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Transcript: THE BICENTENNIAL OF THE UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE, 2002 BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA A PROCLAMATION
- Article from:
- Regulatory Intelligence Data
- Article date:
- July 29, 2002
- Author:
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For two centuries, the United States Patent Office has played
a vital
role in the scientific, technical, and economic development of our
Nation
by granting inventors patents for their inventions. As Abraham Lincoln
once stated, patents "added the fuel of interest to the fire of genius."
The first Patent Act of the United States was signed into law
by
President George Washington on April 10, 1790. Under this legislation,
patent applicants petitioned the Secretary of State for the grant
of a
patent. The Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of War and
the
Attorney General, determined whether the invention or discovery was
"sufficiently
useful ...