1 Sec. 1. BE it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 2 States of America, in Congress assembled, That when any per­son 3 or persons shall have invented any new and useful art, machine, ma­nufacture 4 or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement 5 on any art, machine, manufacture or composition of matter, not before 6 known or used, and shall present a petition to the Secretary of State, sig­nifying 7 a desire of obtaining an exclusive property in the same, and pray­ing 8 that a patent may be granted therefor, it shall and may be lawful for 9 the said Secretary of State to cause letters-patent, to be made out in the 10 name of the United States, bearing test by the President of the United 11 States, reciting the allegations and suggestions of the said petition, and 12 giving a short description of the said invention or discovery, and thereupon 13 granting to such petitioner or petitioners, his, her, or their heirs adminis­trators 14 or assigns, for a term not exceeding fourteen years, the full and ex­clusive 15 right and liberty of making, constructing, using and vending to 16 others to be used, the said invention or discovery; which letters patent 17 shall be delivered to the Attorney-General of the United States, to be ex­amined, 18 who, within fifteen days after such delivery, if he finds the same 19 conformable to this act, and shall have reason to believe that the inven­tion, 20 to which it refers, will not be injurious to the public, shall certify, 21 accordingly, at the foot thereof, and return the same to the Secretary of 22 State, who shall present the letters patent, thus certified, to be signed, and 23 shall cause the seal of the United States to be thereto affixed, and the same 24 shall be good and available to the grantee or grantees, by force of this act, 25 and shall be recorded in a book to be kept for that purpose, in the office 26 of the Secretary of State, and delivered to the patentee or his order.

1 Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That every inventor, before he can re­ceive 2 a patent, shall pay into the Treasury of the United States the sum of 3 [...] dollars, for which he shall take a receipt from the Treasurer in­dorsed 4 on the warrant of the Secretary of the Treasury, and shall produce 5 the same to the Secretary of State, to whom he shall also deliver a written 6 description of his invention, and of the manner of using, or process of 7 compounding the same, in such full, clear, and exact terms, as to distin­guish 8 the same from all other things before known, and to enable any per­son 9 skilled in the art or science, of which it is a branch, or with which it is 10 most nearly connected, to make, compound and use the same. And in the 11 case of any machine, he shall fully explain the principle and the several 12 modes, in which he has contemplated the application of that principle or 13 character, by which it may be distinguished from other inventions, and he 14 shall accompany the whole with drawings and written references, where 15 the nature of the case admits of drawings, or with specimens of the ingre­dients 16 and of the composition of matter, sufficient in quantity for the pur­pose 17 of experiment, where the invention is of a composition of matter; 18 which description, signed by himself and attested by two witnesses, shall be 19 filed in the office of the Secretary of State, and certified copies thereof 20 shall be competent evidence in all courts, where any matter or thing touch­ing 21 such patent-right shall come in question.

[Page] 1 Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for the said in­ventor, 2 to assign his title and interest in the said invention, at any time be­fore 3 or after the date of the Treasurer's receipt, and the assignee having re­corded 4 the said assignment in the office of the Secretary of State, shall 5 thereafter stand in the place of the original inventor, both as to right and 6 responsibility, and so the assignees of assigns to any degree.

1 Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That if any person shall make, devise 2 and use or sell the thing so invented, the exclusive right of which shall, as 3 aforesaid, have been secured to any person by patent, without the consent of 4 the patentee, his executors, administrators or assigns, first obtained in 5 writing, every person so offending shall forfeit and pay to the patentee the 6 sum of [...] dollars, also, such damages as a jury shall assess, and more­over 7 shall forfeit, to the person aggrieved, the thing so devised and used or 8 sold, contrary to the true intent of this act, which may be recovered in an 9 action on the case founded on this act, in the circuit court of the United 10 States, or any other court having competent jurisdiction.

1 Sec. 5. Provided always, and be it further enacted, That the defendant in 2 any such action shall be permitted to plead that he was the original inven­tor 3 of the art, machine, manufacture or composition of matter, for which 4 the patent was granted; and in case the fact shall be so found by the jury, 5 such defendant shall recover his legal costs against the patentee.

1 Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That where any state, before its adop­tion 2 of the present form of government, shall have granted an exclusive 3 right to any invention, the party claiming that right, shall not be capable 4 of obtaining an exclusive right under this act, but on relinquishing his 5 right under such particular state, so that, obtaining equal benefits, he may 6 be subject to equal restrictions, with other citizens; and of such relinquish­ment, 7 his obtaining an exclusive right under this act shall be sufficient evi­dence.

1 Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That the persons, whose applications for 2 patents were on the first day of January in the present year, depending before 3 the Secretary of State, Secretary at War, and Attorney-General, accord­ing 4 to the act passed the second session of the first Congress, intituled, "An 5 act for promoting the progress of useful arts," on complying with the con­ditions 6 of this act, except the payment into the treasury herein before re­quired, 7 and paying, instead thereof, the patent-fees required by that act, 8 shall be entitled to a patent for fourteen years, to commence from the date 9 of their several applications, and shall be within the purview of this act, as if 10 they had made such payment into the treasury, except that such persons 11 shall not be entitled to other damages than what may be assessed by a jury.

1 Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, That whenever two or more persons 2 may apply to the Secretary of State, claiming patents for the same inven­tion 3 or discovery, as to its principle and operation, and when it may be 4 questioned, which of the applicants was the proper and true inventor, it 5 shall be the duty of the Secretary to refer such interfering claimants to the 6 next supreme court of the United States; or where such claimants are in­habitants 7 of the same district, to the circuit court thereof, giving notice 8 thereof to such claimants, who shall appear, if they see fit, and prosecute 9 their several claims before such court; and upon the appearance of such 10 claimants, and their giving bonds to prosecute their claims, and to pay 11 such costs, on failure, as may be taxed by the said court, a jury shall be im­pannelled [Page] 12 to appear at such time as the said court shall direct for the trial of 13 such claims, and the party prevailing in such trial shall, upon producing a 14 certificate thereof to the said Secretary of State, be entitled to a patent, and 15 shall recover his legal costs before the said court against the adverse claimant. 16 And in case the adverse claimant shall make default of appearance, the party 17 appearing shall be entitled to a certificate of such default, which being pro­duced 18 to the Secretary of State, he shall be entitled to a patent in the same 19 manner as though the cause had been tried and decided in his favor.

1 Sec. 9. And be it further enacted, That upon oath or affirmation being 2 made before the judge of the district court where the defendant resides, that 3 any patent which shall be issued in pursuance of this act, was obtained 4 surreptitiously, or upon false suggestion, and motion made to the said court 5 within one year after issuing the said patent, but not afterwards, it shall 6 and may be lawful for the judge of the said district court, if the matter al­ledged 7 shall appear to him to be sufficient, to grant a rule that the patentee, 8 or his executor, administrator or assign, shew cause why process should not 9 issue against him, to repeal such patent. And if sufficient cause shall not be 10 shewn to the contrary, the rule shall be made absolute, and thereupon the 11 said judge shall order process to be issued, as aforesaid, against such paten­tee, 12 or his executor, administrator or assign. And in case no sufficient 13 cause shall be shewn to the contrary, or if it shall appear, that the patentee 14 was not the true inventor or discoverer, judgment shall be rendered by such 15 court for the repeal of such patent; and if the party, at whose complaint 16 the process issued, shall have judgment given against him, he shall pay all 17 such costs, as the defendant shall be put to in defending the suit, to be 18 taxed by the court, and recovered in such manner as costs of defendants 19 shall be recovered in due course of law.

1 Sec. 10. And be it further enacted, That the monies to be paid, as directed by 2 this act, into the treasury, shall be appropriated to the expense of procuring 3 and importing useful arts or machines, from foreign countries, and to the 4 purchase of books, to form a library at the seat of government, under the 5 direction of such persons as the President of the United States, for the 6 time being, shall appoint.

1 Sec. 11. And be it further enacted, That the act passed in the year one 2 thousand seven hundred and ninety, intituled, "An act to promote the 3 progress of useful arts," be, and the same is hereby repealed.