Patent probably to do with Elevators. The number I have is 26 289
Godfrey R. Rebmann. He worked in Philadelphia, Pa at Otis Elevator and
before that at Morse Williams. I think we are looking at Late 1800's
to early 1900's perhaps up to 1925

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Request for Question Clarification by tar_heel_v-ga on 30 Nov 2002 07:54 PST

Patent number 26289 was assigned in 1859 to Simeon T Peek for a type
of plow.  There is no name Rebmann associated with that patent number.
 Unfortunately, the only way to search the patent database with dates
that early is via the patent number.  Can you verify the number?

-THV

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Request for Question Clarification by omnivorous-ga on 30 Nov 2002 09:40 PST

Celtic and other researchers --

It's clear that a number of group of numbers is missing from this
patent number.  Thomas Edison's light bulb patent in 1880 was 223,898
and G.R. Rebmann was active in the elevator business starting in the
1890s through the 1930s:
https://answers.google.com/answers/main?cmd=threadview&id=114387

The U.S. Patent Office only allows patent number (not keyword)
searches since 1976 but you can get images of patents back to 1791:
http://www.uspto.gov/patft/index.html

I searched the whole series with *26289 and am pretty something's
missing -- and rearranged.  Patent 526,289 was issued in 1894; patent
626,289 was issued in 1899.  GR's patent should be in between those
two numbers (so we've got it down to 100,000 possibilities!)

The coincidence in all of this is that the law firm of Obermayer,
Rebmann (in GR's home town) specializes in patent law:
http://www.iprightscenter.com/

I'll keep trying but other researchers may nail this one before I do.

Best regards,

Omnivorous-GA

Hello celtic-ga,

Omnivorous-ga is correct that U.S. Patent No. 526,289 was issued in
1894 and that U.S. Patent No. 626,289 was issued in 1899.  However,
those patents are "utility patents", which are defined by the U.S.
Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) as patents that "may be granted to
anyone who invents or discovers any new, useful, and nonobvious
process, machine, article of manufacture, or composition of matter, or
any new and useful improvement thereof."

However, as you noted in your answer clarification of November 18,
2002 on your "Business History" question (
https://answers.google.com/answers/main?cmd=threadview&id=114387 ),
Godfrey R. Rebmann's patent number 26,289 from November 17, 1896 was
for a "Design".  A "design patent" is a patent that "may be granted to
anyone who invents a new, original, and ornamental design for an
article of manufacture."

"Glossary"
USPTO
http://www.uspto.gov/main/glossary/index.html

The number for a utility patent is simply the number; the number for a
design patent, however, has the letter "D", then the number.  So
design patent number 26,289 may be identified as D26,289, for purposes
of searching the USPTO web site.

"US Patent Full-Text Database Number Search"
USPTO
http://patft.uspto.gov/netahtml/srchnum.htm

The numbers for design patents are smaller than the numbers for
utility patents in the same year.  Indeed, at the beginning of 1896,
the utility patent numbers had reached 552,502, while the design
patent numbers were only at 25,037.

"Issue Years and Patent Numbers"
USPTO
http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ido/oeip/taf/issuyear.htm

Here is how you can view U.S. Design Patent No. 26,289.  First, in
order to see the images for this patent, you'll need a free plug-in or
viewer (which you may have to register before you can use it).

"Patent Full-Page Images"
USPTO
http://www.uspto.gov/patft/images.htm

Then, you should search on "US Patent Full-Text Database Number
Search" ( cited above, and located at
http://patft.uspto.gov/netahtml/srchnum.htm ) for: D26,289 .

On the resulting page, you should click on "Images" near the top of
the page.  You will then see an image entitled "Design. G. R. Rebmann.
Elevator Guide. No. 26,289. Patented Nov. 17, 1896."  By using the
buttons on the left side of the page, you can also view a page of text
relating to the design.

- justaskscott-ga


Search strategy:

Browsed main patents page of USPTO web site (
http://www.uspto.gov/main/patents.htm ).

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Request for Answer Clarification by celtic-ga on 30 Nov 2002 12:36 PST

This seems like a stupid question but how do I obtain the software to
open up the patent? I did get to where it should be but eveidently
need something I do not have to open it. Thank You

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Clarification of Answer by justaskscott-ga on 30 Nov 2002 13:02 PST

If you go to the page entitled "Patent Full-Page Images" (
http://www.uspto.gov/patft/images.htm
 ), scroll down to "Your System Requirements for Viewing Images". 
Under that heading, there are links for available viewers.  I clicked
on the link to AlternaTIFF, because I am using Internet Explorer (IE).
 On the resulting page, you can install a viewer.  You can click on
the link most suitable for you.

Please let me know if you have any difficulties with this.

Celtic..

The format that the patent documents are in is TIFF.  You may need a
plug-in to your browser to view these.  If you visit
http://65.202.253.39/patft/images.htm#req it will explain your optins.

As an aside, very nice job justaskscott!  Very nice researching!

-THV