James Madison

Madison was the fourth US president and a principal drafter of the US Constitution. He is credited with including Article I, Section 8, Clause 8 – the Patent and Copyright Clause – in the Constitution, providing the basis for IP in the basic US constitutional system and ensuring that Congress had a specifically enumerated power (among only a very few) to establish both a patent and a copyright system. This led to the adoption of the first Patent Act and Copyright Act by the first US Congress in 1790. This early establishment, particularly of the Patent Act, is widely credited with fostering technological growth in the US throughout much of its history. Madison is one of the unsung heroes of the world patent system. He convinced Jefferson to accept the notion that limited monopolies, such as those conferred by patents, are good for prosperity and progress – a bargain between the state and the inventor. He wrote to Jefferson in 1788: “With regard to monopolies they are justly classed among the greatest nuisances in government. But is it clear that as encouragements to literary works and ingenious discoveries, they are not too valuable to be wholly renounced?… It is much more to be dreaded that the few will be unnecessarily sacrificed to the many.”