Patent model

In the US, patent models were required from 1790 to 1880. The United States Congress abolished the legal requirement for them in 1870, but the U.S. Patent Office (USPTO) kept the requirement until 1880. On July 31, 1790, inventor Samuel Hopkins of Pittsford, Vermont 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 evidence of 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, 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. 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. == See also ==