II.   Instruments & Transactions

A Patent, or Letters Patent, is a formal Instrument issued under the Scientiam Mysteria (Occult Knowledge) standards of instruments and writing first formed under King Henry VIII of England from the 16th Century as a form of public Decree of a Trust or Estate or Fund issued by the Trustee, or Executors or duly authorized Administrator under the great seal of the Trust, or Estate or Fund to one or more persons conferring some exclusive privilege, or exemption or use of property or authority that would otherwise be unlawful.

Since the adoption by the Crown of England in the 16th Century of the Venetian System of Patents (invented in the 14th Century), there exists three forms and levels of Patents being Sovereign, Official and Corporate:

(i) A Royal Patent, or Letters Patent in the style of England since the 16th Century is essentially a Dispensation and therefore an Indulgence (being the highest form of grant) mirroring the ancient forms of style and law of the Carolingians in the granting of Rights; and

(ii) A Letters Patent or Official Patent in the style of Gazetted notice since the 17th Cebtury is the second highest form of Patent relying upon the procedure of public notice and enforcement within the bounds of an Estate or Fund or Dominion; and

(iii) A Corporate Patent or Patent is the lowest form of exclusive Right relying upon international treaties, conventions between corporations, or corporate nations, relying upon public notice, mutual recognition within the bounds of the particular corporate entity.

In terms of the evolution of Patent Law:

(i) The Senate of Venice did not formalize the rules and procedures for Patents until a State in 1474. Within this Patent system, the maximum period of protection was restricted to 10 years for exclusive licenses of invention; and

(ii) The System of Patents was adopted in England from 1545 under Henry VIII and in France under Henry II from around 1555. However, under Queen Elizabeth I, the Patent system became an abused tool of promoting monopolies that caused terrible hardship and depressed innovation, particularly when Patents were granted on common commodities such as salt and starch. The use of Patents as a defacto method of exacting taxes continued under James I of England until economic conditions forced the passing of the Statute of Monopolies Act in 1624 (21J.c.3), repealing all past and future patents and monopolies, except those created in the future on completely novel inventions. The act itself was repealed in 1863 (26 & 27 Vict c 125) under the growing monopoly abuses under Queen Victoria ; and

(iii) In the 17th Century, a level of transparency concerning Patents emerged within the English model with the introduction of the London Gazette from 1666 by which the existence and granting of new Patents was to be made public, whereas in France a system of secrecy prevailed, with notice of inventions often being delayed under publication of digests many years after the grant of Patents; and

(iv) The emergence of the Industrial Revolution (1760’s to 1820’s) dramatically changed the nature of Patent law. In 1775, two public acts of Parliament identified for the first time Patents for Inventions considered strategic for Great Britain, being the Porcelain Patent Act 1775 (15 Geo3.c.52)and the James Watt's Fire Engines Patent Act 1775 1(15 Geo3.c.61). In 1776, three more Patents were recognized by public acts of Westminster being the protection of the Taylor Steam Engine invention via Elizabeth Taylor's Patent Act 1776 (16 Geo3.c.18), the Liardet's Cement Patent Act 1776 (17 Geo3.c.29) and Hartley's Patent (Fire Prevention) Act 1776 c. 6 (17 Geo3.c.6); and

(v) Between 1785 and 1792, there were five more Patents recognized by public acts of Westminster being the Bancroft's Patent Act 1785 c. 38 (25 Geo3.c.38), Lord Dundonald's Patent (Tar, Pitch, etc.) Act 1785 (25 Geo3.c.42), Booth's Patent Act 1792 c. 73 (32 Geo3.c.73), Turner's Patent Act 1792 c. 72 (32 Geo3.c.72) and Conway's Patent Kiln Act 1795 c. 68 (35 Geo3.c.68); and

(vi) In the United States a Patent Act was introduced for the promotion of innovation from 1790, requiring that applications including a working model with the submission. However, this was modified in 1793 and by 1802 a separate Patent Office for the United States was created. In France, Patent Law was also revised following the Revolution and refined by 1844; and

(vii) Beginning by the early/mid 19th Century, Patent Law began to be modified in favour of maintaining market advantage, through acts such as Letters Patent for Inventions Act 1835 (5&6Will4.c.86), Patent Law Amendment Act 1852 (15 & 16 Vict. c. 83). However, a massive overhaul of principles of Patens, as well as Designs and Trademarks were introduced in a consolidated at of 1883 (46 & 47 Vict c.57); and

(viii) Despite several attempts (beginning in 1883), large scale multi-national cooperation on the legal enforcement of Patents has been less effective that deceptively named “free trade agreements” which have obliged weaker nations to enforce the Patent claims of more powerful nations, most notably the United States.