“A country without a patent office and good patent laws was just a crab, and couldn’t travel any way but sideways or backways.” ~~The Connecticut Yankee
I have just finished an audio reading of Mark Twain’s “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court” from John Greenman at Librivox.org.
Having patent attorneys amongst my descendants, I was quite captivated by the Connecticut Yankee’s valuation of patents. As soon as he had obtained rank of importance in Camelot, the Yankee wrote:
“The first thing you want in a new country, is a patent office; then work up your school system; and after that, out with your paper.”
“the very first official thing I did, in my administration — and it was on the very first day of it, too — was to start a patent office; for I knew that a country without a patent office and good patent laws was just a crab, and couldn’t travel any way but sideways or backways.”
I so enjoyed Mr. Greenman’s audio presentation that I sent his reading of “Tom Sawyer” to my grandson. Now I also have been captivated by listening to Tom’s Adventures on my computer: http://www.archive.org/details/tom_sawyer_librivox.
