Patrick Leahy: “our patent system is grounded in the Constitution. Among the specifically enumerated powers of Congress in Article I…”

“our patent system is grounded in the Constitution. Among the specifically enumerated powers of Congress in Article I, Section 8, stands the command to ``promote the progress of science and the useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective discoveries.'' Those discoveries have, since the founding of our Nation, made us the envy of the world. Our inventors, our research institutions, and the many companies that commercialize those discoveries have brought a wealth of new products and processes to our society; we have all been the beneficiaries of that creativity and hard work. Vermont has long played an important role in bringing such inventions to the public, combining `Yankee ingenuity' with lots of sweat equity. In fact, the very first U.S. patent was granted to Samuel Hopkins, a farmer in Pittsford, VT, who discovered a process for making potash. That ethic continues to the present day; just last year, inventors in IBM's Essex Junction plant received 360 patents 10 percent of IBM's total U.S. patents. Vermont is special, of course, but not unique in this regard. American inventors are in every community, every company and school. They are individuals tinkering on the weekends in their garages. They are teams of PhDs in our largest corporations. They are scientists training students in laboratories at our colleges and universities.”