United States Senate Committee on Patents
Encyclopedia
The United States Senate Committee on Patents was a committee of the United States Senate
. It was established September 7, 1837 as the "Committee on Patents and the Patent Office" when the Senate approved a resolution of Henry Hubbard
of Kentucky
. Prior to this, legislation and other matters relating to patents and the Patent Office
were referred to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary
.
In 1869, the name of the committee was shortened to simply the Committee on Patents, which it remained until the committee was eliminated by the provisions of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946. Beginning January 2, 1947, jurisdiction over patents, the Patent Office, and patent law reverted to the United States Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Patents, Copyrights, and Trademarks.
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
. It was established September 7, 1837 as the "Committee on Patents and the Patent Office" when the Senate approved a resolution of Henry Hubbard
Henry Hubbard
Henry Hubbard was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1829 to 1835, a Senator from New Hampshire during 1835 to 1841, and the Governor of New Hampshire from 1842 to 1844.-Early life:...
of Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
. Prior to this, legislation and other matters relating to patents and the Patent Office
Patent office
A patent office is a governmental or intergovernmental organization which controls the issue of patents. In other words, "patent offices are government bodies that may grant a patent or reject the patent application based on whether or not the application fulfils the requirements for...
were referred to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary
United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary
The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary is a standing committee of the United States Senate, of the United States Congress. The Judiciary Committee, with 18 members, is charged with conducting hearings prior to the Senate votes on confirmation of federal judges nominated by the...
.
In 1869, the name of the committee was shortened to simply the Committee on Patents, which it remained until the committee was eliminated by the provisions of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946. Beginning January 2, 1947, jurisdiction over patents, the Patent Office, and patent law reverted to the United States Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Patents, Copyrights, and Trademarks.
Chairmen
- 1837-1838: John RugglesJohn RugglesJohn Ruggles was an American politician from the U.S. state of Maine. He served in several important state legislative and judicial positions before serving in the U.S. Senate....
(D-ME) - 1838-1840: Robert StrangeRobert StrangeRobert Strange was a Democratic U.S. senator from the state of North Carolina between 1836 and 1840.Strange was born in Manchester, Virginia. He attended New Oxford Academy and Washington College in Lexington, Virginia...
(D-NC) - 1840-1841: Daniel SturgeonDaniel SturgeonDaniel Sturgeon was an American physician, banker and Democratic party politician from Uniontown, Pennsylvania. He served in both houses of the state legislature and represented Pennsylvania in the United States Senate....
(D-PA) - 1841-1842: Samuel PrentissSamuel PrentissSamuel Prentiss was a United States Senator from Vermont and later a United States federal judge.Born in Stonington, Connecticut, he moved to Northfield, Massachusetts in 1786; he completed preparatory studies and was instructed in the classics by a private tutor...
(W-VT) - 1842-1843: John Leeds KerrJohn Leeds KerrJohn Leeds Kerr was an American politician.-Early years:Kerr was born in 1780 at Greenbury Point near Annapolis, Maryland, and graduated from St. John’s College of Annapolis in 1799...
(W-MD) - 1843-1845: Samuel S. PhelpsSamuel S. PhelpsSamuel Shethar Phelps was a United States Senator from Vermont. He was a member of the Whig Party.Phelps was born in Litchfield, Connecticut. He studied at Yale University and served as a military paymaster during the War of 1812. He then settled in Middlebury, Vermont and became a lawyer, soon...
(W-VT) - 1845-1846: Simon CameronSimon CameronSimon Cameron was an American politician who served as United States Secretary of War for Abraham Lincoln at the start of the American Civil War. After making his fortune in railways and banking, he turned to a life of politics. He became a U.S. senator in 1845 for the state of Pennsylvania,...
(D-PA) - 1846-1847: Walter Colquitt (D-GA)
- 1847-1849: James D. Westcott (D-FL)
- 1849-1851: Hopkins Turney (D-TN)
- 1851-1852: Moses Norris Jr.Moses Norris Jr.Moses Norris, Jr. was a United States Representative and Senator from New Hampshire.Born in Pittsfield, he attended the public schools and the Pittsfield Academy, and graduated from Dartmouth College in 1828. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1832 and commenced practice in Barnstead...
(D-NH) - 1852-1857: Charles Tillinghast JamesCharles Tillinghast JamesCharles Tillinghast James famous consulting mechanical engineer, early proponent of the steam mill, and a United States Democratic Senator from the state of Rhode Island from 1851 to 1857.-Education and Early Experience:...
(D-RI) - 1857-1859: David S. Reid (D-NC)
- 1859-1861: William BiglerWilliam BiglerWilliam Bigler was the 12th Governor of Pennsylvania from 1852 to 1855, and later a U.S. Senator for the Democratic Party....
(D-PA) - 1861-1862: James F. SimmonsJames F. SimmonsJames Fowler Simmons was a United States Senator from Rhode Island. Born on a farm near Little Compton, he attended a private school in Newport and moved to Providence in 1812. He was employed in various manufacturing concerns in Rhode Island and Massachusetts and engaged in the manufacture of...
(R-RI) - 1862-1866: Edgar CowanEdgar CowanEdgar Cowan was an American lawyer and Republican politician from Greensburg, Pennsylvania. He represented Pennsylvania in the United States Senate during the American Civil War....
(R-PA) - 1866-1871: Waitman Willey (R-WV)
- 1871-1875: Orris S. FerryOrris S. FerryOrris Sanford Ferry was a Republican American lawyer and politician from Connecticut who served in the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate. He was also a Brigadier General in the Union Army during the American Civil War.-Early life:Ferry was born on August 15, 1823...
(R/LR/R-CT) - 1875-1877: Bainbridge WadleighBainbridge WadleighBainbridge Wadleigh was a United States Senator from New Hampshire. Born in Bradford, he attended the common schools and Kimball Union Academy . He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1850 and commenced practice in Milford...
(R-NH) - 1877-1879: Newton BoothNewton BoothNewton Booth was an American politician.Born in Salem, Indiana, he attended the common schools. In 1841, his parents Beebe and Hannah Booth moved from Salem to Terre Haute, Indiana. Newton graduated from Asbury University, later renamed DePauw University, in nearby Greencastle, Indiana. He studied...
(R-CA) - 1879-1881: Francis KernanFrancis KernanFrancis Kernan was an American lawyer and politician from New York. He was a U.S. Senator from 1875 to 1881....
(D-NY) - 1881-1887: Orville H. PlattOrville H. PlattOrville Hitchcock Platt was a United States Senator from Connecticut. Born in Washington, Connecticut, he attended the common schools and graduated from The Gunnery in Washington. He studied law in Litchfield, and was admitted to the bar in 1850, commencing practice in Towanda, Pennsylvania...
(R-CT) - 1887-1889: Henry M. Teller (R-CO)
- 1889-1891: Nathan F. Dixon, IIINathan F. Dixon, IIINathan Fellows Dixon, III was a United States Representative and Senator from Rhode Island. Born in Westerly, he attended the common schools of Westerly and Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts...
(R-RI) - 1891-1893: George GrayGeorge Gray (senator)George Gray was an American lawyer, judge, and politician from New Castle, in New Castle County, Delaware. He was a member of the Democratic Party, who served as Attorney General of Delaware, U.S. Senator from Delaware and Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit.-Early life and...
(D-DE) - 1893-1899: Orville H. PlattOrville H. PlattOrville Hitchcock Platt was a United States Senator from Connecticut. Born in Washington, Connecticut, he attended the common schools and graduated from The Gunnery in Washington. He studied law in Litchfield, and was admitted to the bar in 1850, commencing practice in Towanda, Pennsylvania...
(R-CT) - 1899-1903: Jeter Pritchard (R-NC)
- 1903-1907: Alfred Kittredge (R-SD)
- 1907-1909: Reed SmootReed Smoot (U. S. Senator)Reed Owen Smoot was a native-born Utahn who was first elected to the United States Senate from Utah in 1903, and served as a Senator until 1933...
(R-UT) - 1909-1913: Norris BrownNorris BrownNorris Brown was a Senator from Nebraska.Brown was born in Maquoketa, Iowa. The son of William Henry Harrison and Eliza Ann Phelps Brown, he attended Jefferson Iowa Academy and graduated with a law degree from the University of Iowa College of Law in Iowa City, Iowa, in 1883. He was admitted to...
(R-NE) - 1913-1918: Ollie M. JamesOllie M. JamesOllie Murray James , a Democrat, represented Kentucky in the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate.-Biography:...
(D-KY) - 1918-1919: William F. KirbyWilliam F. KirbyWilliam Fosgate Kirby was a Democratic Party politician from Arkansas who represented the state in the U.S. Senate from 1916 to 1921....
(D-AR) - 1919-1921: George Norris (R-NE)
- 1921-1923: Hiram W. Johnson (R-CA)
- 1923-1925: Richard P. ErnstRichard P. ErnstRichard Pretlow Ernst was a U.S. Senator from Kentucky who served from 1921 to 1927. He was a Republican. Ernst graduated from Centre College in 1878 and got his law degree from the Cincinnati Law School in 1880. That year, he was admitted to the bar and began practicing law in Cincinnati, Ohio...
(R-KY) - 1925-1926: William M. ButlerWilliam M. ButlerWilliam Morgan Butler was a lawyer and legislator for the State of Massachusetts, and a United States Senator....
(R-MA) - 1926: Richard P. Ernst (R-KY)
- 1926-1929: Jesse H. MetcalfJesse H. MetcalfJesse Houghton Metcalf was a United States Senator from Rhode Island. Born in Providence, he was educated in private schools there, studied textile manufacturing in Yorkshire, England, and engaged in textile manufacturing. In 1889 Metcalf received a large bequest from his father's business...
(R-RI) - 1929-1932: Charles W. WatermanCharles W. WatermanCharles Winfield Waterman was a United States Senator from Colorado. Born in Waitsfield, Washington County, Vermont, he attended the rural schools and St. Johnsbury Academy. He graduated from the University of Vermont at Burlington in 1885, and taught school in Connecticut and also at Fort Dodge,...
(R-CO) - 1932-1933: Felix HebertFelix HebertFelix Hebert was a United States Senator from Rhode Island. Born near St-Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada, he came to the United States when his parents, Edouard and Catherine Hebert, returned in 1880 and resumed their residence in the town of Coventry, Rhode Island.He attended La Salle Academy...
(R-RI) - 1933: Robert F. WagnerRobert F. WagnerRobert Ferdinand Wagner I was an American politician. He was a Democratic U.S. Senator from New York from 1927 to 1949.-Origin and early life:...
(D-NY) - 1934-1938: William Gibbs McAdooWilliam Gibbs McAdooWilliam Gibbs McAdoo, Jr. was an American lawyer and political leader who served as a U.S. Senator, United States Secretary of the Treasury and director of the United States Railroad Administration...
(D-CA) - 1939-1944: Homer T. Bone (D-WA)
- 1944-1947: Claude PepperClaude PepperClaude Denson Pepper was an American politician of the Democratic Party, and a spokesman for left-liberalism and the elderly. In foreign policy he shifted from pro-Soviet in the 1940s to anti-Communist in the 1950s...
(D-FL)