Posts Tagged: "first patent act"

The Day that Changed the World: April 10, 1790

To patent folks April 10, 1790 is the day that the earth shook, the heavens opened, and history was forever altered. 225 years ago, on April 10, 1790, President George Washington signed the first version of the U.S. patent act. It was the third Act of Congress. Madison, through a series of letters back and forth between Jefferson, who was in France helping Ben Franklin secure French support for the nascent US revolution, persuaded Jefferson that a limited monopoly on an inventor’s own creations was a good idea.

Celebrating Presidents Who Advocated for the U.S. Patent System

President George Washington and President Abraham Lincoln both played an important role in the development of the U.S. patent system. Given that today we celebrate these Presidents, what better way for us to honor Presidents Washington and Lincoln than by reviewing their role in the U.S. patent system and their various interactions with the U.S. Patent Office. While it will be a hard pill to swallow for those who seek to dismantle the patent system, both Presidents Washington and Lincoln were strong proponents of a properly functioning patent system.

Judge Michel II: Public Nuisance #1 Proselytizing for Patents

In this installment we start out talking about Judge Michel’s work for Senator Arlen Specter and how today there seems to be a slow and steady decline in the checks and balances intended to be a part of the federal system. This lead us into talking about the Founding Fathers and how they viewed intellectual property, and patent in particular, as critically important. We discussed how the Patent Office used to be held in such esteem by the Founding Fathers and many generations, and how that seems to be a relic of the past. We also discussed how Judge Michel would like to become a public nuisance and troublemaker as he attempts to proselytize for the patent system and a more responsible federal government.