X-Patent
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2008-04-26T17:30:25Z
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Reverted edits by [[Special:Contributions/192.45.72.27|192.45.72.27]] ([[User talk:192.45.72.27|talk]]) to last version by Piledhigheranddeeper
[[Image:US Patent 72x Eli Whitney cotton gin.png|thumb||X-Patent number 72, [[Eli Whitney]]’s [[cotton gin]]. ]]
The '''X-Patents''' are all the [[patent]]s issued by the [[United States Patent and Trademark Office]] from July [[1790]] (when the first U.S. patent was issued), to July [[1836]]. The actual number is unknown, but the best estimate is 9,957. The records were burned in a fire, in December 1836, while in temporary storage. No copies or rosters were maintained by the government at the time, leaving only the inventors’ copies to reconstruct the collection.
==The USPTO and its earliest days==
The Patent Commission of the U.S. was created in [[1790]]. Its first three members were [[Secretary of State]] [[Thomas Jefferson]], Secretary of War [[Henry Knox]], and [[Attorney General]] [[Edmund Randolph]].
{{wikisource|United States patent number:X1|U.S. Patent X1: making of Pot Ash by a new apparatus & process}}
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 [[potash|Pot Ash]] by a new apparatus & process.” The earliest patent law required that a [[patent model|working model]] of each invention be produced in miniature.
The Patent Law was revised for the first time in [[1793]]. It adopted a simple registration system where a patent would be granted for a $30 fee. The Patent Board was replaced by a clerk in the [[Department of State]]. [[James Madison]], Secretary of State, created a separate Patent Office within the State Department and he appointed [[William Thornton|Dr. William Thornton]] as its first superintendent in May [[1802]].
The Patent Office was the only major government building to survive the British invasion of [[Washington, D.C.]] during the War of 1812. This is credited to Dr. William Thornton who was building a musical instrument in the same building. He persuaded British officers that they would be destroying the shared intellectual record of mankind if the patents were burned.
<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ahrpa/opa/kids/special/1836fire.htm |title="Great Patent Fire of 1836" |accessdate=2007-11-23 |format= |work= }}</ref>
==The 1836 fire==
The disastrous fire occurred on [[December 15]], [[1836]], when the patents were in temporary storage while a new (more fireproof) facility was being built. A fire station was located next to the temporary storage facility, but the hoses and pumps were frozen, and the firemen were unable to prevent the loss.
==Recovery of the X-Patents==
The [[United States Congress]] immediately passed a law to aid re-issuing of the missing patents after the fire. About 2,800 such patents have been recovered, and 1,989 are online.
Following the 1836 fire, a serial numbering system was instituted. This system is still in use today. When an earlier patent was recovered and re-issued, the USPTO sometimes gave it a fractional number (eg. 2960½X, issued on [[June 2]], [[1818]]; 8736¾X, issued on [[March 27]], [[1835]]) to preserve the correct sequence. Most, but not all, fractional patents are X-Patents.
Prior to this, U.S. patents were identified by titles and dates. Since then, all new patents issued are preserved and given a serial patent number started from 1. The recovered patents are also numbered from 1, however, these numbers have an “X” added to them. The X is generally added to the end of the number except for the first patent which has the X in the beginning of the number. Therefore, they are called X-Patents.
The latest X-Patents were recovered in [[2004]] from the [[Dartmouth College]] archives. Of the 14 found, 10 were granted to [[Samuel Morey]] including the first known patent for an [[internal combustion engine]].
==A list of some X-Patents==
{{wikisource|Wikisource:Patents#U.S. Patents issued before 1836|U.S. Patents issued before 1836}}
{| class="wikitable"
!Patent!!Invention!!Inventor!!Date
|-
|1X
|Potash production
|Samuel Hopkins
|[[July 31]] [[1790]]
|-
|72X
|Cotton Gin
|Eli Whitney
|[[March 14]] [[1794]]
|-
|4378X
|Gas Or Vapor Engine
|Samuel Morey
|[[April 1]] [[1826]]
|-
|9000X
|Grate
|N. Winslow
|[[July 2]] [[1836]]
|-
|9899X
|Brick Machine
|C. Waterman
|[[July 2]] [[1836]]
|-
|9894X
|Plow Moldboard
|I. Snider
|[[July 2]] [[1836]]
|-
|9893X
|Lock
|A. Roff
|[[July 2]] [[1836]]
|-
|9890X
|Thrashing Mach.
|A. Parson
|[[July 2]] [[1836]]
|-
|9889X
|Cook Stove
|W. Parmalee
|[[July 2]] [[1836]]
|-
|9887X
|Plow
|T. Miller
|[[July 2]] [[1836]]
|-
|9886X
|Dressing Stares
|C. McGregory
|[[July 2]] [[1836]]
|-
|9885X
|Cotton Gin
|J. McCreight
|[[July 2]] [[1836]]
|-
|9884X
|Door Lock
|J. Mo Clory
|[[July 2]] [[1836]]
|-
|9882X
|Clover Huller
|W. Loomis
|[[July 2]] [[1836]]
|-
|9879X
|Feather Dresser
|F.P.Knowlton
|[[July 2]] [[1836]]
|-
|9878X
|Platform Balanoe
|J. Horton
|[[July 2]] [[1836]]
|-
|9877X
|Nail Extractor
|R. Haynes
|[[July 2]] [[1836]]
|-
|9876X
|Cotton Press
|H.G. Guyon
|[[July 2]] [[1836]]
|-
|9875X
|Cook Stove
|C. Granger
|[[July 2]] [[1836]]
|}
== References ==
<references/>
==External links==
* [http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?TERM1=x+&Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=0&f=S&l=50 X-Patents Online at USPTO Website]
* [http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ahrpa/opa/kids/special/1836fire.htm Great Patent Fire of 1836]
* [http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/09/technology/09patent.html ''New York Times'' article on the 2004 recovery of 14 X-Patents]
* [http://www.patentstation.com/mdm/p142.htm Interesting Patent Events]
* [http://www.patentstation.com/pic/pdfdl/US0X0000001.pdf The U.S. Patent No. 1X]
* [http://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/18/business/18PATE.html “Patent Models’ Strange Odyssey”] by Teresa Riordan, ''The New York Times'', February 18, 2002.
* [http://www.dartmouth.edu/~vox/0405/0823/patents.html Early patent records found in library]
[[Category:1836 in law]]
[[Category:United States patent law]]
[[Category:Legal history of the United States]]