Chapter 60: Patents

According to Ma Shao's original plan or perhaps an overly optimistic estimate, he was going to improve the sewing machine first and then apply for a patent together with the jeans to save some time.

But he soon realized that it would be impossible to improve the sewing machine in a short period of time.

The second-hand sewing machine he bought did not have a foot pedal, which was an obvious shortcoming that was easy for him to solve.

However, a sewing machine is not a simple machine. At least for a non-professional like Ma Shao, a sewing machine can be considered complicated.

It is almost impossible to make any complex machine perfect by just one or two key improvements.

Just like writing code, inserting a new piece of code in the middle will most likely introduce a bunch of new bugs, which will require repeated adjustments to truly complete the improvement.

So Ma Shao gave up the plan to make a new sewing machine and focused all his attention on the patent for jeans.

Jeans should be able to apply for two patents, one for its appearance design and the other for the rivets on it.

Ma Shao is not optimistic about the former. Even in later times when the patent system is more perfect, the appearance patent of clothing is not very meaningful, and counterfeit goods are everywhere.

The current patent system is full of loopholes, so this type of patent is naturally even more useless.

Ironically, eight years ago, a fire broke out at the U.S. Patent Office, and tens of thousands of patents were lost—including the patent for a fire hydrant.

This fire made the American patent system much more perfect, but compared with later generations, it was still very simple.

Therefore, registering a patent for the appearance design of jeans is basically just for the sake of fame and has no practical significance. It may even be judged to have no innovation at all and thus fail to pass the patent review, and others will imitate or plagiarize it.

What is more valuable are the rivets on the jeans.

Because this can actually be considered a technology - reinforcement technology.

These rivets are not just decorations. It is because of their existence that jeans become stronger and more durable. In the original history, the inventor of jeans even designed a double horse trademark that looks like the scene of the "Magdeburg Hemisphere Experiment", with two horses pulling the jeans in opposite directions to show their strength...

As a practical technology, its patent is more meaningful.

Therefore, the core patent of jeans should be "a rivet reinforcement technology applied to trousers."

Ma Shao was drafting the application documents while looking up relevant regulations on patent applications.

Written documents are actually secondary, the most important thing is the patent model.

The patent model means exactly what it says. Specifically, Ma Shao needs to provide a pair of jeans with rivets installed as an example.

The reason for this regulation is that patent office staff often cannot understand the principles of most inventions based solely on written descriptions.

We can't blame them for their low level. After all, inventions are new things and involve all walks of life. It is not easy to understand and review them.

Drawings, text descriptions, and finished jeans as models are the formal patent application materials.

After preparing these materials, Ma Shao called Thomas, Floyd and another black policeman and handed the materials to them.

"These are patent application materials, which means they need to be sent to the Patent Office," said Ma Shao.

Thomas looked at the materials: "Two patents?"

Ma Shao: "That's right. One is the overalls design, and the other is the rivet reinforcement technology. If we can't get the former, then forget it, but we must get the latter."

"There are also six revolvers, two for each person, for your protection on the road."

"Three hundred dollars is more than enough to apply for two patents... If you encounter some greedy patent office staff, you know what to do." Ma Shao handed the gun and coins to the three people respectively, "It's best to get the application done quickly."

"I know." Thomas nodded expressionlessly.

"Also, choose some fabrics similar to canvas, that is, strong and wear-resistant, preferably blue, and buy some samples to bring back." Ma Shao added.

Canvas was only a material for early jeans, not the best material for jeans.

The real fabric for jeans is called "denim", which is the blue fabric that is everywhere on the streets in later generations.

But Ma Shao didn't know what the cloth was specifically, so he could only ask someone to buy some samples for him to identify.

Thomas, Floyd and the other two rode fast horses out of the town and headed southeast.

They would first reach the famous Santa Fe Trail, then follow the road eastward, soon entering the first state in the East, Missouri.

Strictly speaking, Missouri cannot be considered the East; it would be more appropriate to call it the Central.

But at least Missouri is a proper state with a state government, and it is located in the east, so there is nothing wrong with including it in the "Eastern region", at least in the eyes of westerners.

In contrast, Kansas at that time had no state government, let alone an appointed governor. It was not even a territory and belonged to the United States only in name.

This state of "anarchy" will continue in the Midwest for quite a long time. As for the reason, the most important one is of course slavery - it is okay to establish states, but are the newly established states considered slave states or abolitionist states?

Now there are still more than ten years before the Civil War, and the conflict between the North and the South has become more and more prominent. The North wants to abolish slavery, and the South wants to keep slaves, but the two sides are still maintaining a balance.

If new states were established, this delicate balance would inevitably tilt or even be completely broken.

In this case, large tracts of unincorporated territory are naturally the most acceptable option.

Thomas and his two companions went to the East to apply for a patent, while Ma Shao continued to organize tailors to produce jeans.

He divided the jeans-making process into several parts and assigned them to housewives in the town who were skilled in sewing. He had them complete the tasks at home and then bring the finished products to Mary for payment.

This is exactly the reference to the assembly line production method. Although the assembly line may have appeared when Qin Shihuang made the Terracotta Warriors, this production method has not been popularized on a large scale until now.

This distributed jeans assembly line is of course very crude, but it still allows workers who do not have a factory to have production efficiency that is no less than that of working in a factory.

Pair after pair of jeans were produced, and the old canvas was consumed rapidly.

During this period, Ma Shao's main job was to train the Apache soldiers and black police in the town, constantly instilling in them the concepts of discipline and law.

During the indoctrination process, he was also somewhat worried and confused: Discipline and law will always be improved, but what about faith?

Ma Shao found that he could not think of a suitable faith, whether among the indigenous people or in Clark Town.

We can't say that it doesn't exist, because religion is useful. In terms of unity and maintaining stability, religion is still useful.

But his resistance to this thing was too strong. In his opinion, being a charlatan might be the most shameful profession in the world.

Even if I die, I will never become a god... Wait, that's not right! Why does this sound like the rhythm of the True Fragrance Law? I can't say that!

Thinking of the terrible scene revealed by this sentence in the context of the True Fragrance Law, Ma Shao couldn't help but sweat on his forehead.

What kind of faith should I choose?