History of United States patent law facts for kids

The history of United States patent law is about how the rules for protecting inventions in the United States came to be. These rules started even before the U.S. Constitution was written. This history covers more than 300 years.

Early Ideas About Patents

The first ideas similar to patents appeared in the Medieval times. Rulers would give someone an exclusive right, like a special permission, to make or sell something. This was sometimes called a "monopoly." It meant only that person could do it. This was a way for rulers to make money without always raising taxes.

In England, these special permissions were called "letters patent." They were given by the king or queen to inventors. One of the earliest known grants was in 1331. It was given to John Kempe to teach English people a new industry.

In 1474, the city of Venice created the first known patent law. This law gave inventors special rights to their inventions. It was part of their plan to help the economy. The Venice law had important ideas still used today. It said inventions had to be new and useful. It also said the inventor had to explain their invention.

In 1624, England passed the Statute of Monopolies. This law mainly limited the king's power to grant monopolies. It was the first time a law said inventions had to be "new" to get a monopoly. It also said a monopoly would only last for a limited time, which was 14 years. These ideas helped shape the United States Patent Law.

United States Patent Laws

Before Federal Patent Laws

Early State-Specific Rights

In early America, there were no general laws for patents. But inventors could ask their local governments for special rights. These governments could give them the only right to sell their new products.

The first such right in America was in Massachusetts in 1641. The Massachusetts government gave Samuel Winslow a special right. He could use a new way of making salt for 10 years. Many people call this the first "patent" in America.

Other colonies and states also gave similar special rights. These were private agreements for specific people. They happened before general patent laws were made. This idea of private agreements came from England's Statute of Monopolies of 1624.

State-Level General Patent Laws

By the late 1700s, states started making general patent laws. These laws replaced the old private agreements. They created standard ways to apply for patents. They also set up a review process and rules for how long patents would last.

South Carolina was the first state to pass a general patent law in 1784. This law was called "An Act for the Encouragement of Arts and Sciences." It mostly covered copyrights, but it also included inventors. It said inventors of useful machines would have the same exclusive right for 14 years.

Many other states then passed their own general patent laws. Most used a 14-year term, like in England. But inventors had a problem. If they wanted to use their invention in more than one state, they had to apply for a patent in each state. This was expensive and took a lot of time. A national patent law was clearly needed.

Federal Patent Laws

The Constitution's Role

The United States Constitution, adopted in 1787, included a rule for protecting inventions. This rule is in Article I, Section 8. It says:

"The Congress shall have Power ... To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries."

This part of the Constitution gave Congress the power to create patent laws.

The Patent Act of 1790

The Patent Act of 1790 was the first federal patent law in the U.S. It was called "An Act to promote the Progress of Useful Arts." This law was short, with only seven sections.

Like the state laws, it gave inventors an exclusive right for 14 years. But inventors could not extend this time. Many inventors were unhappy because 14 years was often not enough. It took time for their inventions to become popular. Also, this law did not allow people from other countries to get U.S. patents.

Three important officials decided on patents: the Secretary of State, the Secretary of War, and the Attorney General. An inventor needed at least two of them to agree. These officials also had to check if inventions were "not before known or used" and "sufficiently useful and important." This review process took too much time. These officials had many other duties and could not review patents quickly. It often took months to get a patent reviewed.

The Patent Act of 1793

In 1793, the 1790 law was changed and replaced by the Patent Act of 1793. This law defined what could be patented. It said patents could be for "any new and useful art, machine, manufacture or composition of matter." It also included "any new and useful improvement" on these things. This definition is still used today.

The new law made the patent application process simpler. Inventors only needed to ask the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State would then get a review from the Attorney General. The review process was easier because inventions only needed to be "useful" and "not before known or used." They did not need to be "sufficiently useful and important."

It became much easier to get patents after 1793. Between 1790 and 1793, only 57 patents were given. But by 1836, a total of 10,000 patents had been granted. However, this meant the quality of patents went down. Many patents were given for things that were not truly new or useful.

This led to more lawsuits about whether patents were valid or if someone had copied an invention. Inventors were unhappy, and courts were very busy with patent cases. Under the 1793 law, foreign inventors could not get U.S. patents. But Americans could use ideas from other countries without legal problems.

The Patent Act of 1836

Not many patents were given out in the early years. The number did not reach 1,000 per year until 1854.

In 1836, another federal Patent Act was passed. This law fixed many problems from earlier acts. The Patent Act of 1836 was very important for several reasons.

First, it created an official Patent Office. This office was still part of the Department of State. But it was no longer directly managed by the Secretary of State. Instead, a Commissioner of Patents led the office. This change made the patent application process much more efficient.

Second, the law helped prevent patents for inventions that already existed. It required information about new patents to be available in libraries. People could check this information to see if their invention was truly new before applying. This greatly improved the quality of patents.

Third, the law allowed patents to be extended for the first time. Inventors could ask for an extra 7 years of protection. This was in addition to the original 14-year term. The Commissioner of Patents could approve this extension for good reasons.

Finally, this law removed the rule that only U.S. citizens could get patents. Now, people from other countries could also apply for U.S. patents.

On July 13, 1836, Patent Number 1 was granted. The Patent Office also went back and renumbered all older patents. They added an "X" to the end of the old patent numbers. So, the very first U.S. patent became Patent 1X.

On December 15 of the same year, a fire destroyed the Patent Office. Only 2,845 patents were saved. This led to a new rule: all patent applications had to be submitted in two copies. This rule for double copies ended in 1870 when the Patent Office started printing patents.

Later Changes

In 1849, the Patent Office moved from the State Department to the Department of the Interior.

The Sherman Antitrust Act

Around 1890, there was an economic downturn. During this time, some people saw patents as a way to create monopolies. This negative view led to the Sherman Antitrust Act. This law aimed to prevent monopolies. Courts sometimes made patents invalid during this period. The negative feelings about patents ended after the downturn. But they returned during the Great Depression and after World War II.

In 1925, the Patent Office moved again. It went from the Department of the Interior to the Department of Commerce. It is still there today.

Modern Patent Laws

In 1952, the main rules for modern patent law were set. This was done with the Patent Act of 1952. This change said an invention had to be new and useful. It also had to be "non-obvious" to get a patent. This "non-obvious" rule was added to stop people from patenting simple ideas. It made sure patents were for real inventions.

In 1982, a new court was created for patent appeals. It was called the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. This court made sure patent laws were applied the same way across the country.

In 2011, a very big change happened with the Leahy–Smith America Invents Act (AIA). For many years, the U.S. used a "first-to-invent" system. This meant the first person to invent something got the patent. Most other countries used a "first-to-file" system. This meant the first person to apply for the patent got it. The AIA changed the U.S. to a "first inventor to file" system. This was a huge change. The main parts of this new law started on March 16, 2013.

How Long Patents Last

The first patent law in 1790 allowed patents to last up to 14 years. The 1836 Patent Act added a possible 7-year extension. So, a patent could last up to 21 years. In 1861, the term changed to 17 years from the date the patent was granted.

In 1994, a new law changed the patent term again. Now, a patent lasts for 20 years from the earliest date the application was filed.

Other Important Dates

The first U.S. patent, given to Samuel Hopkins on July 31, 1790. It was for a new way to make "pot ash and pearl ash."

• 1790 – The first U.S. Patent Act was written. The first U.S. Patent, numbered X000001, was given on July 31, 1790. President George Washington granted it. The patent went to Samuel Hopkins for a new way to make "pot ash and pearl ash."
• 1800 – A law stopped foreigners from applying for U.S. patents. They could only apply if they had lived in the U.S. for 2 years.
• 1829 – A court case, Pennock v. Dialogue, led to a rule. Patents could not be given for inventions already used by the public.
• 1832 –
  • People from other countries who planned to become U.S. citizens could apply for patents. But they had to use their invention in the U.S. within one year.
  • Patents could be corrected if they had mistakes.
  • In Grant v. Raymond, a court ruled that a poor description of an invention could be a reason to fight a patent lawsuit.
• 1836 – On July 13, Patent Number 1 was granted. All old patents were renumbered with an "X." The first patent became Patent 1X.
• 1836 – The Patent Office 1836 fire happened.
• 1839 – The Patent Law was changed. It gave a two-year grace period to use a patent. If the Patent Office rejected a patent, people could appeal to the Chief Justice in Washington D.C.
• 1842 – Fabrics could now be patented. In Hotchkiss v. Greenwood, courts ruled that patents also had to be "non-obvious," not just new and useful.
• 1861 – The Patent Law was changed again.
  • Three main examiners were chosen to review patent applications rejected more than twice.
  • Utility patents now lasted for 17 years.
  • Design patents could be for 3½, 7, or 14 years, depending on what the applicant wanted.
• 1870 – All patent laws were put into one Act. About 105,000 patents existed.
• 1871 – Patent applications had to include black and white drawings of a certain size.
• 1883 – The Paris Convention was signed. This agreement made patents valid among member countries.
• 1887 – The U.S. joined the Paris Convention.
• 1893 – Patent appeals were heard in the Court of Appeal for the District of Columbia.
• 1897 – Rules for patents changed. An application had to be filed in the U.S. within seven months of getting an international patent to be valid in the U.S.
• 1911 – About one million patents had been granted.
• 1939 – The two-year grace period for using patents was shortened to one year.
• 1941 – In Cuno Engineering v. Automatic Devices Corp, the Supreme Court ruled that a patent must show a "Flash of genius." This idea was later changed to the "non-obviousness" rule.
• 1946 – To get a patent, one had to be the "first to invent" in the world. This was changed to "first to invent" within the U.S. (Storage Battery v. Shimadzu).
• 1954 – The Plant Patent Act was changed to include seeds, mutants, and hybrids.
• 1968 – The Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) was signed.
• 1975 – The Patent Office was renamed "The Patent and Trademark Office."
• 1978 – The European Patent Office (EPO) opened.
• 1980 –
  • Fees had to be paid to keep a patent active.
  • The Supreme Court said a patent for genetically engineered bacteria was valid.
• 1981 – Diamond v. Diehr: The Supreme Court limited patents for software algorithms.
• 1990 – The definition of patent infringement changed.
• 1995 –
  • The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) opened a patent museum.
  • The Uruguay Round Agreements Act was adopted. This changed the length of a patent from 17 years after being granted to 20 years after the application was filed.
• 1998 – State Street Bank v. Signature Financial: A court ruled that an invention must produce "a useful, concrete and tangible result."
• 2001 – The first official U.S. Patent Application was published.
• 2008 – In re Bilski: A court said an invention must "transform an article to a different state or thing."
• 2009 – Bilski v. Kappos: The Supreme Court ruled that the "machine-or-transformation test" is not the only way to decide if a process can be patented.
• 2011 – The Leahy–Smith America Invents Act was signed into law.

Fun Fact

The only U.S. President to hold a patent was Abraham Lincoln. His patent was for a "device to buoy vessels over shoals." It was a set of floats that could be pulled in or out on the sides of riverboats.

See also

• Patent models, working models once needed for U.S. patent applications
• U.S. Patent No. 1, a board game about getting the first patent