an intelligent choice can be made rather than as a rule or routine to be invariably followed. At the end of this chapter there will be found a list — not exhaustive by any means — of various trade and specialist papers, taken from the American Newspaper Directory, issued by George P. Rowell & Co., of New York city, an advertising agency of the highest standing. Travelling Salesmen. At rare intervals one may happen upon a man experienced in travelling about the country and selling local rights under letters patent. Sometimes such an one buys the patent under which he operates and sometimes he works for another on com- mission : in the latter case he generally pays his own ex- penses and has for pay one half the gross amount received from sales. It must, in truth, be said that some of these travelling salesmen have, by fraudulent practices, done much toward bringing their occupation into disrepute. These practices, have consisted in making grossly false representations with regard to such particulars as the first METHODS OF SALE. 49 cost of the patented article, in taking promissory notes from purchasers under some conditional verbal agreement and then selling the notes instanter, and the like. An honest and experienced agent of this kind, willing to enter into an engagement, is a lucky " find " for an in- ventor. The inventor can not afford to enter into rela- tions with one of the dishonest ones, for — aside from the undesirability of being accessory to fraudulent practices — the agent will be very likely to supplement his dishonest acts in making sales with equally dishonest acts in making returns to his principal. It can not be considered advisable to enter into an arrangement of this sort unless the integrity of the sales- man is assured or unless he has tangible means which make him pecuniarily responsible so that he may be made to account for sales he accomplishes : in any case his authority to act should be in writing, and, by the wording of the instrument, made terminable by recording a written revocation thereof in the Patent Offtce ; this as a measure of protection both for the patent owner and for the purchasers of rights. Personal Solicitation. If an inventor cares to make the sale of territorial rights under his monopoly his sole occupation and can get safely through the period of raw- ness, which attends the commencement stage of such un- dertakings, without giving up the business in .disgust, he will find that method of sale which consists in travelling about the country and selling local rights, by local, per- sonal effort, the most remunerative in a majority of cases. 7 50 PROFIT FROM INVENTION. He must however give his whole time to the business, must have means sufficient to allow him to travel, and must persevere till he learns not to be discouraged at any and all disheartening obstacles he may encounter ; in short, he must make of himself a successful salesman and a salesman of a rare order, a task which is obviously so difficult that he should not undertake it until he has carefully counted the cost and made up his mind that he has the capability of success and the perseverance to achieve it. In setting out for an enterprise of this sort it is a necessity that the inventor should have the handsome and perfect model and full sized machine, already referred to, and plenty of descriptive circulars. The methods of an experienced travelling salesman of territorial rights are in substance these : — When he ar- rives at a town where he proposes to make a sale he plants himself at the hotel or tavern prepared to stay any reasonable length of time and carry on a regular cam- paign. If he has an improvement of undoubted utility and soundness he first casts about to find a local manu- facturer whose business is of a kind to commend the in- vention to him ; not finding such an one, or, finding one, not being able to make a sale to him, he then turns his attention to the general public. He erects his full sized machine in the office or bar room of the inn and explains it to all who ask about it or who will Hear him : he hangs a bunch of the descriptive circulars near the machine and appends the legend "Take One." He, unobstrusively as possible, makes the acquaintance of everybody in the hotel and of all those who frequent METHODS OF SALE. 5 1 it ; he enters into conversation on all local affairs that are talked about and acquires all possible information about surrounding people, their mental make up and their means. While he thus assiduously applies himself to his task his air is not that of a man fearful and anxious lest he shall fail of making a trade, but rather that of serene composure founded upon a knowledge that the sterling qualities of his improvement will be sure to find him a customer sooner or later. He enlists the landlord in his enterprise, often by promise of a small commission on sales, and gets from him the names and circumstances of all persons in the neighborhood who may, by possibility, become buyers ; if the vicinage contains a man who has made himself useful to previous venders of rights or one who is other- wise peculiarly fitted to render assistance, the salesman hunts him up, and, on promise of a commission, enlists his services ; often the two together call on persons whom the local helper suggests as possible buyers. The salesman usually inserts an advertisement in the local newspaper, announcing an opening for a new and profitable business, and inviting examination : if the in- vention stands fire under the scrutiny of the editor his official endorsement can commonly be had in the reading columns of his journal. If the invention is, for instance, an improvement in churns, the salesman by circular or by newspaper adver- tisement, either or both or otherwise, gives notice all about that at a specified time and place he will give a public exhibition of the operation and advantages of his machine, and will produce butter from cream or new milk in a certain specified and very short time. Pursu- 52 PROFIT FROM INVENTION. ant to this proclamation a crowd gathers at the set time and place, usually just before nightfall, in front of the inn, and the salesman gives the promised exhibition, making his undertaking good with due elaboration, showing full knowledge of his subject, explains the machine and its advantages. This kind of a performance rarely fails to interest a number of people in the improve- ment and eventually to give, from one or more of them, a customer. It is, of course, to be understood that the salesman must be prepared to give to all who take interest, with entire and. satisfactory definiteness, all those items of fact which operate as an inducement to purchasers, the first cost, the individual profit, the extent of the market, etc. : often a potent factor in making sales is a reasonable rep- resentation of the money to be made by the buyer of a State or county monopoly, in selHng minor rights. As a sample of the success of these travelling sales- men the writer is able to mention the instance where, from his office window he saw one of them stand upon the pavement in front of a city hotel, with a full sized working model of a simple improvement in a sash balance for windows, and for two days constantly explain and il- lustrate the device to a dozen or half dozen persons at a time, without apparently making any effectual impression upon his hearers ; but before the close of the third day he sold a county right, for $2,600, to a man apparently the most unlikely in the city to become a purchaser, a butcher staid and sober, never before known to speculate, even in the most modest way, in his life. The secret of making such sales is an open one. It is to provide a full sized model which handsomely and per- METHODS OF SALE. 53 fectly illustrates the invention, to constantly call the attention of the public to it by all legitimate means, to be unwearied in explaining and exhibiting the model and in repeating its advantages, and when a man's attention is once secured to be able to force home the opening wedge by facts and figures which cannot be denied or gainsayed ; and, above all, it is to have limitless perseverance in doing all this. If a man offers houses, lands, personal property, or good notes, in lieu of money, they should be unhesita- tingly accepted and converted into current coin of the realm afterward. The salesman should have his letters-patent with him, and also certified copies thereof to be delivered to buy- ers ; the assignments he proffers should contain a clear and binding warranty of title : he should be able to refer to some well known public man or official, governor, mayor, member of Congress, bank president, or the like, who. will by letter or telegraph vouch for the salesman's identity and character ; he should also have on deposit with the Commissioner of Patents a small sum of money to defray the official expense of answering letters and telegrams as to the salesman's record title to his patent : such facilities will enable the salesman to immediately clear up any doubts which may arise in an intending buyer's mind as to the salesman's right to make the pro- posed sale, and enable him to '^ strike while the iron is hot," the ability to do which will at times be decisive of a bargain when a little delay might prove fatal. It is in the highest degree desirable to be able to give or sell the buyer of a local right a full sized working model; sometimes a sale can not be made except upon such a 54 PROFIT FROM INVENTION. condition : the purchaser sees how easily the salesman has made his money in connection therewith and inward- ly intends to repeat the performance on a lesser scale. When the patented improvement is some device proper to be furnished by a manufacturer and by the buyer of the right applied to use, it is strongly advisable for the salesman to have a written contract with a manufacturer wherein the latter agrees to furnish the former and his assigns with the article at a certain price, a copy of which agreement can be delivered to the buyer of the local right. The salesman should, in all possible ways, make the progress of the buyer to a profit clear and easy. If the patent has a broad and strong claim, or if the patented article does not infringe any prior existing patent, it is well to have the written opinion of a reputa- ble patent lawyer or mechanical expert to attest the fact ; it is not generally desirable to make any special parade thereof, but cases are apt to arise where the pres- ence of such a paper is desirable. A thing sometimes done by travelling salesmen of patents is to find some resident not overburdened with scruples and arrange with him that he shall hold himself out as ready to buy a half interest in the local right, and they two, the salesman and the decoy, go in search of some other person who will really buy the other half* The price of the territory is put at double that which the seller means to realize, and when the third party is found to actually buy the other half of the right, the territory is assigned to the decoy and real purchaser jointly, but no money is really paid except by the third party, and out of that the seller pays a commission to the decoy. The fact that a neighbor is ready to purchase a half in- kteTUODS Ot- SALE. 55 terest in the right is often a strong inducement to the third party to buy the other half. This species of per- formance is mentioned only to warn against it. It is a clear swindle in the forum of morals and neither a judge or jury would be apt to see much in it other or less than a conspiracy to defraud. A List (not exhaustive) of Trade Journals, taken from the Amer- ican Nev^spaper Directory, issued by Geo. P. Row^ell & Co., of New York City, Advertising Agents. CALIFORNIA. San Fr., Mining and Scientific Press. San Fr., Engineer of the Pacific. ILLINOIS. Chic, Northwestern Lumberman. Chic, Railway Age. Chic, Railway Review. Chic, Western Shoe & Leath. Review Chic, Bookseller and Stationer. Chic, Furniture Trade Journal. Chic, Western Brewer. Chic, Western Confect'r and Baker. Chic, Western Paper Trade. E. St. Louis, St. Louis Railway World Chic, American Miller. Chic, Western Manufacturer. Chic, Watchmaker & Metalworker. INDIANA. Indianapolis, Mechanical Journal. Indianapolis, Mill Stone. MASSACHUSETTS. Boston,Am. Architect & Build'gNews Boston, American Cabinet Maker. Boston, Inv. and Mfrs.' Gazette. Holyoke, Manufacturer. MICHIGAN. Bay City, Lumberman's Gazette. Houghton, Portage Lake Min. Gazette Marquette, Mining Journal. Hancock, Northwestern Min. Journal. MINNESOTA. Minneapolis, Miss. Valley Lumberman A LIST OF TRADE JOURNALS. 57 MISSOURI. St. Louis, Miller. St. Louis, Brewer. NEW JERSEY. Newark, Exponent. Smithville, New Jersey Mechanic. NEW YORK. American Railroad Journal. American Stationer. Goal Trade Journal. Crockery and Glass Journal. Iron Age. Mining Record. Music Trade Review. Oil, Paint and Drug Reporter. Paper Trade Journal. Tobacco Leaf. U. S. Tobacco Journal. Wine and Fruit Reporter. American Bookseller. Geyer's Stationers. American Brewers' Gazette. Am. Wine and Grape Grower. Carpet Trade. Carpet Trade Review. Clothier and Hatter. Druggists' Circular. Germ.& Am. Brewers' Journal. Harness and Carriage Journal. Hat,Cap & Fur Trade Review. Jour. for the Stationery Trade. Men's Furnish'g Trade Rev'w Paper Trade Reporter. Railway Record. Water, Gas and Steam. I American Machinist. Eng. and Mining Journal. , Engineering News. Metal Worker. , Millers' Journal. , Railroad Gazette. , Scientific American. , Scientific Man. , Shoe and Leather Reporter. American Gas Light Journal. Am. Hairdresser & Perfumer. Journal of the Telegraph. N. Y., N. Y., Y'. Y.,( N. Y.,( N. Y., N. Y., N. Y., N. Y., N. Y., N. Y., N. Y., N. Y., N. Y., N. Y., N. Y., N. Y., N. Y., N. Y., N. Y., Y. Y., N Y., Y. Y., N Y., N Y., N Y., N Y., N Y., N Y., N Y., N Y., N Y., N Y., N Y., N Y., N Y., N Y., N Y., N Y., N Y., N Y., N. Y., Operator. N. Y., Plumber & Sanitarj' Engtineer. N. Y., Scientific News. N. Y., American Builder. N. Y. Am. Journal of Microscopy. N. Y., Anthony's Photo. Bulletin. N. Y., Brick and Pottery Journal. N. Y., Carpentry and Building. N. Y., Hub. N. Y., Jewelers' Circular. N. Y., Manufacturer and Builder. N. Y., National Car Builder. N. Y., Painters' Magazine. N. Y., Sewing Machine Journal. N. Y., Sewing Machine News. OHIO. Cin., Western Tobacco Journal. Cin., Manufactur'g & Trade Review. Cin., American Inventor. Cin., Miller and Millwright. Springfield, Leffel's Mech. News. Wilmington, Sewing Mach. Gazette. Zanesville, Blandj'-'s Journal. PENNSYLVANIA. Phil., Bulletin of the American Iron and Steel Association. Phil., Railway World. Phil., Carpet Journal. Phil., Confectioners' Journal. Pittsburg, Am. Mfr. and Iron World. Pittsburg, American Pottery and Glassware Reporter. Pittsburg, Woolen Manufacturer. Phil., Barbers' Journal. Phil., Carriage Monthly. Phil., Photographer. VIRGINIA. Richmond, Commercial and Tobacco Leaf. Richmond, Virginia Tobacco Journal. WISCONSIN. Edgerton, Wis. Tobacco Reporter. Lacrosse, Northwestern Miller. Milwaukee, U. S. Miller. INDEX Page Advertising, Newspaper ........ 44 Brokers, Patent . . . . . . . . 33 Buyers, Probable . . . . . . . -35 Capital Required ......... 25 Choice Among Inventions, . . . . . . .12 Companies, Stock . . . . . . . . . 37 Correspondence, Negotiation by ...... 40 Cost, First 20 Effort, Personal Local 36 Examination, Preliminary ....... 10 First Cost, 20 How to Invent ......... 3 Individual Profit, The . . . . . . . .20 Invent, How to ........ . 3 Invention, Preparation for Sale of . . . . . .18 Inventions, Choice Among ....... 12 Inventions, Making and Protecting ...... 3 Inventions, The Success of ....... 13 List of Trade Journals ........ 56 .Local Effort, Personal 36 Making and Protecting Inventions . . . . . .3 Market, The. 23 Methods of Sale -33 6o INDEX. Models Negotiation by Correspondence. Newspaper Advertising . Patent Brokers .... Personal Local Effort . Personal Solicitation . Practice, Reduction to . Preliminary Examination . Preparation for Sale of Invention . Price of Territorial Rights Price to be Asked .... Probable Buyers Profit, The Individual . Protecting Inventions, Making and Reduction to Practice Right, Shop .... Rights, Price of Territorial . Royalties Sale, Methods of . Salesmen, Traveling . Sale of Invention, Preparation for Shop Right .... Solicitation, Personal Stock Companies Success of Inventions, The . Territorial Rights, Price of Trade Journals, Eist of. Traveling Salesmen . Page i8 40 44 33 36 49 10 10 18 28 26 35 20 3 10 31 28 29 33 48 18 31 49 37 13 28 56 48 THE END.