It is desirable to see the whole invention clearly in the mind before beginning to draw, but if that cannot be done, it is often of great assistance to draw what can be seen, and the clearer perception given by the study of the parts already drawn, assists the mind in the conception of the remaining parts.
If the improvement which it is sought to make is a process, it should first be considered whether any radically different process can be conceived of, and if so, whether or not it is better than the old process, and the reason for its defects, and whether it is possible to cure those defects. If the old process appears to be in the right general direction, it should be considered whether one of the old steps cannot with advantage be replaced by a new one, or whether the order of performing the steps cannot be changed to advantage. I have in mind one process in which a reversal of the order of steps resulted in giving the product certain desirable qualities which had before been sought for, but could not be obtained.
It is sometimes desirable not only to invent a good process of producing a product, but to control all feasible processes of producing the product. Such a case occurred where the product itself had been patented, and it was desirable to extend the monopoly beyond the time when the patent on the product should expire. There were two steps or operations which were essential to the production of the product, and the inventor, by reference to permutations, saw that there were but three orders in which those steps could be performed; first, the order A-B, then the order B-A, and then both steps together. The order A-B was the old order, which did not produce an article having the desired qualities. The inventor therefore, proceeded to invent ways by which the steps could be performed together, and then by which they could be performed in the reverse order, and the patenting such two processes would cover generically all possible ways of making the article and secure the desired result of putting himself in position to control the monopoly after the patent on the article had expired, because no one could make the article without using one of his two processes.
In inventing compositions of matter there is one inventor who, if he is seeking for a certain result, will take a chemical dictionary and make every possible combination of every substance that could by any possibility be an ingredient of that which he desires to produce. It is as if he were seeking to locate a vein of mineral in a given territory, and, instead of observing the geographical and geological formation, and thus seeking to arrive at the most probable location of the vein, he should dig up every foot of earth throughout the whole territory, in order finally to locate the vein. This method is exceedingly exhaustive, but does not appeal to one as involving much exercise of the inventive faculties.
Inventing has become so much of a science, that if one is willing to spend sufficient time and money to enable a competent corps of inventors to go at the matter exhaustively, almost any possible invention involving but a reasonable advance in the art can be perfected.
Transciber's Notes:
Punctuation errors repaired.
The second copyright notice before the text begins has been changed from 1903 to 1906 to match the first notice on the title page.