This summer, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) anticipates the 10 millionth patent will issue. Over the span of these last 9 million-some-odd patents, the patent system has experienced significant changes and developments.
This first Patent Act was put into place in 1790, merely one year after ratification of the Constitution and formation of the new government. Based on Congress’ power to grant writers and inventors exclusive rights to their works in order “to promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts,” this Act provided a 14-year expiration for patents and vested the power to grant patents in a three-person commission. The first such commission comprised Thomas Jefferson, General Edmund Randolph, and the Secretary of War Henry Knox.
A few years later, in 1793, this three-member board was eliminated and instead the Secretary of State was given the authority to issue a patent to any applicant who complied with the prescribed formalities, swore as to their invention’s originality, and paid a fee. Moreover, this simple but less protective system broadened the language to include any “new and useful improvement” to an existing product. This wording remains to this day.
Dr. William Thornton was appointed the first Commissioner of Patents in 1802. Thornton served in this position for 26 years. In 1814, during the burning of Washington, he persuaded the British to spare the Patent Office, claiming the knowledge contained within was useful to all mankind.
The Patent Act of 1836 established the procedure for patent application examination prior to issuance. Previously, all patent applicants issued. As a result, professional patent examiners were hired and a library of prior art was established. Additionally, the patent numbering system was reset and U.S. Patent No. 1 was issued to Senator John Ruggles, who authored the Patent Act of 1836. Later that year, the Patent Office caught fire, destroying many patent documents and models.
In the 20th century, the Patent Act saw another revision that clarified and reorganized patent law while incorporating several substantive additions, including the requirement of invention as stated in 35 U.S.C. §103. Then, in 1975, the Patent Office was renamed the United States Patent Office. The USPTO relocated to its current headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia nearly three decades later. Most recently, in 2011, the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act was signed into law, constituting a transition from a “first-to-invent” to a “first-to-file” system in addition to other modifications.