Post 8 History of Patent Law (and War) Part 2

The industrial revolution accelerated the system of patents. It was widely adopted by various countries. The United States introduced its first Patent laws in 1790 and France in 1791. The signing of the Paris Convention internationalized the patent system in 1883. Under the Paris Convention, an applicant can file a patent application for the invention in any of the Paris Convention ember countries within one year of the filing of the first filed patent application.

Once there were patent laws, there would be patent wars. In 1834, Walter Hunt built America's first sewing machine. He later lost interest in patenting because he believed his invention would cause unemployment. Hunt never patented and in 1846, the first American patent was issued to Elias Howe for "a process that used thread from two different sources." However, sewing machines did not go into mass production until the 1850's, until later Isaac Singer built the first commercially successful machine. Singer built the first sewing machine where the needle moved up and down rather than the side-to-side and the needle was powered by a foot treadle. Previous machines were all hand-cranked. However, Isaac Singer's machine used the same lockstitch that Howe had patented.That led to extensive patent litigation between Howe and Singer.

A series of court battles in the 1850s conclusively gave Elias Howe the patent rights for his sewing machine because of the lockstitch patent. If Walter Hunt had patented his invention, Elias Howe would have lost his case and Isaac Singer would have won. Since he lost, Isaac Singer had to pay Elias Howe patent royalties. This was one of the first "patent war" that result in success of the patent holder.