Two hundred twenty-eight years after the first patent was issued for a process of making potash (an ingredient used in fertilizer), the ten millionth patent has officially issued. Yesterday, U.S. Patent No. 10,000,000 issued for “Coherent Ladar Using Intra-Pixel Quadrature Detection.” The disclosure describes a method of bouncing lasers off of targets to figure out their range and velocity, which could be used in the development of self-driving vehicles. The method was invented by Joseph Marron but the patent is owned by his employer, Raytheon Company. Since being awarded its first patent in 1991, Raytheon has been awarded more than twenty patents. President Donald Trump will sign the ten millionth patent in a ceremony at the White House. This is especially commemorative because, in 1976, in honor of the U.S. bicentennial, President Gerald Ford was the last president to sign a patent as this practice stopped after John Quincy Adams. Additionally, Patent No. 10,000,000 will be the first to receive a new patent cover design, constituting the second patent cover change in the last century. #omnilegalgroup #patents #10millionpatents #raytheon