[Anon.], ‘Patent-Law Reform Association’, Engineer and Machinist, and Engineering and Scientific Review (1850–1)

The specifications are enrolled in three different offices, written in an obsolete handwriting. Some judges construe the act in favour of, some strictly against, patentees; all endeavour to turn decisions on legal points, rather than the merits or the novelty of an invention; because they understand law, and often do not understand mechanics, chemistry, &c. The process of obtaining an unopposed patent in England involves the performance of a series of official forms, which occupy a considerable period of time, cost a large sum in fees, and, beyond a small revenue obtained for the national exchequer, are productive of no kind of benefit to the public. The formation of a detailed register, with index of patents issued up to the present time, to be open for inspection on payment of a small fee. The Court of Chancery was concerned with the application of Common Law and had jurisdiction in such matters of equity.