PATENT, and PATENT LAW (from Lat. patens. lying open, patent, pros. part. of pat, r?-, to lie open: originally in the phrase lit I, to. pa tildes, letter patent. open letter). A patent, in the most general sense, is a letter patent (q.v.). but the term is mostly used in the specific sense of at letter patent granted by the Govern ment to secure to an inventor the exclusive right to make, manufacture. and sell for a certain pyvlcl the thing invented or discovered by him. The term patent law is used to designate the law affeeting the granting of such letters patent and their use. protection, etc. Ily the common law an has no protection in the exclusive use of his imcntion, and therefore all patent is founded statutes. The pulley of en u-.ctuul and in the arts and industries by securing to discoverers and inventors the exclusive benefits of their di:coverics is an old one among governments. It was a common practice among the Tudor sov ereigns of England to grant to inventors such exclusive privileges. At first the inventor was required to use his invention within the kinzdetu, and in some instances to pay a tax to the Crown or share with it the profits derived there from. Until 1852 the British patent law was re stricted to England, patents in Scotland being issued under the common law. In 1852 the basis of the present British system of patent legisla tion was laid by a comprehensive statute which was applied to the whole kingdom. The British policy of encouraging by exclusive privilege the invention of new and useful articles was extended to the English colonies in America, and we find occasional colonial statutes empowering certain persons to exercise the exclusive right to manu facture articles of use which they had invented.
The Constitution (Art. 1.. § 8f of the United States recognized and sanctioned the policy by conferring authority upon Congress to secure to inventors the exclusive use of their inventions for limited periods of time. In pursuance of this authority, Congress in 1790 passed an act to provide for the granting of patents to the inventor of "any useful art, manufacture, en gine, machine. or device, or any improvement
therein not before known or used." Applications for patents under this law were required to be made to a board consisting of the Secretary of State, the Secretary of War, and the Attorney General. The patent was issued by this board upon the concurrent action of two members, was authenticated by affixing the great seal of the United States, and was valid for such term not exceeding fourteen years as the board might in its discretion agree upon. The law of 1790 con tained provisions for the punishment of infringe ments and provided that no distinction should be observed between foreigners and American citizens in the granting of letters patent. A small fee amounting to less than five dollars was charged for the patent. In 1793 a new statute was passed. repealing the Act of 1790 and mak ing several changes in the system. The new act restricted the grant of patents to citizens of the' United States; required applicants to surrender to the United States any patents which they might have received from any State prior to the adoption of the Constitution ; provided that ap plications should be made to the Secretary of State, that conflicts between applications should be decided by a board of three arbitrators, and that patents obtained by fraud or misrepresenta tion could he declared void by a United States district court upon due proof. Supplemental acts of 1794 and 1800 were passed, the latter of which extended patent privileges to aliens who at the time of application had resided in the United States for a period of two years. All ap plicants were now required to make oath that to the best of their knowledge and belief the inven tion for which they were seeking a patent had not been known or used in any foreign country. About this time the judicial question arose as to whether the power of Congress was exclusive in the matter of patents (Gibbon vs. Ogden, 9 Wheat. i.) ; but the precise point as to the right of a State to grant patents was not decided. Since then, however, the opinion has become settled that the power of Congress in the prem ises is exclusive.