U.S. patent statuteIn 1790, the first U.S. patent statute was signed into law by President Washington, while the country had only 12 states. Although some inventors were clamoring for patents and copyrights, the first session of the First Congress in 1789 acted on none of the petitions. On 8 Jan 1790, President Washington recommended in his State of the Union address that Congress give attention to the encouragement of new and useful inventions, and within the month, on 25 Jan 1790, the House appointed a committee to draft a patent statute. The bill was given a first reading to the House on 4 Mar 1790, and amendments reconciled with the Senate by 5 Apr 1790. The first patent issued under this statute was signed by George Washington on 31 Jul 1790 for Samuel Hopkins' process to make potash and pearl ash.« |
