Patent Numbers

The first Patent number was issued in 1836. It was simply (1). When you want to find when an item was made, and you can find the Patent numbers use the largest number you can find. Most items list many Patent numbers. The only one you need to know is the last and largest one listed. There are exceptions to this rule however.

Patents have been granted in some European countries (in England and Italy) since about the 1600s. The United States began granting patents in 1790. The first Patent Act was signed into effect by George Washington on April 10, 1790. Three and a half months later, on July 31, 1790, the first U.S. patent for a Method of Making Pot Ash Useful in Soap Production was issued to Samuel Hopkins of Philadelphia. However, no one saw fit to put patent numbers until 1836. Thus, 46 years of patents fell outside the regular patent numbers system. The first patent numbers was issued to Senator John Ruggles as the inventor of a locomotive steam engine. By 1871, over 100,000 had been issued.
It follows then that patent number 1 was NOT the first U.S. patent. Regular patent numbers system that began in 1836. If there are no special letters before the number (or if the letters are only "US"), you have a normal "utility" patent and can order the patents by the patent numbers alone. If by chance your patent was granted before 1836 July 04, you will not likely be able to identify patent numbers. If you do, it will be an "X-" number (e.g., X-4,963). However, copies of these patents can be ordered by citing the inventor's name and the patent date (year, month, and day), without the need for the number. Design patents (patents granted for the appearance of an object, rather than its function) have separate series for patent numbers and begin with the letter "D" (e.g., D 142,030). Design patents may sound similar to copyright registrations, but they are quite distinct.

Plant patents are also in a separate numbered series and begin with "P.P." (e.g., P.P. 392). An inventor's improvement to his own invention was, for a short time from 1838 to 1861, given a separate numbered series beginning with "A.I." (e.g., A.I. 278). If you happen to come across one of these patent numbers you may also want to look up the original patent on which the improvement is based. Reissue patents (granted to correct defects in an original patent) are in a separate series beginning with "Re" (e.g., Re 1,611). Unlike some other countries, the U.S. gives patent numbers only for granted patents. When you see U.S. patent numbers then it is for granted patents.