Note 4 — Monopoly; The Power Behind the Trust

Undoubtedly the control of patents is an effective source of monopoly in very many instances. Some of the large combinations have succeeded in obtaining control practically of all the patents used in certain lines of manufacture. That this is a potent source of power one instance alone may suffice to prove. Professor Jenks tells us that all of the barbed wire made in this country at the present time, as well as the wire fencing, is in the hands of the American Steel and Wire Company because that company has all the valuable patents, with one or two exceptions, in those lines of manufacturing.