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Simple English definitions for legal terms
Patent Act of 1793
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A quick definition of Patent Act of 1793:
The Patent Act of 1793 was a law in the United States that made it easy for people to register their inventions and get a patent. This law also said that if someone copied your invention without permission, you could go to court and prove that your invention was new and not something that was already known to the public. The law also said that there were four types of things that could be patented: machines, things that were made, mixtures of different things, and processes (which means a way of doing something). The government was in charge of registering patents, but it was up to the courts to decide if they were valid or not.
A more thorough explanation:
The Patent Act of 1793 was a law in the United States that made it easier for people to register their inventions and get patents. Instead of having to go through a long examination process, inventors could simply register their invention with the State Department. The law also established rules for what could be patented and what defenses could be used against patent infringement.
Under the Patent Act of 1793, there were four categories of patentable subject matter: machines, manufactures, compositions of matter, and arts (now called processes). This meant that if an invention fell into one of these categories, it could be patented.
The law also established two defenses against patent infringement: lack of novelty and public use. If someone could prove that an invention was not new or had already been used by the public, they could not be sued for infringing on a patent.
For example, if someone invented a new machine that could make shoes faster than any other machine, they could register their invention and get a patent under the Patent Act of 1793. If someone else tried to make the same machine without permission, the inventor could sue them for patent infringement. However, if the person being sued could prove that the machine was not new or had already been used by the public, they would not be found guilty of patent infringement.