The history of presidentially signed patents
The foundations of the patent system
"An act of Congress authorising (sic) the issuing patents for new discoveries has given a spring to invention beyond my conception." — Thomas Jefferson, June 27, 1790
Following the passage of the Patent Act of 1790, President George Washington signed the first U.S. patent on July 31, 1790. For the next forty-six years, patents were personally signed by the President of the United States. Many of these early records of American innovation were lost in a devastating fire in 1836. Those that were recovered are rare examples of the beginnings of the intellectual property system in America.
The United States Patent and Trademark Office has two such patents in its archival collection, as well as several others in the digital archive. Explore five examples below, and visit the USPTO’s Public Search Facility to see the patents signed by Thomas Jefferson and John Quincy Adams in person.
President George Washington
Patent no. 1X
In his first address to Congress in January 1790, President George Washington urged legislators to give “effectual encouragement” to new and useful innovations. Congress acted quickly and the first patent act in United States history was passed by April of that year. The Patent Act of 1790 created the first Patent Board, composed of Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of War Henry Knox, and Attorney General Edmund Randolph, who began the task of examining patents. The first U.S. patent was granted on July 31, 1790.
President John Adams
Patent no. 163X
Even today, surviving copies of the patent records destroyed in the 1836 Patent Office fire continue to be found in museums and archives as well as among family heirlooms. One such example is this patent for an auger used to bore logs to make water pipes, issued to Caleb Leech of Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1797. Leech later put his invention to good use in infrastructure improvements to New York City’s water system as the superintendent of Manhattan Waterworks. Sid Leech, a descendant of Caleb, submitted this patent to the USPTO.
President Thomas Jefferson
Patent no. 353X
An inventor himself, Thomas Jefferson had a major hand in the development of the patent system. While serving as Secretary of State during Washington’s administration, Jefferson led the Patent Board responsible for examining and granting the first patents. And in 1802, during Jefferson’s presidency, the Patent Office was established as a stand-alone federal agency. In 1810, following his presidency, Jefferson summed up his views on the young but growing intellectual property system: “Nobody wishes more than I do that ingenuity should receive liberal encouragement.”
President James Madison
Patent no. 1176X
James Madison, the United States’ fourth president and the "father" of the U.S. Constitution, had a profound influence on the foundations of the intellectual property system in America. At the Constitutional Convention, Madison advocated for a provision that would encourage “useful discoveries.” This eventually developed into the intellectual property clause, establishing Congressional authority “[t]o 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.” In 1802, during Madison’s tenure as secretary of state, the Patent Office was created.
President John Quincy Adams
Patent no. 4883X
Prior to July 4, 1836, patents were not numbered. We now refer to these as the X-patents, because they received retroactive numbers along with the letter “X.” Although only about one-fifth of the X-patents were recovered following the fire, the records we do have reveal a rich collection of inventions from the early days of our nation. Ranging from more efficient agricultural implements like this fanning mill used to separate grain from chaff to machines for making daily staples like shoes and biscuits, the patents reflected the needs of a country that was growing and developing at a rapid pace.
Celebrating milestone moments
"We have gained the wisdom that age and experience bring, yet we have kept the strength and idealism of youth." — Gerald Ford, Bicentennial Independence Day
The Patent Act of 1836, signed into law on July 4 of that year, transformed the patenting process and laid the foundation for the system still used today. The act required the thorough examination of patents, established a corps of professional patent examiners, and introduced a formal patent numbering system.
Following the passage of this legislation, presidents no longer routinely signed granted patents. That duty was instead passed on to the Commissioner of Patents, and later, the Director of the Patent and Trademark Office. But on special occasions, presidents still picked up the pen. See two examples below and visit the ceremonial patent documents in person at the USPTO’s Public Search Facility.
President Gerald Ford
Patent no. 3,938,115
In 1976, as part of America’s celebration of the bicentennial of the Declaration of Independence, President Gerald Ford signed a ceremonial patent granted to inventor Sidney Jacoby of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The inventor’s home was a nod to the location of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, which took place in Philadelphia’s Independence Hall.
President Donald Trump
Patent no. 10,000,000
On June 19, 2018, the granting of U.S. Patent No. 10 million marked a major milestone in the history of patents in the United States. President Donald Trump signed the patent in a special ceremony at the White House, paying homage to the past tradition of presidential patent signings, beginning with the very first.