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crime.” He made a face but circled back
“The idea of patents was not new,” continued Wrexford. “King Henry VI issued the first letter patent in 1449 to a glazier for his special formula for making colored glass. It
took another hundred years for the second one, again for a glass-making technique.” “Then, in 1598, Queen Elizabeth issued a patent to Edward Darcy, one of her courtiers, for a monopoly on the import and sale of playing cards. Darcy then sued a merchant who was doing the same thing. The defendant in turn challenged the patent in court by right of common law.”
“Fierce arguments were presented by both sides to the chief justice. The crux of the merchant’s defense was that the Crown couldn’t grant a patent merely for the personal gain of an individual. Only an idea that created some actual improvement to the making of playing cards could be protected,” explained Wrexford. “In other words, a patent was for some new invention or unique innovation, not merely for commerce.”
lace fichus.
he described?”
