A patent model was a handmade
miniature model
A scale model is a physical model which is geometrically similar to an object (known as the prototype). Scale models are generally smaller than large prototypes such as vehicles, buildings, or people; but may be larger than small prototypes ...
no larger than 12" by 12" by 12" (approximately 30 cm by 30 cm by 30 cm) that showed how an
invention
An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an id ...
works. It was one of the most interesting early features of the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
patent
A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an sufficiency of disclosure, enabling disclo ...
system.
[Byers, Kim]
Patent Models: Icons of Innovation
USPTO
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is an agency in the U.S. Department of Commerce that serves as the national patent office and trademark registration authority for the United States. The USPTO's headquarters are in Alex ...
, February 11, 2002. Retrieved September 11, 2010.
Since some early
inventor
An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an id ...
s had little technological or legal training, it was difficult for them to submit formal patent applications which require the novel features of an invention to be described in a written application and a number of diagrams.
History
In the US, patent models were required from 1790 to 1880.
[Riordan, Teresa]
Patent Models' Strange Odyssey
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
, February 18, 2002. The
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washi ...
abolished the legal requirement for them in 1870, but the
U.S. Patent Office (USPTO) kept the requirement until 1880.
[A Simple Fix for the US Patent System: The Legal Requirement For Working Models](_blank)
KeelyNet website. Retrieved September 12, 2010.
On July 31, 1790 inventor
Samuel Hopkins of
Pittsford, Vermont
Pittsford is a town in Rutland County, Vermont, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 2,862. Named for William Pitt, it has two picket forts used in the American Revolutionary War.
History
Pittsford was first settled as ...
became the first person to be issued a patent in the United States. His patented invention was an improvement in the "making of
Pot Ash by a new apparatus & process." These earliest patent law required that a working model of each invention be produced in miniature.
Some inventors still willingly submitted models at the turn of the twentieth century. In some cases, an inventor may still want to present a "working model" as an evidence to prove
actual reduction to practice in an
interference proceeding. In some jurisdictions patent models stayed an aid to demonstrate the operation of the invention. In applications involving
genetics
Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinian friar worki ...
, samples of genetic material or DNA sequences may be required.
United States Patent Office's collection of models
The United States Patent Office used to publicly display the models of approved patents. This collection of models suffered two major fires- one in
1836, and another in
1877
Events
January–March
* January 1 – Queen Victoria is proclaimed ''Empress of India'' by the ''Royal Titles Act 1876'', introduced by Benjamin Disraeli, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom .
* January 8 – Great Sio ...
. The 1877 fire destroyed 75,000 patent models.
In 1908, the Patent Office donated just over 1,000 patent models to
United States National Museum.
The remaining models were packed and moved several times before Congress chose to dissolve the collection in 1926. The Smithsonian Institution was allowed to choose first from the remaining models; accessions from the Patent Office now form part of the collection of over 10,000 patent models at the
National Museum of American History
The National Museum of American History: Kenneth E. Behring Center collects, preserves, and displays the heritage of the United States in the areas of social, political, cultural, scientific, and military history. Among the items on display is t ...
.
Many models were sold off by the patent office in 1925 and were purchased by Sir
Henry Wellcome, the founder of the Burroughs-Wellcome Company (now part of
GlaxoSmithKline
GSK plc, formerly GlaxoSmithKline plc, is a British Multinational corporation, multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with global headquarters in London, England. Established in 2000 by a Mergers and acquisitions, merger of Gl ...
). Although he intended to establish a patent model museum, the
stock market crash of 1929
The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as the Great Crash, was a major American stock market crash that occurred in the autumn of 1929. It started in September and ended late in October, when share prices on the New York Stock Exchange colla ...
damaged his fortune; the models were left in storage. After his death, the collection went through a number of ownership changes; a large portion of the collection—along with $1,000,000—was donated to the nonprofit United States Patent Model Foundation by Cliff Peterson. Rather than being put into a museum, these models were slowly sold off by the foundation. Much legal wrangling, purchasing, and re-selling ensued.
A comparatively small number of models (4,000) were the property of the Rothschild Patent Museum until 2015, when they were transferred to
Hagley Museum and Library, forming a part of the museum's collection of patent models. With over 5,000 models, the Hagley's is the largest private collection, and second in size only to the Smithsonian's.
[PatentModel website](_blank)
/ref>Hagley Museum and Library press release
/ref>
See also
* United States Patent and Trademark Office
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is an agency in the U.S. Department of Commerce that serves as the national patent office and trademark registration authority for the United States. The USPTO's headquarters are in Alex ...
* Patent drawing
* 1836 U.S. Patent Office fire
The 1836 U.S. Patent Office fire was the first of two major fires the U.S. Patent Office has had in its history. It occurred in Blodget's Hotel building, Washington on December 15, 1836. An initial investigation considered the possibility of a ...
* 1877 U.S. Patent Office fire
References
Further reading
* Hughes, Debra K., Martin W. Kane, and Charles A. Foote. ''Artifacts of invention: Patent models at the Hagley Museum and Library''. York, Pa: York Graphic Services, 1993.
* Janssen, Barbara Suit
''Patent Models Index: Guide to the Collections of the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution''
Smithsonian Contributions to History and Technology, no. 54. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press, 2010. (A complete, full-color, 2-volume index of the more than 10,000 original patent models now housed in the collections of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.)
* Rothschild, Alan, and Ann Rothschild. ''Inventing a Better Mousetrap: 200 Years of American History in the Amazing World of Patent Models''. 2015.
External links
{{commonscat, Patent models
The Rothschild Petersen Patent Model Museum
* ttp://www.windmillworld.com/windmills/model.htm Patent model windmill c.1860-70
Press release by Hagley Museum and Library
Hagley Museum and Library's online database of museum objects
Model, patent
History of patent law