patent act of 1793
Patent Act of 1793. Hist. An early U.S. patent law that (1) abandoned the examination process in favor of simple registration; (2) established the infringement defenses of invalidity for lack of novelty or public use; and (3) articulated the four categories of patentable subject matter as machine, manufacture, composition of matter, and art (now called process). • The State Department handled the registration of patents, and the question of their validity was left up to the courts.
