Bushrod Washington

“ Whether the proviso was introduced from abundant caution, or from an opinion really entertained by the legislature that those who might have erected these improvements or might have used them prior to the issuing of the patent, would be liable to damages for having done so, it is impossible for this Court to say. It is not difficult however to imagine a state of things which might have afforded some ground for such an opinion. ”

“ To deprive a person of the use of his property is equivalent to depriving him of the property itself. Congress could not mean to do this. This Court will give the act such an equitable construction, as will give effect to the proviso.
HARPER, in reply.
The words of the proviso are clear and explicit, and admit not of construction. The legislature may have supposed that the new patent, which was intended to be a continuation of the old one, might have subjected those, who had already erected the machinery, to damages, and intended to guard against them. ”

“ The act, upon the construction of which the judges of the Circuit Court, were opposed in opinion, directs a patent to be granted, in the form prescribed by law, to Oliver Evans for 14 years, for the full and exclusive right of making, constructing, using, and vending to be used, his invention, discovery and improvements in the art of manufacturing flour and meal, and in the several machines which he has discovered, invented, improved, and applied to that purpose. ”