The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced earlier today that it has issued U.S. Patent No. 10,000,000. The '000 patent, entitled "Coherent Ladar Using Intra-Pixel Quadrature Detection," is directed to a frequency modulated (coherent) laser detection and ranging system, which the Office indicated "symbolizes the breadth of American invention, with applications in such varied fields as autonomous vehicles, medical imaging devices, military defense systems, and space and undersea exploration."
According to the Office, the issuance of the 10 millionth U.S. patent was "[m]ore than just a number," and the milestone "celebrates the rich history and strength of the American intellectual property system dating back to the first U.S. patent." That patent (above, right) was issued 228 years ago on July 31, 1790 to Samuel Hopkins for a process of making potash, an ingredient used in fertilizer. The table below shows milestone U.S. patents issued between Hopkins' patent and today's 10 millionth patent.
Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross asserted that "[i]nnovation has been the lifeblood of this country since its founding," and suggested that "[g]iven the rapid pace of change, we know that it will not take another 228 years to achieve the next 10-million-patent milestone." USPTO Director Andrei I
ancu declared that U.S. Patent No. 10,000,000 "represents one of ten million steps on a continuum of human accomplishment launched when our Founding Fathers provided for intellectual property protection in our Constitution," adding that "[s]ome of the greatest leaps humanity has made have been fueled by our greatest inventors, Americans who have changed the course of history with their brilliance and dogged perseverance." Commissioner for Patents Drew Hirshfeld stated that "[t]he U.S. patent system serves as a reminder that our nation values and continues to be built by those who are willing to take risks, challenge traditions, push the boundaries of convention, and test new limits in design and thought."
The Office pointed out that U.S. Patent No. 10,000,000 is the first U.S. patent to be issued with the new cover design (above, right) that was unveiled by the Office at the SXSW Interactive Festival in March. The new cover design is only the second change in the patent cover in the last 100 years.
As part of the milestone, the Office has provided an interactive timeline highlighting important moments, notable inventors, changing patent designs, and other interesting facts over more than two centuries of innovation in America.
