The Congress shall have Power...To Promote the Progress of Science and Useful Arts, by Securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.1

Progress of Science and Useful Arts, by Securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.1 The Constitutional statement above empowered Congress to establish a patent system that would provide for a potential reward for the inventor and, at the same time, provide benefit to society by making full disclosure of the invention. Congress passed the Patent Act in 1790 and, when the initial system of patent examination proved burdensome, established the Patent Office in 1802. In the ensuing centuries, patent laws and patents have gone through numerous revisions to stay current with changing times.