U.S. Patent Law
US Patent Law had its origins just after the American Revolution when James Madison was promoting the adoption of the Articles of Confederation to the citizens of New York through the Federalist Papers published in various public media, e.g., the New York Packet, from October 1787 to 1789, along with Alexander Hamilton and John Jay. The purpose of these Papers was to convince the voters of New York to adopt the U.S. Constitution
[wikipedia.org (200712090830): "federalist papers"]
, for which James Madison was a major writer (note: he is often referred to as the "Father of the Constitution"). However, it was
James Madison (Fourth President of the U.S.), writing in Federalist Paper No. 43 dated Wednesday, January 23, 1788, who explained the Powers conferred by the Constitution to the Federal government (specifically the Legislative Branch or "Congress"), including
protection of the rights of inventors.
In Federalist Paper No. 43, in the first paragraph, James Madison wrote:
To the People of the State of New York:
THE FOURTH class comprises the following miscellaneous powers:
1. A power "to promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing, for a limited time, to authors and inventors, the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries."
The utility of this power will scarcely be questioned. The copyright of authors has been solemnly adjudged, in Great Britain, to be a right of common law. The right to useful inventions seems with equal reason to belong to the inventors. The public good fully coincides in both cases with the claims of individuals. The States cannot separately make effectual provisions for either of the cases, and most of them have anticipated the decision of this point, by laws passed at the instance of Congress.
This article of the Articles of Confederation, is now written as Article One (The Legislative Branch), Section 8 (Powers of Congress), clause 8 in the U.S. Constitution:
The Congress shall have Power...
To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;
The U.S. laws pertaining to patents are now codified in
U.S. Code 35 (35 U.S.C.) and in
U.S. Regulation No. 37 (37 CFR). Additional procedures are explained in the
Manual of Patent Examining Procedures (MPEP) [uspto.gov (20071209): patent rules]
.
The Articles of Confederation were ratified by at least 9 of the 13 colonies by 1789 (eventually all 13 colonies ratified the U.S. Constitution), and the U.S. Congress began to promulgate legislation corresponding to the Articles of the new U.S. Constitution. The first Patent was issued on July 4, 1790.