William Howard Taft

“ Many inventors were at work in the same field, and had made advances in the art, and the government had used them. When Woodbridge conceived that the time for him had come to assert his monopoly, he became aware of the fact that in his specifications and claims, as allowed, he had not covered the real advance made by his unconscious competitors, and that was the use in a rifled gun of a ring or sabot without projections to fit into the rifling of the bore, which because of the softness of the metal of the ring under the heat and pressure would do so without projections ”

“ Congress relies for the public benefit to be derived from the invention during the monopoly on the natural motive for gain in the patentee to exploit his invention and to make, use, and vend it or its product or to permit others to do so, for profit. ”

“ It was the legislative intention that the term should run from the date of the issue of the patent, and that at the end of that time, the public might derive, from the full specifications required in the application accompanying the patent, knowledge sufficient to enable it freely to make and use the invention. It is true that a patentee is not obliged either to make, use, or vend his invention during the period of his monopoly. ”

“ Not until war or fear of war came was there likely to be a strong demand for rifled cannon and their improvement. Hence the inventor, having put his order for the issue of a patent into the secret archives of the Patent Office in 1852, sat down and waited until after the Civil War came on in 1861 before seeking to avail himself of the patent, thus postponing the time when the public could freely enjoy it for nearly 10 years. Meantime other inventors had been at work in the same field and had obtained patents without knowledge of the situation with respect to Woodbridge's invention. ”

“ The Court of Claims found that Woodbridge was the first and original inventor of the invention involved in the two claims recited above. It also found that the United States had not used the invention. The latter finding as one of fact is attacked, on the ground that the question of infringement is a mixed question of law and fact, and that with all the devices used by the United States shown in patents subsequent to Woodbridge, which it is found the United States did use, the question of nonuser is really a question of law which should be reviewed here. ”

“ The court also held that the claims of Woodbridge did not cover the devices the United States used.
The purpose of the clause of the Constitution concerning patents is in terms to promote the progress of science and the useful arts and the plan adopted by Congress in exercise of the power has been to give one who makes a useful discovery or invention a monopoly in the making, use and vending of it for a limited number of years. ”

“ After the filing of the papers in the secret archives before April 15, 1852, nothing was done either by Woodbridge or the Patent Office for 9 1/2 years, when on December 31, 1861, Woodbridge wrote to the Commissioner of Patents calling attention to his invention in 1850 and his application for a patent in 1852, the order of the office to issue the patent, and the filing of the papers in the secret archives. ”

“ Booth, 102 U.S. 96, 105, 26 L. Ed. 54, the same Justice said:
'Unless inventors keep their inventions secret, they are required to be vigilant in securing patents for their protection.' These remarks were not necessary to the conclusion in the case he was describing, and those in Bates v. ”