If you were ever wondering about the origin of this a little bit misleading term of “intellectual property”, you probably did some Internet research. The most popular resource is wikipedia.org of course. It will give you some help in this matter. The term “intellectual property” was used for the first time in 1845, by Judge Charles L. Woodbury’s in Davoll v. Brown, 1 Woodb. & M. 53, 3 West.L.J. 151, 7 F.Cas. 197, No. 3662, 2 Robb.Pat.Cas. 303, Merw.Pat.Inv. 414, PDF file.

Only thus can ingenuity and perseverance be encouraged to exert themselves in this way usefully to the community; and only in this way can we protect intellectual property, the labors of the mind, productions and interests as much a man’s own, and as much the fruit of his honest industry, as the wheat he cultivates, or the flocks he rears.

For all of you who are interested in this subject matter I added a link to the full text of this judgment. The case discussed patent law issues. I also edited the wikipedia post. If anynone of you have a copy of A. Nion’s book entitled “Droit civils des auteurs, artistes et inventeurs” I would appreciate if you contact me.

Categories: copyright law | patent law | US law.