[Pride and Prejudice] Mary's Pride and Prejudice

Chapter 28 patent application

Finally, the day came, and the Bennet sisters went to see Lawyer Smith together. Originally, Mrs. Bennet wanted to follow, but Mary refused. Her purpose was not really to apply for a patent. If you are distracted from taking care of her, you might as well take your two little sisters with you, at least they are the joint names of the patent application together

Mr. Smith is a middle-aged man with gray temples, eyes and a pot belly. It is said that he has been a patent attorney for more than ten years. The five Bennet sisters sat in front of him and listened to him talk about the patent system.

Although the United Kingdom was not the first country to establish a patent system, it was the first country to perfect the patent system.

From 1561 to 1590, Elizabeth I granted a total of only 50 patents. Since Britain established a formal patent system in 1617, the number of patents granted in the first 100 years has been less than 400. Since the Industrial Revolution, the number of professional applications has soared , up to now, the number of patents granted is nearly 2000.

But if you thought this number represented easy patent filing, you'd be wrong.The procedures in the process of patent application are complicated, the cycle is long, and the amount of money is only high, which makes people daunting.

To apply for a patent, you need to find a professional patent attorney and a judge. Yes, the patent must be approved by the judge, because there was no patent office at that time.

Patent lawyers will help you prepare various documents and procedures, but applicants must go to various relevant departments in London to handle them in person.I should be glad that the Bennets don't live too far from London.

Each patent applicant must describe and establish the attributes and operation methods of the patent applied for in detail, so as to reduce the patent disputes that will occur in the future as much as possible, which actually forms the patent registration system. You must attach a detailed Sometimes as many as dozens of pages of instructions.

The patent application fee is also very high. If you want to obtain a patent in England, you have to pay 100 pounds. If you want to obtain a patent valid in England, Wales and Scotland, you must pay about 300 pounds. Every step in the process involves paying some processing fee and bribing the relevant department officials and even the gatekeepers.

So how many steps does it take?

An application is first prepared, accompanied by a strictly formal declaration of patents, submitted to the Ministry of the Interior, a signature certificate of the application is obtained from the Secretary of State, and sent to the Attorney-General, who issues a report to the King, The King signs a warrant asking the Attorney General to prepare a patent proposal.Well, the following applicant should prepare a proposal and make two copies, send it to the Patent Proposal Office of the Attorney General's Office, and after receiving the license, convert the proposal into a "King's Proposal" and keep it in the Seal Office, plus the official language, Affix the seal of the Minister of Seal (Secretary of State), convert a backup proposal into a "seal proposal", convert another backup proposal into a "Jade Seal Proposal" through a similar form, and convert the corresponding "Jade Seal Proposal" with a patent model to the Lord Chancellor.According to the writ issued by the Minister of the Seal, the justice officially transcribed the patent and sealed it with the national seal. This newly born patent was put in a box and handed over to the patentee.

Are you dizzy?The patent system is notorious for protecting inventors at the same time.

At this time, the Bennet sisters just turned pale and listened to the patent lawyer on the opposite side. Mary swore to see that the eyes of Jane and Elizabeth had turned into mosquito-repellent eyes, and she was sure the same, and the two little sisters had already started whispering They whispered, so they are not interested in these!

Mary swallowed her saliva and whispered to her two sisters, "Let's forget about it."

"It's not just about us, Mary," Elizabeth shook her hand. "Now it's not just about protecting your invention, it's about making sure uncle's pound is not thrown into the water. How can we back down?"

"We may not be able to understand such a complicated procedure, and we girls are required to travel around and deal with all kinds of difficult officials and clerks. Can we really handle it?"

Elizabeth paused, this is indeed a problem: "But we have to try, we can't shrink back when encountering problems, otherwise we will accomplish nothing, you never lack courage, Mary!"

Mary hesitated. She felt that it was wrong for her to want to set up a torii even if she became a prostitute. If she became a prostitute, she should be prepared to bury her shame.At this time, the lawyer's words woke her up from her thoughts.

"Since 1795, Napoleon of France has offered a reward of 12000 francs for a method of food preservation. The Frenchman Nicolas Abel once proposed a method similar to yours to keep food. I think if you want to apply for a patent, It must be fast, although our patent law and the French patent law do not affect each other, but whoever establishes the first canning factory will have a higher international reputation."

"What are you talking about, has anyone already used this method?" Jane exclaimed in surprise.

"Yes," the patent attorney took off his eyes from the bridge of his nose and rubbed the bridge of his nose, "I am a patent attorney, so I pay great attention to the news in this area. This person has been mentioned in "Grand View of Production Technology" and "Philosophical Journal". You know our relationship with France, the British always want to suppress the French in every way, so I think if you file a patent application, it should pass as quickly as possible. After all, if Abel gets the 12000 francs, Napoleon He will take his invincible soldiers with him, and carry a lot of cans full of food to go around and start a war."

That is, now that canning has been invented, it's still a Frenchman, and he's going to apply for a patent soon, but his patent doesn't conflict with Mary's, and the Brits will be more than happy to give her the green light.

"If I apply for this patent now, will it have any bad influence on this Mr. Appel, or will it have a bad influence on our sister's kidneys?" Mary asked cautiously.

"Which aspect are you referring to?" Attorney Smith was puzzled.

"That's right," Mary thought for a while, "For example, if I apply for a patent first, will Mr. Abel not be able to apply for a patent? Will his economy suffer losses because of this? Will others think it is We stole his invention?"

"Oh," Lawyer Smith was very surprised, "how can you think so? Generally speaking, absolutely not! We are in a hostile relationship with France, Miss Mary. If Mr. Appel invented this method for Napoleon, If he wants to come to the UK to apply for a patent, I must say that there are many difficulties! The British will never help their enemies! Moreover, according to the laws of our country, no matter who the first inventor of this kind of thing is, as long as it is in the country If no one uses it, you can apply for a patent, which is completely legal! Even if Abel’s invention is officially announced without you, there will definitely be an Englishman who registers this patent in the UK first, which is beyond doubt. There are many smart people. Let’s use you as an example. Now you have applied for a patent. You can sell this patent in the UK and charge every factory that applies your invention method. If you only apply for a patent in England, then wait for your The product became popular, and someone opened a factory like yours in Wales, using your technology, and he is completely legal. If a person fully understands your process, and then goes to a foreign country to produce this for other countries There's nothing you can do about it, and people don't think she's at fault. And I bet it happens, people see it all the time."

"Our country explicitly prohibits domestic skilled workers from going abroad, and even issued laws several times to prohibit the transportation of domestic machines and blueprints to foreign countries, but these laws do not work at all. Knowledge exists in people's minds, and laws cannot stop people from pursuing interests. Determination."

In view of what Lawyer Smith said, and the hostile relationship between Britain and France for so many years, it is legal and reasonable for Mary to pry Napoleon and the French now!Even if it wasn't her, there would be other Englishmen who would pry this corner.After all, British patents do not matter whether your technology has been patented and used in foreign countries. As long as you are the first person to introduce this technology to the UK, you can apply for a patent with confidence.People will not say that you have plagiarized other people's technology, but will praise you for your contribution to the country's technological innovation!

Mary is really going to kneel for the British patent law!

Mary thinks that if plagiarism is not illegal, then since she will not be punished by the law, she can lower her moral high ground a little bit.Mary decides: We're going to apply for a patent!

"Then, after you go back, you must write an instruction manual. This is a common practice. It will describe in detail the changes that may occur in your product as much as possible, so that no one will be able to imitate your invention in the future. They are inventing something similar. When it comes to your products and methods, as long as it involves the changes you have written, it is a transformation of your invention patent, which will constitute an infringement of the law.”

"This actually hinders the development and innovation of technology, which is contrary to the original intention of the patent law, but people value this very much. Who doesn't want to maximize the benefits? You write down all the changes in the future as much as possible. Spend a little brain and ink, and you will benefit a lot in the future!"

"for example?"

"It's up to you to figure it out."

"For example, turn our canned fruit into canned meat!" Lydia said suddenly, "It's not interesting to just eat fruit."

"Lydia—" Jane was surprised.

"Okay, I got it," Lydia pursed her mouth, and said in a bad breath, "I just shut up."

"No," Elizabeth hugged Lydia's head in surprise, and kissed her chubby little face, "You are really imaginative."

This is exactly what Mary wanted to say, she only made canned fruit, but there are many kinds of canned meat, canned fish, and even canned vegetables.

She didn't think about it at all!

But it was not too late. Mary and the others decided to go back and prepare the documents. Lawyer Smith provided them with a template, and they just wrote according to the format. Mary and Elizabeth should complete these tasks together.

Then they started the long journey of patent application.

The author has something to say:

In fact, there is a limit to the number of applicants for the patent system in the UK, but the author did not find out the upper limit. Here, the five sisters are allowed to apply together!Anyone who knows please let me know.