Kingston Y Carburetor Patent Applied for

[J1MGOLDEN]

I have a Kingston Y Carburetor with a brass tag that notes a Patent Was Applied for.

I cannot find any information on whether a patent was ever assigned for an updated tag.

Was there ever an updated Tag for that carburetor?

[rickd]

James, take a look at Royce Petersons' article "The Kingston Carburetor in the Model T Ford", Model T Ford Fix January 20, 2019. Paraphrasing, the Model Y patent applications were not accepted until years later. Apparently, a method used by patent lawyers at the time to keep the competition from using your ideas for a longer period of time.

[Wayne Sheldon]

Apparently, a method used by patent lawyers at the time to keep the competition from using your ideas for a longer period of time.

Right you are!
And the single most famous case of that was Henry Ford's battle with the "Seldon patents"!

George B Seldon was a typical lawyer who specialized in patent law. As a patent attorney, he followed scientific advancements of all kinds, and in the mid 1800s, he read numerous articles about self propelled vehicles. Still a young man, he realized that the (later named) automobile was a virtual certainty, and saw an opportunity to make a lot of money. As a patent attorney, he knew how to play the game.
He invented basically nothing. He took other people's ideas, made drawings incorporating the various components, and submitted them to the Patent office for consideration. Thus he opened a filing. Knowing that the necessary developments were still years away, he kept making changes in order to delay the issuing date. He kept reading articles, probably thought up a few ideas himself, and making more changes until he thought advances in engines and other components were close enough. Then finalized the filing in 1877 to hold his "claim" against future developments.

George B Seldon eventually sold his patent "rights" to a group wanting to limit gasoline powered automobiles, who in turn tried to extort money from anyone manufacturing gasoline powered automobiles. I have never heard how much he got for his patent "rights", however, I would imagine it was a good amount of money, and certainly more than he should have been entitled to.

The entire patent was nothing more than an amalgamation of ideas proposed or done by numerous other people before. The type of engine had been around for nearly twenty years already, and was the detail that eventually broke the patent in Henry Ford's favor. Everything about the patent was ideas that had been around long before. Many things were so poorly thought out that in the world of the automobile as it became even by 1900 they would not actually work at expected speeds.
But, patent attorneys like to play games to grab "rights" whether they are really theirs or not.

[TXGOAT2]

Unethical lawyers are a scourge on Humanity, especially when we elect and maintain them in public office or suffer them to be appointed to the Judiciary or other positions of authority.