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Exponential advancement of technology through the issuance of
patents. (USPTO graph)
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), issued its first patent
on July 31, 1790, assigned to Mr. Samuel Hopkins for a process of making potash.
That was three years after creation of the office in 1787. President George Washington
signed that one.
You might think the country's first issued patent is numbered one (later designated
X000001),
but that's not the case. Enumeration did not begin until July 13, 1836 when U.S.
patent "No 1" was issued to Mr. John
Ruggles for a traction wheel for steam locomotives. The U.S. government had
issued 9,957 patents before starting a numbering system so for any patent number,
add 9,957 for its actual place in line.
Official seals of the United States Patent and Trademark Office
(1970 top, 2022 bottom)
Here is something I have never seen addressed anywhere. Take
look at the seal of the patent office. Does that look like a bald eagle body to
you? Examine the legs and neck. Where is the head, and what is that object in the
place of the head? Is that a flower? It has been written that
Benjamin Franklin proposed using the turkey as the national bird. Could that
be the body of a turkey? I certainly does not look like a bald eagle, which wasn't
officially adopted until 1782.
Samuel Morse received patent #1,647
in 1840 for his telegraph. Thomas Edison was assigned #223,898
for his electric light bulb in 1880. Note a quarter million patents had been issued
in just 44 years. Patent #821,393
went to the Wright brothers in 1906 for their
flying machine (1st flight
occurred 12/7/1903). Dr. John Bardeen, et al, got patent #2,524,035
in 1950 for his transistor. In 1989, Steve Wozinak (aka "the Woz") was awarded #4,136,359
for his PC. Patent #6,574,628
went to Robert Kahn in 2003 for inventing the Internet (sorry,
Algore).
I created this Excel spreadsheet from USPTO data, and predicted
the issue dates out to patent #15,000,000 using a 6th-order polynomial curve fit
equation provided by Excel trend line function. It's Christmas Day of 2029.
The
one
millionth patent was assigned in 1811. #2,000,000
happened in 1935. The
ten
millionth patent was issued in 2018 for coherent ladar using quadrature detection.
#11,000,000
was awarded just three years later.
By process of elimination, I found that as of this very moment (10:30 am EST,
December 27, 2022), the highest patent number assigned per the USPTO's website is
US11,540,433B2,
to Mr. Lawrence R. Sadler for "Shielding Material for Electromagnetic
Pulse Protection." Hmmm, I wonder if it's another type of tinfoil for guarding against
government brain intrusion?≠
From the USPTO website:
"The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is the federal agency
for granting U.S. patents and registering trademarks. In doing this, the USPTO fulfills
the mandate of Article I, Section 8, Clause 8, of the Constitution that the legislative
branch "promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited
Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings
and Discoveries." The USPTO registers trademarks based on the commerce clause of
the Constitution (Article I, Section 8, Clause 3). Under this system of protection,
American industry has flourished. New products have been invented, new uses for
old ones discovered, and employment opportunities created for millions of Americans.
The strength and vitality of the U.S. economy depends directly on effective mechanisms
that protect new ideas and investments in innovation and creativity. The continued
demand for patents and trademarks underscores the ingenuity of American inventors
and entrepreneurs. The USPTO is at the cutting edge of the nation's technological
progress and achievement."
Posted December 27, 2022
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