Chapter 18

Friday I was up and running now that yesterday’s dinner was settled down. While cold it was clear and sunny and would be a nice day for a drive to Columbus. I paid particular attention to the civil war memorial in the center of route 33 in New California but I couldn’t figure out what units those men served in.

Marvin Christenson was in his office at the Lincoln-Leveque Tower in Columbus on the fifteenth floor when we arrived. He was very welcoming and showed no resentment for having to come in the day after Thanksgiving. He looked to be about thirty years old, slight of build red hair and freckles. He looked very open and trustworthy. Handy attributes for a lawyer.

I had brought everything I had with me. He examined everything and asked a few questions. Then he explained what was needed. First, there would be a patent search. If nothing was found then we could file a Document Disclosure form which would serve as evidence of discovery. It would be for a utility patent rather than a design patent. Utility was for function, design for ornamentation.

There would have to be an Abstract of less than one hundred and fifty words describing the invention. Plus Drawings, detailed specifications, a data-sheet describing completely the intended function, an executed Oath or Declaration that I was the inventor.

The necessary fees all accompanied by a transmittal sheet that described everything in the package submitted. Then a self-addressed stamped postcard that listed down to individual page numbers of everything in the package submitted to the Patent Office. This would be cross-checked upon arrival at the PO and sent back with the arrival date and application number.

The drawings would only be accepted in India ink on a white background. Mr. Christenson was licensed to practice in front of the Patent Office and could handle everything we needed. It was simple to get started, all I had to do was hand him a check for five hundred dollars and be prepared to spend at least another one thousand.

Dad wrote the check out from Jackson Engineering on their checking account. He had set up a company as I had requested including opening a checking account. He and I signed contracts with Mr. Christenson and gave him our power of attorney to act on our behalf for this matter. It took about two hours to go through everything.

He estimated that it would take from six months to one year to obtain a patent. Once we had the postcard back from the patent office we could claim patent applied for. This would give me enough prior claim to share the device with others. That could be as short as one month depending on how the patent search went. The search would be performed by a specialist that Mr. Christenson would hire in Washington, D.C.

As he explained, “Patents can be cheap, fast or quality. You can have any two, take your pick.”

As we were finished earlier than we thought we decided to go around the corner several blocks to the main Lazarus store. I was there to buy the clothes and shoes, both street and running that I had been putting off. After spending one hundred and seventy dollars I was the well- dressed young man again.

Among other items, I had picked up a solid royal blue tie. The fashions were changing it was wider than those I had bought a year ago. Other than that I needed new cowboy boots, but they would wait till I was out in California. My hats still fit.

When I was buying my shoes they examined my feet with an x-ray machine. I would put my foot in it with my shoes on and we could see how they fit. It was neat. Dad wondered about all the x-rays, but I told him not to worry, this was the wave of the future.

While leaving the store we saw a section with typewriters. They had the IBM Model B in stock. Its price was reduced by twenty-five percent to forty-five dollars. The salesman told us that IBM was bringing the Model C out in January so they were trying to clear their inventory.

They also had the same book the typing class used in school so I bought that and a machine. Of course, I then needed spare ribbons, carbon paper, typing paper, and eraser sticks. I ended up spending as much as the original cost of the typewriter.

The salesman arranged for all of our packages to be taken down to the will-call desk. This was a door in the parking garage where you could pick up your packages. You drove right up, opened your trunk and they brought it right to you.

On the way out of town, we saw something really neat. At every street corner were three policemen. They were all wearing white gloves. All the traffic lights in the main intersections downtown in front of the statehouse were turned off. The cops in their white gloves were directing traffic.

Dad who had lived in Columbus for a while when he was a kid explained that this was part of their police academy training. One of the policemen was their trainer. They all had whistles and were blowing them like crazy. It was fun to watch.

The trip home was uneventful. Dad managed to get through Dublin without a speeding ticket. That city had a reputation as a speed trap since the 1920s. Dad swears it was because they were jealous of Columbus is the state capital. Way back when the cities were in competition for being the capital. Dublin was apparently a sore loser. I had the funny picture of horse and buggies being pulled over for speeding.