Episode 2 of 2
Definition of Patentable Subject Matter
- When
- 19 March 1474
- Where
- Venice
The statute defined patentable inventions as new, ingenious, and useful devices not previously made.
The legislation specified that patents could be granted for any new and ingenious device not previously made, provided it was useful. This marked a shift from occasional individual favors to applying general rules for granting patents to protect individual inventors.
Sources
- Venetian Patent Statute Wikipedia, revision of 2026-04-18
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.