And for today's history lesson. . . .
On this day in history, July 31,1790, the first U.S. patent was issued to inventor Samuel Hopkins for a potash process. Since that time more than six million patents have been issued by the USPTO. Last year alone another 161,000 patents and 104,000 trademarks were processed.
There was a popular rumor awhile back that just before the dawn of the 20th century it was recommended that the Patent Office close because everything that could possibly be invented had already been invented! However some sleuthing turns up that there is no real truth to the rumor. It seems that Patent Office Commissioner, Henry Ellsworth, reported to Congress: "The advancement of the arts, from year to year, taxes our credulity and seems to presage the arrival of that period when human improvement must end." But within his greater context, it was obvious that he expected the Patent Office to be necessary forever.
In 1449, King Henry VI commissioned John of Utynam to live in England and produce a particular kind of colored glass for stained glass windows fancied by the king. To encourage productivity, King Henry decreed that none of his subjects could use the technique for a term of twenty years without the King's explicit consent. This may be the earliest concept of a patent on record.
I always wished I could think up something that could be patented. My father once developed a device for transferring propane from large to small containers but didn't patent it. Somebody else took his idea and did patent it, however, and probably made millions that my family didn't make. So if you come up with something unique that works, you might seriously think about getting it patented before introducing it to the rest of your world.
