Background
A patent for an invention is the grant of a property right to the inventor, issued by the United States Patent and Trademark
Office. Generally, the term of a new patent is 20 years from the date on which the application for the patent was filed in
the United States or, in special cases, from the date an earlier related application was filed, subject to the payment of
maintenance fees. U.S. patent grants are effective only within the United States, U.S. territories, and U.S. possessions.
Under certain circumstances, patent term extensions or adjustments may be available.
Restrictions
Copyright has not been assigned to the California State Railroad Museum. All requests for permission to publish or quote from
manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Librarian. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the CSRM as the
owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be
obtained by the reader.