Patents

A patent was originally a favour granted to craftsmen by the head of state in order to encourage trades. This gradually evolved into a more formal system established by the Statute of Monopolies in 1623 aimed at encouraging new innovations and this was the beginning of the system which is used today.

The state grants the inventor a monopoly for a certain period of time within which that inventor can prevent others from copying or exploiting the invention. Today this period is normally up to 20 years whereas it was originally 14 years. In return the inventor must disclose details of how the invention works and this information is published in the patent document. This disclosure involves a written description and often diagrams, though in many cases the patent consisted of text only. The requirement of a description was not established until 1852 and some early patents give little information on the invention itself.

Many of the inventors of the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries were merchants and business men, as the costs of obtaining a patent were considerable and this will be reflected in the names and occupations of many of those on this site. Successful industrialists often had a number of patents to their name. There were some however, who were opposed to them as being restrictive and some, like George Cayley and Matthew Murray, who used the patent system while criticising it for the same reason.

Frequently, patented inventions were never actually produced – lack of resources, technical difficulties, or an inability to convince a sceptical public were just some of the reasons why this could be the case. Proof that an invention actually worked has never been a requirement for a patent to be granted.

For many years it was possible for an inventor to file a provisional patent application – a shortened description of the invention which had to be followed by a more detailed specification within a certain period of time. Often the full specification was never filed and the provisional is the only record available.

It is importanct to distinguish between patents, which protect the functional aspects of a new product - how it works - and trade marks, which protect the name or symbol which is linked to a product. There are examples of both on this site.

Drawing from Atkinson's mousetrap patent