A History of Fire Patent Models

A patent model was a handmade miniature model no larger than 12" by 12" by 12" (approximately 30 cm by 30 cm by 30 cm) that showed how an invention works. It was one of the most interesting early features of the United States patent system.

Since some early inventors had little technological or legal training, it was difficult for them to submit formal patent applications which required the novel features of an invention to be described in a written application and a number of diagrams. These applications were timely and confusing to many inventors as well.

In the US, actual working patent models were required between the years 1790 to 1880. The United States Congress quickly abolished this legal requirement for working models in 1870, however, the U.S. Patent Office (USPTO) continued this requirement until 1880.

Patent laws were new in the US and on July 31, 1790, inventor Samuel Hopkins of Pittsford, Vermont became the first person to be issued a patent in the United States. His patented invention was an improvement in the "making of Pot Ash by a new apparatus & process." With these earliest patent laws requiring a working model of each new invention to be produced in miniature to receive a government patent, inventors also needed to be craftsmen. This unusual law may have prevented many inventions from ever reaching production.

Although some inventors still willingly submitted their working patent models at the turn of the twentieth century. In some jurisdictions, patent models stayed as an important aid to demonstrate the operation of the invention. In the competitive evolution of new and better firefighting apparatus be invented, these miniature models have been preserved, collected, and are on display at various fire museums around the world.

For more information on Patent Models please visit:

United States Patent and Trademark Office -  https://www.uspto.gov/

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