bring the inventor
large returns.

If the invention is of such a character as to strike newspaper men
unfavorably, the inventor can resort to the advertisement columns;
using the large daily papers, or such publications which in some way
relate to the industry to which the patent appertains, and such as have
the largest circulation among the class of people it is desired to
reach. See about advertising on page 46.

CHAPTER IV

HOW TO ARRIVE AT THE VALUE OF A PATENT

Most inventors are not concerned so much about the fame or honor their
inventions will bring them, or how much their inventions will advance
civilization, or build up a nation, or administer to the conveniences
and pleasures of mankind generally, as they are about how much it will
net them in dollars and cents; but the patentee should not lose sight of
the fact that the profits are in the exact proportion to the actual
usefulness of the invention, and its general adaptability. It is
immaterial whether the inventor himself intends to deal with the public,
or to deal with a man or set of men who are afterward to deal with the
public, the conditions are the same, and the profits must ultimately
come from the sale of the manufactured article.

[Sidenote: Pecuniary Value.]

It may seem superfluous to say that mere Letters Patent aside from an
invention is of no value, though many inventors are under the erroneous
impression that if an invention possesses patentability, it must also
necessarily have pecuniary value. To be of any pecuniary value
whatever, the invention must cover something for which there is a
demand, or for which there can be a demand created, for it cannot be
disputed, that if an invention will not bring in money by manufacturing
it, it is, in a financial sense, worthless; and the patent thereon is
therefore worth some seventy or eighty dollars less than nothing.

[Sidenote: Commercial Value.]

An invention, to have commercial value, as previously stated, must cover
something for which there is a demand, or for which there can be a
demand created. It may be an entirely new device, or it may be an
improvement upon an existing invention, but in any event it must contain
a certain degree of utility. In rare cases inventors are able to hit
upon an invention in an entirely new field; for these a demand has to be
created. For improvements, however, as a general thing, the demand
already exists; then the important question arises in d