Patent Law Practice Center

First to File and the Patent Act of 1790

The United States Constitution is a relatively short document, but one that has provided guiding principles for over 220 years.  Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution granted Congress the power to grant patents and copyrights for limited times in order to promote the progress of science and the useful arts.  Clearly demonstrating just how important the Founding Fathers perceived a patent system to be, at the prompting of George Washington in his first State of the Union Address, the young Congress passed the the Patent Act of 1790 as the third Act of Congress.

Section 1 of the Patent Act of 1790 explained that a party would be awarded a patent in the event that it was deemed a sufficiently important discovery or invention:

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That upon the petition of any person or persons to the Secretary of State, the Secretary for the department of war, and the Attorney General of the United States, setting forth, that he, she, or they, hath or have invented or discovered any useful art, manufacture, engine, machine, or device, or any improvement therein not before known or used, and praying that a patent may be granted therefor, it shall and may be lawful to and for the Secretary of State, the Secretary for the department of war, and the Attorney General, or any two of them, if they shall deem the invention or discovery sufficiently useful and important…

Patent Act of 1790, Ch. 7, 1 Stat. 109-112 (April 10, 1790).

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