Re: US colonial patents

Marie,

Perhaps you're thinking of James Davie, patent
examiner and "unofficial historian of the USPTO?" Jim
is an enthusiastic collector and preservationist of
historical patent documents and models. He gave
numerous talks on the subject to examiners, attorneys
librarians and searchers.

I believe Jim retired from the USPTO at the end of
2002 or in early 2003. His collection was impressive
but I don't think he's ever published a formal history
or guide.

There are several newsletter articles on the web site
of the PTO Society that contain his photos and
commentary. See http://www.ptos.org/.

The Journal of the Patent and Trademark Office Society
(http://jptos.org/), published by the PTOS since 1918,
also has published articles on colonial and early U.S.
patents.

Two more good sources are The Patent Office Pony: A
History of the Early Patent Office by Ken W. Dobyns
(Sergeant Kirkland's Press, 1997) and Steam: the
Untold Story of America's First Great Invention by
Andrea Sutcliffe (Palgrave, 2004). Sutcliffe's book
relates the story of rival steam-boat inventors John
Fitch and James Rumsey and their efforts to secure
patents from state legislatures during the 1780s.

During the 1850s, the Patent Office requested
information from each state on patents issued by
colonial and state legislatures. I don't have the
details at hand but I believe it was published in an
annual report.

--Mike White

--- Marie C Fraties-Block <fratiem_at_basf-corp.com>
wrote:

> Hi All,
>
> Does anyone know of a website where I can find
> images of US colonial
> patents [or pre 1790 patents]?
>
> A few years ago, [1999, 2000? I know this is showing
> my age!], I remember
> attending a PIUG meeting in DC where a nighttime
> speaker from the PTO
> talked about his collection of colonial patents,
> including patents with
> full color drawings. The drawings had so much
> detail, they could be
> considered art pieces. One in particular that I
> remember was a patented
> "diving suit". The drawing was in full color and
> depicted a man in a heavy
> diving suit, tethered to a fishing boat. The
> fishing boat occupants were
> smoking a cigarette and the drawing was so detailed
> you could see the
> stream of smoke from the cigarette.
>
> Anyway, all of this to ask if there is a website for
> US colonial patents --
> or if anyone can give me the person's name who spoke
> about his collection.
> I also remember he was a searcher at the PTO and his
> area of searching was
> semiconductors.
>
> Thanks
>
> Marie
> -----------------------------------------------
> Marie C. Fraties-Block
> NAFTA Information Center
> BASF Corporation
> 1609 Biddle Avenue
> Wyandotte, MI 48192
>
> Tel (734) 324-6204
> Fax (734) 324-6194
> e-Mail: fratiem_at_basf.com
>
>



                
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Received on Thu Nov 10 2005 - 16:00:25