The U.S. Patent Office has a long history. It was created Jan. 2, 1775, in Washington, D.C., by Henry Knox, secretary of war, Edmund Randolph, attorney general, and Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson.
The U.S. Patent Act was drafted Jan. 22, 1790 which granted writers and inventors exclusive right to their work.
This bill was inspired by Thomas Jefferson, then secretary of state, and signed into law by President George Washington April 10, 1790.