The following table, compiled from the Report of the Committee of the House of Commons on Patents, 1829, shows the expense and duration of patents in various countries: 

Countries; Expense (L s. d.); Term of years; Number granted in six years, ending in 1826.(Rep. p. 243.)

England; 120 0 0; 14; 914
Ireland; 125 0 0; 14;
Scotland; 100 0 0; 14;
America; 6 15 0; 14;
France; 12 0 0; 5;
        32 0 0; 10;
        60 0 0; 15; 1091
Netherlands; L6 to L30; 5, 10. 15
Austria; 42 10 0; 15; 1099
Spain(3*) Inventor; 20 9 4; 15;
          Improver; 12 5 7; 10;
          Importer; 10 4 8; 6;

433.  It is clearly of importance to preserve to each inventor the sole use of his invention, until he shall have been amply repaid for the risk and expense to which he has been exposed, as well as for the talent he has exerted in completing it.  But, the degrees of merit are so various, and the difficulties of legislating upon the subject so great, that it has been found almost impossible to frame a law which shall not, practically, be open to the most serious objections.

The difficulty of defending an English patent in any judicial trial, is very great; and the number of instances on record in which the defence has succeeded, are comparatively few.  This circumstance has induced some manufacturers, no longer to regard a patent as a privilege by which a monopoly price may be secured:  but they sell the patent article at such a price, as will merely produce the ordinary profits of capital; and thus secure to themselves the fabrication of it, because no competitors can derive a profit from invading a patent so exercised.

434.  The law of copyright, is, in some measure, allied to that of patents; and it is curious to observe, that those species of property which require the highest talent, and the greatest cultivation—­which are, more than any other, the pure creations of mind—­should have been the latest to be recognized by the State.  Fortunately, the means of deciding on an infringement of property in regard to a literary production, are not verv difficult; but the present laws are, in some cases, productive of considerable hardship, as well as of impediment to the advancement of knowledge.

435.  Whilst discussing the general expediency of limitations and restrictions, it may be desirable to point out one which seems to promise advantage, though by no means free from grave objections.  The question of permitting by law, the existence of partnerships in which the responsibility of one or more of the partners is limited in amount, is peculiarly important in a manufacturing, as well as a commercial point of view.  In the former light, it appears calculated to aid that division of labour, which we have already proved to be as advantageous in mental as it is in bodily operations; and it might possibly give rise to a more advantageous distribution of talent,