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MESSRS. EDITORS.—Will you please to publish an article in your valuable paper stating the process a person has to go through to procure a patent right from the Patent Office at Washington. Whether it is necessary for the person to go to Washington, or if the business may be transacted by communication. Also as to the cost. Whether government pays the cost of illustrating, or the individual. An article on this subject will not only be profitable to me, but interesting to the community. S. ANSWER.—The business of procuring patents for others is one to which we have been so long accustomed that it seems to us a very easy and simple matter. As a consequence of our familiarity with the subject we are apt to think that everybody is equally well posted, and thus, perhaps, we become neglectful in giving the public suitable instruction and information. The above letter we received from the editor of a prominent agricultural paper in Illinois, with a request that we should answer it in our columns. We most cheerfully comply. The process of procuring a patent is as follows :—1. Prepare a working model of your invention, made either of wood or metal, in size not exceeding twelve inches in any of its dimensions. 2. Make a drawing of the model, showing with particular clearness the new parts invented. Sometimes several different views or figures are required in order to illustrate the improvement and its modifications. Make a tracing of the drawing, so that there shall be two copies. 3. Write out a "full, clear, and exact description" of the invention, referring, with suitable letters, to the drawings. This description is called the specification, and upon the care used in its preparation the validity of the patent often depends. 4. Prepare the petition and oath, for the forms of which see a pamphlet called the "Kules and Eegulations of the Patent Office," published by the Commissioner of Patents, and sent gratis on application to him. Attach the petition and oath to the specification. 5. Send the modoJ, both copies of the drawings, the specifie,aieepnrcrif30 in gold, dircstefj-to the Hon. J. Holt, Commis--skffr of Patents, Washington, D. C. Forward the model and money by express, prepaid. The papers may go by mail free of postage. 6. The model, drawings, and pa pers must be furnished at the expense of the applicant. 7. It is not necessary for the ap-plioant to make a journey to Washington in order to secure a patent. The whole business can be transacted by correspondence. The above comprises a complete answer to our correspondent's inquiries, and will convey to every reader a general idea of the mocha operandi of taking out a patent. If further information is desired, it can be had from the circular which we print for gratuitous distribution. We would remark, by way of caution, that the production of patent documents requires skill and experience, and that generally it is about asuselessforan inventor to undertake the preparation of his own papers as it is for a person inexperienced in law to attempt the management of his own suit. Applicants for patents will usually consult their own interests by employing the best professional assistance. Those who seriously intend to apply for a patent should usually have a preliminary examination made at Washington, to ascertain whether their invention is probably patentable. This can be done for a small sum through reliable attorneys, and it often saves the whole expense of models, drawings, &c. Fifty per cent of all applications that are made for patents without preliminary examination, are rejected for want of novelty.
