History of patent

The origin of patents and how it started to be used

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In 500 BC, Encouragement was held out to all who should discover any new refinement in luxury in the Greek city of Sybaris (located in what is now southern Italy), the income arising from which were protected to the inventor by patent for the space of a year."

The Florentine architect Filippo Brunelleschi was granted a three year patent for a barge with pulling gear, that carried marble along the Arno River in 1421.

Patents in the modern knowledge originated in 1474, when the Republic of Venice approved a decree by which new and inventive devices, once they had been put into practice, had to be communicated to the Republic in order to acquire the right to prevent others from using them.

England followed with the Statute of Monopolies in 1623 under King James I, which announced that patents could only be approved for "projects of new invention." During the reign of Queen Anne (1702–1714), the lawyers of the English Court developed the requirement that a written description of the invention must be enclosed. The patent system in many other countries, including Australia, is based on British law and can be traced back to the Statute of Monopolies.

In France, patents were approved by the monarchy and by others institutions like the "Maison du Roi". The Academy examined novelty. Examinations were generally done in private with no requirement to publish a description of the invention. Actual use of the invention was considered adequate disclosure to the public. The modern French patent system was created during the Revolution in 1791. Patents were granted without examination since inventor's right was considered as a natural one.

Costs

Some of the costs to society related to the granting of a patent are: the immediate costs associated with preparing the patent; patent office work; legal costs associated with prosecuting alleged breaches; business costs associated with those legal actions; increasing the cost of determining whether a method is covered by an existing patent, and reduced assurance in the result; restrictions on the use of the patented technique (particularly in cases where the method is redeveloped independently).

The costs of preparing and filing a patent application, prosecuting it until issued and maintaining the patent vary from one authority to another, and may also be dependent upon the type and complexity of the invention, and on the type of patent.

The European Patent Office estimated in 2005 that the average cost of acquiring a European patent (via a Euro-direct application, i.e. not based on a PCT application) and maintaining the patent for a 10 year term was around 32 000 Euro. Since the London Agreement entered into force on May 1, 2008, this estimation is however no longer up-to-date, since fewer translations are required.

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