In 1790, the United States was a new country. Like all newcomers to an endeavor, it was driven to establish itself. The Founding Fathers included among their number several innovators (I’m looking at you, President Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin). It should come as no surprise that leaders capable of innovating their way to a new form of representative government would recognize the importance of leadership in science and technology. Recognizing that innovation drives progress, the founders embedded that principle in the U.S. Constitution itself. Article I, Section 8, Clause 8 empowers Congress to promote “the Progress of Science and useful Arts” by securing exclusive rights for inventors (fun trivia: Back then, the “useful Arts” were inventions, and Science referred to copyright).
Innovators like Thomas Jefferson understood that encouraging inventors with a strong patent system would encourage creativity, drive the economy, and help the newborn United States grow into the world’s thought leader.
Lessons from the First Patent
1. Leadership Embraced Innovation
The first patent act made the President, Secretary of State, and Attorney General into part time patent examiners. They personally reviewed and signed patents, putting innovation on the same level as other important affairs of the government. Today, patents are seen as part of a long administrative process. Then, patents were a high level part of the nation’s quest for success.
2. Innovation is Strength
While there were other experiments in representative democracy, the careful and ambitious crafting of an enduring democratic government was as great an innovation as any that followed. The Founding Fathers didn’t leave that creativity at the Constitutional Convention. They knew that technological advancements would drive the country’s success. Their vision stands tall today, as innovation drives economic and societal progress. Although innovative things may be built abroad, they are very often created domestically. It is no accident that Apple has adopted “Designed by Apple in California” as a motto.
3. A Contemporary Warning
Unfortunately, the strength of the U.S. patent system has been eroded by recent cases limiting the types of inventions that can be patented, and by legislation making it almost trivial (for those who can afford the million dollars in legal fees) to invalidate patents without even going to court. The foundational truth of the early United States that innovation is central to national progress is as relevant today as it was in 1790. Like many inventors, I slowed down my pace of invention substantially as the ability to earn a living by inventing has become compromised by a weakened patent system. We stand now at a crossroads — do we make big tech companies happy and drop the patent system and the independent inventors who rely on it into the dustbin of history, or do we stand by the foundational truth that innovation is key to national success?
Final Thoughts
The story of the first U.S. patent is more than just a historical curiosity (although it is pretty cool). It’s proof of how deeply the Founding Fathers valued innovation and embraced its role in improving the nation’s future. Their approach to innovation reflects the truth that protecting inventors is more than a routine governmental function—it is a national imperative.
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