Patent

:This article relates to the intellectual property right. A land grant is also called a patent.

History of patents

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Although there is evidence suggesting that something like patents was used among some ancient Greek cities, patents in the modern sense originated in Italy.

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The first patent law was a Venetian Statute of 1474 in which the Republic of Venice issued a decree by which new and inventive devices, once they had been put into practice, had to be communicated to the Republic in order to obtain legal protection against potential infringers. England followed with the Statute of Monopolies in 1623 under King James I. Prior to this time, the crown would issue letters patent providing any person with a "monopoly" to produce particular goods or provide particular services. The first of them was granted by Henry VI in 1449 to a Flemish man a 20 year monopoly on the manufacture of stained glass.

Related Topics:
1474 - Republic of Venice - Statute of Monopolies - 1623 - James I - Letters patent - Henry VI - 1449 - Flemish

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This was the start of a long tradition by the English Crown of the granting of "letters patent" (meaning 'open letter', as opposed to a letter under seal) which granted "monopolies" to favoured persons (or people who were prepared to pay for them). This became increasingly open to abuse as the Crown granted patents in respect of all sorts of known goods (salt, for example). This power, which was to raise money for the crown, was widely abused, and court began to limit the circumstances in which they could be granted.

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After public outcry, James I was forced to revoke all existing monopolies and declare that they were only to be used for 'projects of new invention'. This was incorporated into the Statute of Monopolies in which Parliament restricted the crown's power explicitly so that the King could only issue letters patents to the inventors or introducers of original inventions for a fixed number of years.

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In the reign of Queen Anne the rules were changed again so that a written description of the article was given. Section 6 of the Statute refers to "manner of new manufacture... inventors", and this section remains the foundation for patent law in New Zealand and Australia. The Statute of Monopolies was later developed by the courts to produce modern patent law; this innovation was soon adopted by other countries.

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The Patent Commission of the U.S. was created in 1790. Its first three members were Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of War Henry Knox, and Attorney General Edmund Randolph. On July 31, 1790 inventor Samuel Hopkins of Pittsford, Vermont became the first person to be issued a patent in the United States. His patented invention was an improvement in the "making of Pot Ash by a new apparatus & process". The earliest patent law required that a working model of each invention be produced in miniature.

Related Topics:
1790 - Secretary of State - Thomas Jefferson - Henry Knox - Attorney General - Edmund Randolph - July 31 - Samuel Hopkins - Pittsford, Vermont - United States - Pot Ash

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The Patent Law was revised for the first time in 1793. It adopted a simple registration system where a patent would be granted for a $30 fee. The Patent Board was replaced by a clerk in the Department of State. James Madison, Secretary of State, created a separate Patent Office within the State Department and he appointed Dr. William Thornton as its first superintendent in May 1802. On May 5th, 1809 Mary Dixon Kies became the first woman to be awarded a U.S. patent. Later, in 1810, the Patent Office moved from the Department of State to Blodgetts Hotel. In the same year, they opened the patent model storage to the general public.

Related Topics:
1793 - Department of State - James Madison - Patent Office - William Thornton - May 1802 - May 5 - 1809 - Mary Dixon Kies - 1810

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The first 10,000 patents issued by the USPTO from July 1790 to July 1836 were perished in a fire in December 1836. About 2800 of them were later recovered. But the majority of them are still missing. The recovered patents are now called X-Patents because their patent numbers end with an "X."

Related Topics:
USPTO - 1790 - 1836 - X-Patent

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Patent models

One of the most interesting early features of the U.S. patent system was the requirement of patent models. A patent model was a scratch-built miniature model no larger than 12" by 12" that showed how the patent works. Since most early inventors were ordinary people without technological or legal training, it was difficult for them to submit formal patent applications, due to the required small-scale models. However, to some degree, it was beneficial for these amateur inventors to submit a model. This is because their inventions might not be fully comprehended otherwise.

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Patent models were required since 1790. The Congress of the U.S. abolished the legal requirement for them in 1870. The U.S. Patent Office kept this requirement until 1880. However, some inventors still willingly submitted models at the turn of the 20th century.

Related Topics:
Congress - 1870 - 1880 - 20th century

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A working model, or other physical exhibit, may be required by the U.S. patent office if deemed necessary. This is not done very often. A working model may be requested in the case of applications for patent for alleged perpetual motion devices (Source: USPTO web site).

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