doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Patent

It's been eluded to around here, so I'm wondering if anyone knows specifically - what's it actually mean when you see "patent" engraved on part of a gun?

If there's "patent" on the forend iron, for instance, - does that mean it's been patented by the maker of that gun or just by someone at some time (maybe the gun maker is using the patent and paying royalty or maybe it was patented way back when and has since expired, but was still patented none the less)?

I've seen it on almost every piece you can find - from the forend to the toe plate.

With the desire to research the patents on my own guns, I'm just wondering how far the branches of this tree could extend.

It doesn't mean anything in some cases, just a bit of marketing hype. In others it refers to a significant invention. Sometimes by the 'maker in question, sometimes referring to a use of someone other's patent, sometime royalty paid, sometimes not. Sometimes it will have been a provisional patent, never fully patented. Sometimes a tiny 'make-weight' part of a much more well known patent.
All in all, if it doesn't mention a specific date/patent no./trade mark/Use no., I wouldn't spend too much time on researching it.
You would do better to look at the mechanism and refer to David Baker's excellent books. He does get it wrong/make an omission occasionally but very rarely.
Have fun!

Now, there is a good answer. Thank you, Toby. In the same way, there are lots of products that claim to be the invention of that prolific inventor, Pat Pending, but I'm sure he did not have time for developing all of them.

Daryl I have come across this guy many times ,I think he was Irish .I also understand he worked along side the great barrel maker A Nother , so frquently mentioned in auction catalogues.
As Toby says "Patent" don't mean a thing without all the other detail. It is/was a claim that is still used in one form or anothr even to day on many products .

Pat Pending may have been Irish, but he immigrated to the U.S. over a hundred years ago and either he or his direct decendants have remained prominant in the durable goods industry ever since. Mr. Pending has literally been in about every kind of product line imaginable. Quite the prolific industrialist.