been duly filed and considered, and the day of hearing viz. the
28th day of Feb., 1861, arrived, undersigned, the Acting Commissioner of
Patents, sitting at the time and place designated in the said published
notice to hear and decide upon the evidence produced before him both for
and against the extension, and having heard all persons who appeared to
show cause why the extension should not be granted, does decide as
follows, _viz._:

That the applications for extension in these cases were made at a proper
time, and not prematurely as the opponents have contended. The only
ground alleged to support the allegation that the applications were
premature is that the receipts for the year 1861 cannot be fully
ascertained at this time, but must be estimated or guessed at. If this
is a good reason for not considering the applications now it would also
be good on the 7th of August when the patent expires, for the receipts
would not then be ascertained, but would still be the subject of
estimate only. These receipts can be as well determined by this mode
now, as in August. The objection on this point is not therefore well
taken, and must be overruled. An application for extension cannot be
regarded as premature if made during the last year of the term of the
patent, and the total receipts are known or can be estimated with
reasonable certainty. In addition to this there seems to be no little
force in the argument of Counsel that the public convenience would be
promoted by an early decision upon these cases before manufacturers
enter upon their preparations for another year's business.

Besides these considerations, which of themselves are sufficient to
determine the propriety of hearing these cases at the present time, the
late Commissioner of Patents fixed this time for these hearings with
reference to the public interests therein, and is an additional reason
why it should be adhered to, yet I should have no hesitation in
postponing the hearing if it were made to appear that the public
interest were likely in any way to be subserved by such postponement.

[Sidenote: Value and Importance of Hussey Inventions Fully Established]

The report of the Examiner leaves no doubt in my mind as to the novelty
of each of the inventions which constitute the subject matter of the
four patents for which the extensions are asked. His report is equally
conclusive as to the _utility_ of the inventions, their _value
and importance_ to the public