Feb
Patent History, Part I
You are about to learn a brief history of patents and how they become to be so essential in business as we know it.
The first written mention of modern patents we know of are in 15th century business documents from Italy. Italy was one of the first countries to make it possible for an investor to protect an idea by obtaining government or official recognition of the creative act. This early experiment in intellectual property rights led to a ferment of growth and discovery in Italy and elsewhere.
After Italy issued the first set of patents, their use did not widely spread to neighboring European countries until the 17th century. From there, the concept of patents in the United States was first recognized in the Patent Act of 1790, which consisted of a brief collection of patent rules and guidelines on how to obtain a patent. Under the Patent Act, different members of the government were given the ability to grant a patent. For example, both the Secretary of State and the Attorney General were legally allowed to approve patents.
However, as a result of the influence of Thomas Jefferson, and complaints by the general public, the 1790 Patent Act was changed in 1793 to encompass a broader set of standards and rules. The revised Act allowed inventors to obtain patents for machines, substances of matter, or objects of art. However, unlike the patent applications of the current day, these early patent applications required only a brief description of the item the inventor was requesting a patent for.
As time passed, inadequacies in the patent structure became apparent. The governing body responsible for patents at that time realized that with the increase in the amount of foreign nationals moving to the United States, the Patent Act needed to allow foreign inventors the right to apply and obtain patents. Applicants were required to reside in the United States for at least two years before submitting an application.
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