The virtue of patents

They say necessity is the mother of invention, and almost every major progression achieved by society－any improvement in people's livelihood or lifestyle－has been the result of someone's imagination.

An unparalleled enthusiasm for invention bolstered numerous industrial and social developments in the United States throughout the 19th century.

Inventors, whether they were professional and prominent like Thomas Edison, or just ordinary people whose names didn't leave as deep a footprint in history－like Garrett Morgan, the inventor of the gas mask, the traffic light and hair straighteners, among other things－made full use of their creativity in technology and wisdom in life. Their efforts helped leverage the new country into an emerging economic power, able to rival the European powers.

Their innovative spirit was demonstrated by an eruption in the number of patents being applied for. These patent applications ranged widely in subject matter and across many aspects of the country's growth, from engineering, transportation, mining and printing to the production of household appliances.

To make patent claim examination officials better understand their work, an applicant needed to present a model－no more than 30.48 centimeters at any side－along with the technical drawings and a written description of the invention, as demanded by a patent act issued by the federal government.