Since we don't have class yesterday and thus we don't have a specific topic to talk about, I am thinking why not dig in to the history of patent. So according to the wiki page of History of Patent Law, patent laws are considered to have started in Italy with a Venetian Statute of 1474 which was issued by the Republic of Venice. This Statute, regarding the quality of clothing and related apparel (Well, I guess that's why fashion brands like Gucci, Prada and Armani are Italian), also included the law that "anyone who invented a new machine that processes the threads and materials into quality garments more productively or efficiently must disclose their invention to the proper authorities in order to obtain protection from possible infringements for a given period of time."
But interestingly, patents did exist before the first establishment of patent law. John of Utynam was granted the first recorded patent in 1449 and was awarded a 20-year monopoly for a stained glass-making process previously unknown in England. Although this might be the first recorded patent, there was no documents left recording how successful is the patented process, or whether it had been enforced to prevent infringement.
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