X-Patent 888619 208355101 2008-04-26T17:30:25Z Edcolins 51336 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]]