Jones v. Sewall

CLIFFORD, Circuit Justice.

Inventions lawfully secured by letters patent are the property of the inventors, and as such the franchises and the patented product are as much entitled to legal protection as any other species of property, real or personal. They are indeed property, even before they are patented, and continue to be such, even without that protection, until the inventor abandons the same to the public, unless he suffers the patented product to be in public use or on sale, with his consent and allowance, for more than two years before he files his application for a patent. 5 Stat.…