“What I do not understand is all this talk about inadequate protection under our Patent Laws. Exactly what is it you wish to patent? Why cannot these so-called Trade Secrets of yours be handled in a normal patentable manner?”
Mart smiled and shrugged. “You cannot require me to explain my Trade Secrets here. In this audience there are those who would take unauthorized advantage of them if I were to describe them at this time. Briefly, the work that I have done is classified by the patent authorities as Laws of Nature. These cannot be protected.”
Cogswell frowned. “I am not too familiar with the terminology,” he said. “I presume that an example would be the Law of Gravity.”
“Yes,” said Mart. “The Law of Gravity would be classified by the patent people as a Law of Nature.”
“And you suggest then, that if Sir Isaac Newton were alive today and published his discovery of the Law of Gravity that he should be allowed a patent on it?”
“Precisely,” said Mart. “That is exactly the thing I am suggesting.”
There was a general shifting among the audience, the scrape of feet on the floor. From the Committee table there were unrestrained snickers.
Chairman Cogswell did not restrain his own smile. “I fail to see, first of all,” he said, “what good it would have done the good Sir Isaac to have held such a patent. The Law of Gravity would continue to operate, I am sure, regardless of the patent. Are you suggesting that it would have had any effect on our lives to have the Law of Gravity patented?
“Perhaps Sir Isaac could have levied a toll upon each of us for the privilege of sticking to the surface of the Earth through the operation of his law? Or collected a royalty on each apple that falls?”
The senators chuckled in unison, turning to one another in appreciation of Cogswell’s fine wit. But Mart was looking over the faces of the technical members of the audience. He was pleased with their frowns of disgust.