Proclamations Proc. 7581 Proclamation 7581 of July 29, 2002 The Bicentennia] of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, 2002 By the President of the United States o/America A Proclamation 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, 17\3650. Under this legislation, patent appli- cants petitioned the Secretary of State for the grant of a patent. The Sec- retary, in consultation with the Secretary of War and the Attorney General, determined whether the invention or discovery was "sufficiently useful and important." At that time, both the President and the Secretary of State signed patents. As the number of applications for patents grew, it became necessary to de- velop an organized review process to handle the increasing volume. In 17\3653, the law was changed to eliminate examinations, and the job of re- ceiving and granting patents was given to clerks in the Department of State. On June 1, 1802, the Secretary of State appointed Dr. William Thornton to serve as the first clerk at the Department of State. In that position, Dr. Thornton was solely responsible for receiving and recording patent applica- tions and issuing patents, and his office effectively became the first patent office. From this simple beginning, the Patent Office has grown to become a modern institution of ideas and innovations. For 200 years, millions of inventors have sought to protect their inventions through the American patent system. These patented inventions include Thomas Edison's electric lamp, Alexander Graham Bell's telegraphy, Orville and Wilbur Wright's flying machine, ]ohn Deere's steel plow, George Washington Carver's use of legume oils to produce cosmetics and paint, and Edwin Land's Polaroid camera. In 1881, the functions of the Patent Office grew to also include the registra- tion of trademarks. Today, the United States Patent and Trademark Office annually receives more than 326,000 patent applications and 232,000 trade- mark applications. Since the signing of the first Patent Act over two cen- turies ago, more than 6.3 million United States patents have been issued. The United States Patent and Trademark Office represents one of the larg- est repositories of scientific and technical knowledge in the world, and much of this information is available on the Internet. Similarly, 2 million current trademark registrations are also available online. As the Patent Office enters its third century, we commend the important work of the United States Patent and Trademark Office that supports sci- entific, technological, and intellectual property developments; promotes growth in our economy; and encourages increased prosperity for our Na- tion.
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