The First U.S Patent

October 20, 2011
Intellectual Property News and Interesting Facts

The first patent was granted to an American inventor, Samuel Hopkins on 31 July 1790.

Samuel Hopkins was born on 9 December 1743 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The first patent was granted under the new U.S. patent statute that was just signed into law by President Washington on 10 April 1790.

Samuel Hopkins petitioned for a patent on an improvement “in the making of Pot ash and Pearl ash by a new apparatus and process.

The U.S. patent statute did not create a Patent Office.

A committee of the Secretary of State, Secretary of War and the Attorney General were authorized to make a decision on the merit of a properly documented petition.

The first patent was signed by George Washington, Edmund Randolph, and Thomas Jefferson.

The first Canadian patent was also granted to Samuel Hopkins, Angus MacDonnel and a Scottish soldier in 1791. The invention was for a processes to make potash and soap from wood ash