After the meeting of the stockholders, the direction of the business will probably be taken out of the hands of the inventor, and the control will lie in the board of directors of the company. As a rule it is better that the inventor does not take an active part in the management of the company's affairs, unless he is specially fitted for the position.
If the company is provided with ample capital, and if the business manager is a competent man, there is little chance of failure if the invention has real merit.
Trading as a Last Resort.
Patentees are sometimes offered securities or other property in trade for a patent. It is not deemed a wise course by most inventors to consider any proposition for a trade, especially in the early life of a patent. Only as a last resort, after failing to realize from a patent by any other means, is it[p. 72] advisable to trade a patent; and, before finally agreeing upon a trade, the patentee should have a reputable attorney to look fully into the value and title of the property offered. He should also insist upon receiving an abstract of title, or a title guarantee from a reliable title insurance company.
Unless known to himself, the patentee should never engage the services of an attorney or broker recommended by the parties offering the trade to look into the value and title of the property. Inventors should be on the lookout for a set of sharpers who make a business of offering worthless securities and property in exchange for patents.
CHAPTER VII
ABOUT CANADIAN PATENTS
The geographical nearness of Canada to the United States, and the intimate commercial relations existing between the two countries, render Canada, in one sense, a part of the industrial market of America; and owing to its liberal patent laws, which are based closely upon our own, inventors generally find it advantageous to protect their interests in this country, which can be done from time to time by a very small outlay, and thus giving the inventor the advantage of disposing of his patent or dropping it if not found remunerative, before expending the total cost of the patent.