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DEPARTMENT OF STATE,

Washington, 11th Jan. 1827.

To the Speaker of the House of Representatives:

SIR: I have the honor to transmit, herewith, a report, to be laid before the House, prepared in obedience to their resolution of the 19th ultimo, and to be,

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The Secretary of State, in obedience to a resolution of the House, of Representatives of the 19th ultimo, by which he is directed to inform the House "whether there has been any neglect or omission to "record the patents which have issued from the Patent Office, and "for how long a time this neglect has existed; whether any addi❝tional number of clerks is necessary, in order to bring up the busi"ness of that office which is now in arrear; and what further organ❝ization of that office is necessary for the due execution of the law, ❝in future, for the isuing and recording patents: And, also, what in"conveniences or hardships, if any, have been shewn by experience

to result from the provisions of the several laws now regulating "patents and copy rights," has the honor now to report, in conformity with all of the above resolution, except the requirement contained in the last paragraph:

That the patents, issued from the Patent Office since the year 1802, have not been recorded as required by law, with the exception of some few, which were recorded since the 4th March, 1825: That, ou inquiry into the general condition of the Patent Office, the Secretary ascertained that the patents had not been recorded, owing to the want of the requisite assistance of clerks in that office: That he therefore directed an extra clerk to be employed in the business of recording the patents, until the pleasure of Congress could' be known; and the state of the Patent Office, in this particular, was communicated to the Committee of Ways and Means, by a letter addressed to their chairman, under date of the 14th day of January, 1826, and was adverted to in another letter from this Department, under date the 16th February, 1826, addressed to the chairman of the committee raised by the House of Representatives, on an inquiry into the expediency of establishing an additional Executive Department; to both of which letters the Secretary begs leave to refer: That Congress having adjourned without making provision, at the last session, for the employ

ment of any other clerk, the extra clerk was dismissed, it not being deemed proper to continue him without such provision, after the state of the Patent Office was known to Congress :

That, in order to bring up the business of the Patent Office which is in arrear, and to despatch the current business, the Superintendent deems it necessary that there should be three additional clerks authorized and the Secretary would respectfully suggest the propriety of an authority to employ, permanently, one additional clerk, and for a limited time, (say three years.) two other additional clerks. at the end which period it would be ascertained whether their services would be longer needed, or might, thereafter, be dispensed with.

In answer to the Inquiry, what further organization of the Patent Office is necessary for the due execution of the law, in future, for the issuing and recording patents," it is respectfully stated, that, in the event of the establishment of a Home Department, it is believed that the public interest would be promoted by placing the Patent Office under its direction: That, at present, the business of the Patent Office is transacted in a different building, and in a distant part of the city from that in which the other business of the Department of State is executed; and, owing to the press of other duties, the attention of the Secretary of State is only occasionally and generally directed to the affairs of the Patent Office: that the business of that office has greatly augmented that the number of patents issued the last year amounted to 321, more than six times the number which were issued about twenty years ago: that, with this increase of business, is a proportionate increase of labor and of responsibility, on the part of the Superintendent; and it is respectfully, therefore, recommended that his salary, now below that of many of the clerks employed in the different departments, should be augmented so as to correspond better with the present extent and responsibility of his duties; and the fact of his long and faithful service may be supposed to furnish an additional motive for such increase:

That the income considerably exceeds the disbursements of the Patent Office that the receipts of the last year were $9,420, and the expenditures were $6,198 67: that, if three additional clerks should be authorized, and the salary of the Superintendent should be increased in any reasonable amount, the expenses of the office would still be below its income.

With respect to the inquiry of the House as to what inconve"niences or hardships, if any, have been shown by experience to re"sult from the provisions of the several laws now regulating patents "and copy rights," it is necessary to examine the various decisions of the Judiciary on those laws. as well as to collect much other information, not now in the possession of this Department: that, to afford the requisite time to make such an examination and collection of information, the Secretary of State asks permission to report to the House of Representatives at some future session of Congress.

He requests that the papers hereto annexed, marked A, B. and C, may be taken as parts of this report: the first being a letter from

the Superintendent, presenting his views of the wants of the Patent Office; the second, exhibiting the number of patents issued, and the receipts of the office, including the period of the last twenty years; and the third, the amount of expenses of the office during the last year. All which is respectfully submitted.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,

11th January, 1827.

H. CLAY.

A.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,

Patent Office, 21st December, 1826.

SIR: I had the honor this day of receiving your message, requesting from me a Report on the subjects embraced in the following resolution of the House of Representatives of the United States :

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• Resolved, That the Secretary of State be directed to inform this House whether there has been any neglect or omission to record the patents which have issued from the Patent Office, and for how long a time this neglect has existed whether any additional number of Clerks is necessary, in order to bring up the business of that office, which is now in arrear; and what further organization of that Office is necessary, for the due execution of the law, in future, for the issuing and recording patents: And, also, what inconveniences or hardships, if any, have been shewn by experience to result from the provisions of the several laws now regulating patents and copy-rights."

In answer to the above, I state, with the utmost respect, that the patents which were issued under the Government formerly, were, by a Board of Commissioners, composed of the Secretary of State, the Secretary of War, and the Attorney General of the United States. The patents then did not amount to more than forty or fifty annually, and the gentlemen in the Department of State issued and recorded them till the 12th of May, 1802; but, when I had the honor of being appointed to execute the duties, they increased very rapidly to two hundred, and it was impossible for me to record what I could not even issue, without private assistance out of my office. After this, a Clerk was allowed to me; but, with this aid it was impossible to issue all the patents, and carry on the extensive correspondence that related to them, and to record the patents: they were of course never recorded after the year 1802, till lately, viz: on the 12th of March, 1825. This omission was not the effect of any neglect of duty, but it depended entirely upon a want of that aid, which such a collection of ingenuity and talent, poured from all parts of the United States into one focus, required for, more patents for improvements, inventions, and discoveries, are annually issued in the United States, than in all the rest of the world. Some of the Patentees have been discontented

at the supposed inefficiency of their patents, in consequence of their not being recorded. This has happened in one or two instances, lately but no injury can possibly result from this omission to the patentees, for every patent is duly registered, with all the circumstances relative to its title, date, &c. but the specifications have not been transcribed into books, which may well be conceived impossible, when the patents now amount to above three hundred per annum ; and some are so long as to occupy between twenty and forty pages of parchment so that another Clerk is necessary to copy the specifications and assist in the correspondence, &c. and two Clerks are requisite to record these specifications in books. The Patent Office is not like other record offices, in which the copies, only, are kept by the Recorder or Register, and the originals are returned in the Patent Office, on the contrary, the original papers, wherein the inventions are illustrated by drawings, references, and models, are preserved in the office, and a copy only is given to the author or inventor, in the schedule of his patent, which is copied on parchment. In every record office, the record is supposed to be made when the paper is deposited, as the record is dated accordingly. In the Patent Office, the patent is merely transcribed in a book, with the date when it was issued. The want of these records has subjected the office to many great inconveniences, for records would facilitate the copying of patents, when wanted for publication; and in comparing recent with former inventions, to prevent interferences. It would be more easy for the officers of Government to make this examination from books of record than from the files of an office, however regularly kept.

The latter part of the resolution, which relates to patents and copy rights, involves very extensive subjects which have been duly considered; and a report thereon was laid by me before the Committee on the Judiciary, at the last session of Congress, containing such alterations of the patent law as I thought it my duty to recommend ; and I considered it necessary to annex to each my reasons. If the present short session of Congress, and the numerous important duties which claim the attention of that honorable body, should permit a revision of the Patent Laws, I shall endeavor to submit to them the opinions of some of the most intelligent patentees, on the several subjects relative to patent and copy-rights.

I am, Sir, with the highest respect and consideration, &c.
WILLIAM THORNTON.

HENRY CLAY, Esq. Secretary of State of the U. S.

B.

AMOUNT of Moneys received in the Treasury of the United States, for Patents, from the 1st of January, 1800, to the 31st of December, 1826, inclusive, viz:

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