The life of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Civil Engineer Part 55

I think that it does nothing of what it professes to do, and which I believe to be impracticable in the present state of things, but that, on the contrary, it impedes everything it means to encourage, and ruins the cla.s.s it professes to protect, and that it is productive of immense mischief to the public.

I should wish to observe that my opinions are not formed from any theory, or from any consideration of what are or ought to be the laws of patents, or whether the details of such laws are capable of improvement or otherwise; but they are simply the result of a very long and tolerably intimate knowledge of the operation of the hope of protection held out, and the operation of that protection such as it can be when obtained; and these results do not, in my opinion, depend at all upon any question of whether patents are cheap or dear, whether they are granted sparingly or profusely, by a simple or by complicated machinery; it is the ruinous effects upon the cla.s.s of inventors, of the false dreams and hopes excited by the system, and the injurious effect upon improvements of the greater or less degree of exclusive privilege which is attained, which I have had constantly before my eyes for so many years, and which must be increased by any real improvement of the patent laws.

I should, therefore, be an advocate for very cheap patents granted with great facility, to the poor illiterate workman, as well as to the rich manufacturer with his counsel and agents, and as well protected as legal ingenuity can devise.

If the system is good in principle it must bear extension, but I believe it could not stand a twelvemonth under such a test--every evil now inherent in the system would be greatly increased in quant.i.ty, and the absurdities which are now ascribed to errors of detail would all become so evident that the system would be abandoned by universal consent.

I believe, paradoxical as it may seem, that the privileges thus promised and granted to inventors are most injurious to them. To understand this, it must be known and borne in mind that useful inventions or improvements in the present day, certainly in nine hundred and ninety-nine cases out of a thousand, are not new discoveries, but generally slight modifications of what is already in use; judicious applications of known principles and of well-known and common parts of machinery, or of common substances, very often mere revivals or re-inventions of something which had many times previously been thought of, and perhaps tried, and failed from the want only of some substance or of some tool which has since been introduced.

I believe that the most useful and novel inventions and improvements of the present day are mere progressive steps in a highly wrought and highly advanced system, suggested by, and dependent on, other previous steps, their whole value and the means of their application probably dependent on the success of some or many other inventions, some old, some new. I think also that really good improvements are not the result of inspiration; they are not, strictly speaking, inventions, but more or less the results of an observing mind, brought to bear upon circ.u.mstances as they arise, with an intimate knowledge of what has already been done, or what might now be done, by means of the present improved state of things, and that in most cases they result from a demand which circ.u.mstances happen to create. The consequence is that most good things are being thought of by many persons at the same time; and if there were publicity and freedom of communication, instead of concealment and mystery, ten times or a hundred times the number of useful ideas would be generated by each man, and with less mental effort and far less expenditure of time and money.

In the present state of things, if a man thinks he has invented something, he immediately dreams of a patent, and of a fortune to be made by it. If he is a rich man he loses his money, and no great harm is done; but if he is a workman, and a poor man, his thoughts are divided between scheming at his machine in secret, and scheming at the mode of raising money to carry it out. He does not consult his fellow-workmen, or men engaged in the same pursuits, as to whether the same thing had ever been tried, why it had failed, what are the difficulties, or (what is most probable) whether something better is not already known, and waiting only the demand.

In nine cases out of ten he devotes his time and money to the idea, instead of pursuing his legitimate and natural pursuits. In elaborating this idea his whole thoughts are turned to the means of making it different from what he may happen to know of similar ideas, so that he may secure a patent, rather than to an honest endeavour to obtain the most useful result. He does not make use of other good ideas which may be already patented or in use, even if he knows of them, because his sole object thenceforth is not improvement, but 'exclusive right.' After much time and money spent in experiments, he takes out a patent. I will a.s.sume that the mere patent costs him nothing, but the waste of time and money in elaborating his idea is generally considerable, and far more serious in its effects upon the man than the payment of the fees now demanded for a patent. When his patent is complete, and his invention published, the chances are, and ever will be, one hundred or one thousand to one that it is not worth a sixpence as an exclusive right which others will buy of him: every chance is against him.

_In the first place_ it must be a good thing, it must be an improvement upon the very 'best thing' of the same sort: the chances are of course great against this.

_Secondly._--It must be new, nothing of the sort must have been in use before--how very few things can be devised which will bear this test. I do not know of half-a-dozen clear cases of distinctly new inventions since I have been acquainted with machinery and science; and, judging from a.n.a.logy, I cannot bring my mind to believe that these would bear the test of a strict and searching enquiry by interested parties. The chances are then immensely against his invention, if good enough to be disputed, proving to be new enough to stand as giving a claim to exclusiveness.

_Thirdly._--It must not depend for its success upon the use of some other exclusive and privileged invention, or else of course it is of little saleable value, even if not an infringement upon the previous patent.

_Fourthly._--There must be a demand existing or creatable for the article produced; or, like many other good things, it will be out of time, and drop accordingly.

_Fifthly._--He must find some parties whose interest it is to encourage the introduction of the change, and who have the means of combating those interests which are embarked in previous monopolies.

Since all these conditions are necessary for success, it is not surprising that the result should be, as I am positive that it is in practice, that the aggregate of individual benefit derived by the exclusive privileges granted, is greatly below the aggregate expenditure of time and money involved in the production of the whole, taking the good and bad; but the proportion of the aggregate benefits as compared with the cost to the real inventor is still less.

It is known to all persons acquainted with the subject that, in nine cases out of ten of successful inventions, the patents are not beneficially enjoyed by the original inventor. And it always must be so. The mere original invention forms generally but a small part of the whole business or merit of bringing into useful operation any new thing. Judgment, a knowledge of the world, and of business and other qualities not particularly belonging to inventors, are just as requisite as mere ingenuity, although they are not the subject of protection. Capital and connection are also generally required. All these command, as they ought to do, a large share in the ultimate profits, but it is rare that an inventor at once finds such a partner. The invention generally changes hands once or twice, or oftener, till some chance brings it into operation; and ultimately it is (as must be admitted by all who know anything about these matters) very rarely, even in the case of good things, that the party who originated the subject of the patent has ultimately any large beneficial interest in it; and certainly, from these and all the other causes mentioned, it is an undoubted fact that inventors, on the whole, make a heavy annual loss, quite irrespective of mere patent fees, by inventions and patents, and that patents are not therefore a benefit to the present cla.s.s of inventors, and particularly not to the poorer members of the cla.s.s.

Without the hopes of any exclusive privileges, I believe that a clever man would produce many more good ideas, and derive much more easily some benefit from them. It is true that he will aim only at earning a few pounds instead of dreaming of thousands; but he will earn these few pounds frequently, and without interfering with his daily pursuits; on the contrary, he will make himself more useful.

An observing man sees what he thinks to be a mode of increasing the production of a certain machine or manufacturing operation in which he is engaged, or a better mode than that which he is acquainted with of producing some article. In all probability the same circ.u.mstances which led him to make the observation have attracted the attention of others before him; perhaps, at the same time, a little free communication with his fellow-work men or with other manufacturers or men of science would show him that there were insuperable difficulties, and he would turn his attention at once to other things, or that there were better ways of doing the same thing, or, by pointing out difficulties, enable him to avoid useless investigations, or to make a change that would vastly improve his scheme; or he would communicate his ideas, instead of wasting his time in elaborating them, which very possibly others more acquainted with the particular branch would do much better than he; if he is a workman, his master would give him something for the idea, or if not, his value as a workman would soon become known. It is a great error to suppose that stupid men can live upon the clever man's brains if they are all left free scope in the use of their intellect; but if by artificial means an exclusive right or property in an idea can be secured, then of course the thief may steal the idea, and having registered his property in it, his inferiority of intellect is more than counterbalanced. Intelligent men who would always be suggesting improvements in a manufactory would soon become necessary, and would be valued accordingly. A manufacturer who was not surrounded by such a.s.sistants would stand no chance in the general compet.i.tion, and what is necessary and valuable will in England fetch its price; and thus clever workmen will get well paid, and earn much more, and that more healthily, than the whole body of schemers now do.

The impediments thrown in the way of improvements by the existence of patents will hardly be credited by those who are not familiar with the operation of them. In the present state of things they create such barriers that it is almost wonderful that any improvements can be effected.

It will not be difficult to understand that, from the infinite number of patents that are now taken out, it is hardly possible to devise a mechanism or a chemical combination that does not, in some shape or other, form part of some previous invention or process.

This would be the case even if patents were only taken out to secure real, or what are believed to be real, inventions. But the shoals of patents have brought into existence animals to feed upon them. There is a trade which nothing can destroy as long as patents last, and which must increase with the increase of patent, whatever may be the mode of granting them. Patents are taken out even in very general terms, so as to embrace everything that can resemble some probable or imaginary improvement, and then, like a spider in his web, the patentee watches for his victims. Besides this, the honest but trading patentee, the more completely to secure a monopoly, often takes out several separate patents for nearly the same thing in different forms, some avowedly worthless. In doing this, without even intending it, he includes combinations, any beneficial application of which perhaps never crossed his mind, and which, in the shape in which he suggested them were good for nothing, but which nevertheless more or less prevent anybody else from touching them, even to make a good thing.

Again, the most respectable houses take out patents merely to secure a monopoly of some one form of article without much regard to the superiority of it. The result of all this is that it is almost impossible now to introduce the slightest real improvement in anything without infringing upon some patent, and exposing oneself to be proceeded against by some patentee.

The extent to which improvements are impeded by this state of things is hardly conceivable, except to those who, like myself, are daily suffering under it.

There is another very serious evil produced by the system. In taking out a patent, the necessity for avoiding all claim to anything that can be shown to have been patented or in common use before compels you in most cases to seek rather what part of it can best be patented than what it is that is good in the invention.

Comparatively trivial points are frequently patented in order to secure the monopoly of that which, although it const.i.tutes the merit of the invention, may not happen to be so new in every respect as to admit of a patent. When the patent is taken, other modes of carrying out the real invention are discovered; these modes are patented and the original patentee is obliged to lose the benefit of his invention or to buy up these new patents. There are instances where enormous sums have been spent in this manner to protect an original invention.

And, lastly, there is an evil which acts like a numbing disease on all improvements; a patentee frequently dares not himself introduce improvements in any apparatus or process which he has patented, for fear of thus injuring his patent; and I have seen numerous cases of very important inventions where all improvement has been thus checked and resisted by the very parties most capable of effecting them, and who would have brought great talent and zeal to the work if they had been free.

_Extract from Observations on the Patent Laws made by Mr. Brunel at a Meeting of the Society of Arts._

March 28, 1856.

He did not agree at all as to the advantages of patents. He quite agreed as to the desirability of protecting, as far as possible, a man's property, whether it was in the power of invention, or any other good thing that was within him, and still more would he protect in every possible way the property in inventions of those who possessed but little other property--the powers of the inventor and the ingenuity of the workman; but, having had some considerable experience with patentees, manufacturers, and workmen, he was of opinion that any practical benefits derived from the patent laws did not compensate for the injury inflicted. He believed, on the contrary, that both the inventors and the public greatly suffered from the attempt to protect inventions. He had had great experience on this subject, being compelled daily to examine inventions of various kinds, and having himself constantly to invent in the occupations in which he was engaged. Having, then, all his life, been connected with inventors and workmen, he had witnessed the injury, the waste of mind, the waste of time, the excitement of false hopes, the vast waste of money, caused by the patent laws, in fact, all the evils which generally resulted from the attempt to protect that which did not naturally admit of protection. He agreed as to the abstract desirability of protecting inventors in some way, provided it did not foster unhealthy invention, as he thought it desirable to protect every species of property that existed. He was disposed to encourage every step towards facilitating the obtaining patents; he hoped they would be made dirt cheap, as he thought that would be the most effectual way of destroying them altogether. Therefore, whenever he had been consulted on the subject of the patent laws, he had always advocated the rendering of patents as open and free and cheap as possible; in the first place, because he saw no reason for attaching a price to them, and next, because they would sooner arrive where the principle would be fully tested. We were already nearly arrived at that state of things when engineers were almost brought to a dead stand in their attempt to introduce improvements, from the excess of protection.

He found that he could hardly introduce the slightest improvement in his own machinery without being stopped by a patent. He could mention a striking instance, in which, a few months ago, wis.h.i.+ng to introduce an improvement that he thought would have been valuable to the public in a large work on which he was engaged, he had no sooner entered upon it, with a willingness to incur considerable expense in the preliminary requirements and in the trial of it, than he was stopped by a patentee; but he was fortunate enough to find that another patent existed of the same thing, and a week after a third appeared. There was thus, fortunately, a probability that, by the destruction of all value in any of the patents, he might be able to continue the improvements he was desirous of introducing.

CHAPTER XVII.

_PRIVATE LIFE._

REMINISCENCES OF MR. BRUNEL'S PRIVATE LIFE--REMOVAL TO 18 DUKE STREET, WESTMINSTER--HIS MARRIAGE, 1836--SPECIAL CONSTABLE IN 1848--MR. BRUNEL'S LOVE OF ART--HIS JOURNEY TO ITALY, 1842--ACCIDENT WITH THE HALF-SOVEREIGN, 1843--PURCHASE OF PROPERTY IN DEVONs.h.i.+RE, 1847--HIS LIFE AT WATCOMBE--THE LAUNCH OF THE 'GREAT EASTERN,' 1857--MR. BRUNEL'S FAILING HEALTH--JOURNEYS TO SWITZERLAND AND EGYPT, 1858--LETTER FROM PHILae (FEBRUARY 12, 1859)--HIS LAST ILLNESS--HIS DEATH (SEPTEMBER 15, 1859)--FUNERAL--ADDRESS OF JOSEPH LOCKE, ESQ., M.P., AT THE INSt.i.tUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS (NOVEMBER 8, 1859).

Under any circ.u.mstances, and by whomsoever made, the attempt to describe Mr. Brunel's home life must fail to satisfy those who knew him, and who remember him in the midst of his family or among his friends.

But those who did not know him, except as a professional man, or who are only acquainted with his works, will expect to find in these pages some account of his private life, and of the manner in which he spent those brief intervals of relaxation which he permitted himself to enjoy.

Although Mr. Brunel was never an idle man, he was able, until he obtained business on his own account, to enjoy many amus.e.m.e.nts from which in after life he was completely debarred.

This arose partly from his work under his father being near his own home and his friends, and partly from the power he possessed, and which never deserted him, of being able to throw aside cares and anxieties and to join with the utmost zest in pa.s.sing amus.e.m.e.nts.

The following letter, relating to this time, is written by one who was Mr. Brunel's constant companion during the period to which it refers:--

June 28, 1870.

'Dear Isambard Brunel,--I will endeavour to supply you with some reminiscences of your father, before he became a public man, and was engrossed by the very severe labour of his profession.

'The most striking feature in his character as a young man, and one which afterwards produced such great results, was an entire abnegation of self in his intercourse with his friends and a.s.sociates.

'His influence among them was unbounded, but never sought by him; it was the result of his love of fair play, of his uniform kindness and willingness to a.s.sist them, of the confidence he inspired in his judgment, and of the simplicity and high-mindedness of his character.

'From 1824 to 1832 he joined his friends in every manly sport; and when, after his accident at the Tunnel, he was obliged to withdraw from more violent exercise, he was still ready to co-operate in the arrangements required to give effect to whatever was in hand.

'Whether in boating, in pic-nic parties, or in private theatricals, he was always the life and soul of the party; for his skilful arrangements, as well as his never-failing invention and power of adaptation of whatever came to hand, made him the invariable leader in every amus.e.m.e.nt or sport in which he took part.

'To ensure the success of his friends in a rowing match against time, from London to Oxford and back, in 1828, he designed and superintended the building of a four-oared boat, which, in length and in the proportion of its length to its breadth, far exceeded any boat of the kind which had then been seen on the Thames.

'During that portion of the period to which these notes refer, when your father was engaged at the Tunnel works, the freshness and energy with which he joined in the amus.e.m.e.nts of his friends after many consecutive days and nights spent in the Tunnel--for frequently he did not go to bed, I might almost say, for weeks together--surprised them all.

'His power of doing without sleep for long intervals was most remarkable. He also possessed the power, which I have never seen equalled in any other man, of maintaining a calm and even temper, never showing irritation even when he was bearing an amount of mental and bodily fatigue which few could have sustained. His presence of mind and courage never failed him, and it was especially exhibited after the first irruption of water into the Tunnel, when he descended in the diving-bell to examine the extent of the disturbance of the bed of the river, and the injury, if any, which had been done to the brickwork.

'The bell could not be lowered deep enough, and he dropped himself out of the bell, holding on by a rope, and ascertained by careful examination that the brickwork was uninjured.

'He was several minutes in the water; and upon this fact being stated, many persons, and I think the officers of the Royal Humane Society, denied the possibility of his retaining his consciousness so long in the water, forgetting, which he did not, that his lungs were filled with air at two and a half atmospheres' pressure.