The Patent Act was further amended in 1836, when it was realized that a more thorough description was needed; without a thorough description of the invention, it was harder to file a lawsuit against someone accused of illegally using the patent.

After this amendment was made to the way in which patents are described, the patent act underwent major changes in 1836. These changes were the result of complaints lodged against patented items, which were not found to be new ideas. Eventually, the patent laws were changed to reflect that an invention had to be novel.