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{{short description|Novel device, material or technical process}}
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{{Redirect2|Invented|Inventor|other uses|Invention (disambiguation)|and|Inventor (disambiguation)}}
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{{Other uses}}


[[File:Science and Invention Nov 1928 Cover 2.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Cover of Science and Invention Magazine|'BUILD YOUR OWN TELEVISION RECEIVER.' ''[[Electrical Experimenter|Science and Invention]]'' magazine cover, November 1928]]
{{Copy edit|date=April 2011}}


An '''invention''' is a unique or [[novelty (patent)|novel]] [[machine|device]], method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an idea is unique enough either as a stand-alone invention or as a significant improvement over the work of others, it can be patented. A patent, if granted, gives the inventor a proprietary interest in the patent over a specific period of time, which can be licensed for financial gain.
An '''invention''' is a new composition, [[device]], or process. An invention may be derived from a pre-existing model or [[idea]], or it could be independently conceived in which case it may be a radical breakthrough. In addition, there is '''[[cultural invention]]''', which is an [[innovative]] set of useful [[social behavior]]s adopted by people and passed on to others.<ref>Artificial Mythologies: A Guide to Cultural Invention by Craig J. Saper (1997); Review of Artificial Mythologies. A Guide to cultural Invention, Kirsten Ostherr (1998) http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3709/is_199810/ai_n8821092</ref> Inventions often extend the boundaries of human knowledge or experience. An invention that is [[novelty (patent)|novel]] and [[inventive step and non-obviousness|not obvious]] to [[person skilled in the art|others skilled in the same field]] may be able to obtain the legal protection of a [[patent]].


An '''inventor''' creates or discovers an invention. The word ''inventor'' comes from the [[Latin]] verb ''invenire'', ''invent-'', to find.<ref>[http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=inventor&db=* inventor]. Dictionary.com. Retrieved 1 October 2017.</ref><ref>[http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=invent invent] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080115143418/http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=invent |date=2008-01-15 }}. ''[[Merriam-Webster]]''. Retrieved 1 October 2017.</ref> Although inventing is closely associated with science and engineering, inventors are not necessarily engineers or scientists.<ref>*[https://www.britannica.com/topic/inventor Inventor]. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 1 October 2017.</ref> Due to advances in [[evolutionary robotics|artificial intelligence]], the term "inventor" no longer exclusively applies to an occupation (see [[computer (occupation)|human computers]]).<ref name="Hornby">{{cite journal
== Process ==
| first = Gregory S.
Invention is a [[creative process]]. An open and curious mind allows an inventor to see beyond what is known. Seeing a new possibility, a new connection or relationship can spark an invention. Inventive thinking frequently involves combining concepts or elements from different realms that would not normally be put together. Sometimes inventors disregard the boundaries between distinctly separate territories or fields. Ways of thinking, materials, processes or tools from one realm are used as no one else has imagined in a different realm.
| last = Hornby
| author2=Al Globus |author3=Derek S. Linden |author4=Jason D. Lohn
| title = Automated antenna design with evolutionary algorithms
| publisher = American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
| journal = Space
| date = September 2006
| url = http://alglobus.net/NASAwork/papers/Space2006Antenna.pdf
| access-date = 2012-02-19}}</ref>


Some inventions can be patented. The system of [[patent]]s was established to encourage inventors by granting limited-term, limited [[monopoly]] on inventions determined to be sufficiently novel, non-obvious, and [[Utility (patentability requirement)|useful]]. A patent legally protects the intellectual property rights of the inventor and legally recognizes that a claimed invention is actually an invention. The rules and requirements for patenting an invention vary by country and the process of obtaining a patent is often expensive.
[[Play (activity)|Play]] can lead to invention. Childhood curiosity, experimentation, and imagination can develop one's play instinct—an inner need according to [[Carl Jung]]. Inventors feel the need to play with things that interest them, and to explore, and this internal drive brings about novel creations.<ref>The Lemelson Center's website, Invention at Play: Inventors' Stories, http://www.inventionatplay.org/inventors_main.html; and Juice: The Creative Fuel That Drives World-Class Inventors (2004), p.14-15 by Evan I. Schwartz.</ref> [[Thomas Edison]]: "I never did a day's work in my life, it was all fun". Inventing can also be an obsession.
To invent is to see anew. Inventors often envision a new idea, seeing it in their mind's eye. New ideas can arise when the conscious mind turns away from the subject or problem; or when the focus is on something else; or even while relaxing or sleeping. A novel idea may come in a flash - a [[Eureka]]! moment. For example, after years of working to figure out the general theory of relativity, the solution came to Einstein suddenly in a dream "like a giant die making an indelible impress, a huge map of the universe outlined itself in one clear vision".<ref>Einstein: A Life by Denis Brian p.159 (1996)</ref> Inventions can also be accidental, such as in the case of [[polytetrafluoroethylene]] (Teflon).


Another meaning of invention is '''[[cultural invention]]''', which is an [[innovative]] set of useful [[social behaviour]]s adopted by people and passed on to others.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Saper, Craig J. |title=Artificial Mythologies : a Guide to Cultural Invention. |date=1997 |publisher=University of Minnesota Press |isbn=978-0-8166-8773-2 |oclc=437188488}}</ref> The [[Institute for Social Inventions]] collected many such ideas in magazines and books.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Albery |first=Nicholas. |title=Best ideas : a compendium of social innovations : the latest ideas and award-winning schemes from the Institute for Social Inventions |date=1995 |publisher=Institute for Social Inventions |isbn=0-948826-37-1 |oclc=36969054}}</ref> Invention is also an important component of artistic and design [[creativity]]. Inventions often extend the boundaries of human knowledge, experience or capability.
Insight is also a vital element of invention. It may begin with questions, doubt or a [[Intuition (knowledge)|hunch]]. It may begin by recognizing that something unusual or accidental may be useful or that it could open a new avenue for exploration. For example, the odd metallic color of plastic made by accidentally adding a thousand times too much catalyst led scientists to explore its metal-like properties, inventing electrically conductive plastic and light emitting plastic-—an invention that won the Nobel Prize in 2000 and has led to innovative lighting, display screens, wallpaper and much more (see [[conductive polymer]], and [[organic light-emitting diode]] or [[OLED]]).<ref>Nobelprize.org, [http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/2000/public.html ''The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2000'']</ref>


==Types==
Invention is often an exploratory process, with an uncertain or unknown outcome. There are failures as well as successes. Inspiration can start the process, but no matter how complete the initial idea, inventions typically have to be developed. Inventors believe in their ideas and they do not give up in the face of one or many failures. Inventors are often famous for their confidence, their perseverance and their passion.
Inventions are of three kinds: scientific-technological (including medicine), sociopolitical (including economics and law), and humanistic, or cultural.


Scientific-technological inventions include railroads, [[aviation]], [[vaccination]], hybridization, [[antibiotics]], astronautics, [[holography]], the atomic bomb, computing, the [[Internet]], and the smartphone.
Inventors may, for example, try to improve something by making it more effective, healthier, faster, more efficient, easier to use, serve more purposes, longer lasting, cheaper, more [[ecological]]ly friendly, or [[aesthetic]]ally different, e.g., lighter weight, more [[ergonomic]], structurally different, with new light or color properties, etc.<ref>Countless examples can easily be found by searching patents, such as on http://patft.uspto.gov/netahtml/PTO/search-bool.html</ref> Or an entirely new invention may be created such as the [[Internet]], [[email]], the [[telephone]] or [[electric light]]. Necessity may be the mother of invention, invention may be its own reward, or invention can create necessity. Nobody ''needed'' a phonograph before Edison invented it, the need for it developed afterward. Likewise, few ever imagined the telephone or the airplane prior to their invention, but many people cannot live without these inventions now.<ref>Forks, Phonographs, and Hot Air Balloons: A Field Guide to Inventive Thinking p. 8 (1992), by Robert J. Weber, also from Juice: The Creative Fuel That Drives World-Class Inventors, p. 13 (2004) by Evan I. Schwartz</ref>


Sociopolitical inventions comprise new laws, institutions, and procedures that change modes of social behavior and establish new forms of human interaction and organization. Examples include the British [[Parliament]], the US [[Constitution]], the Manchester (UK) General Union of Trades, the Boy Scouts, the [[Red Cross]], the [[Olympic Games]], the [[United Nations]], the [[European Union]], and the [[Universal Declaration of Human Rights]], as well as movements such as [[socialism]], [[Zionism]], [[suffragism]], [[feminism]], and animal-rights veganism.
The idea for an invention may be developed on paper or on a computer, by writing or drawing, by [[trial and error]], by making models, by [[experiment]]ing, by testing and/or by making the invention in its whole form. As the dialogue between Picasso and Braque brought about Cubism, collaboration has spawned many inventions. Brainstorming can spark new ideas. Collaborative creative processes are frequently used by designers, architects and scientists. Co-inventors are frequently named on patents. Now it is easier than ever for people in different locations to collaborate. Many inventors keep [[inventor's notebook|records]] of their working process - [[inventor's notebook|notebooks]], photos, etc., including [[Leonardo da Vinci]], [[Thomas Jefferson]] and Albert Einstein.<ref>The Inventor's Notebook by Fred Grissom and David Pressman (2005); Leonardo da Vinci: Artist, Scientist, Inventor by Simona Cremante (2005), http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/jefferson_papers/; http://www.alberteinstein.info/about/</ref> In the process of developing an invention, the initial idea may change. The invention may become simpler, more practical, it may expand, or it may even ''morph'' into something totally different. Working on one invention can lead to others too. There is only one country in the world that will grant patent rights for an invention that continues part of an invention in a previously filed patent—the United States.<ref>http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/documents/0200_201_08.htm</ref>


Humanistic inventions encompass culture in its entirety and are as transformative and important as any in the sciences, although people tend to take them for granted. In the domain of linguistics, for example, many alphabets have been inventions, as are all [[neologism]]s ([[Shakespeare]] invented about 1,700 words). Literary inventions include the epic, [[tragedy]], comedy, the [[novel]], the [[sonnet]], the [[Renaissance]], neoclassicism, [[Romanticism]], [[Symbolism (arts)|Symbolism]], Aestheticism, [[Socialist Realism]], [[Surrealism]], [[postmodernism]], and (according to Freud) [[psychoanalysis]]. Among the inventions of artists and musicians are oil painting, printmaking, [[photography]], [[Film|cinema]], musical tonality, atonality, [[jazz]], rock, [[opera]], and the symphony orchestra. Philosophers have invented logic (several times), [[dialectics]], idealism, materialism, [[utopia]], [[anarchism]], [[semiotics]], [[Phenomenology (philosophy)|phenomenology]], [[behaviorism]], [[positivism]], [[pragmatism]], and [[deconstruction]]. Religious thinkers are responsible for such inventions as [[monotheism]], [[pantheism]], [[Methodism]], [[Mormonism]], iconoclasm, [[puritanism]], [[deism]], secularism, ecumenism, and the [[Baháʼí Faith]]. Some of these disciplines, genres, and trends may seem to have existed eternally or to have emerged spontaneously of their own accord, but most of them have had inventors.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Epstein |first=Mikhail |date=2016-12-20 |title={{title case|INVENTIVE THINKING IN THE HUMANITIES}} |journal=Common Knowledge |volume=23 |issue=1 |pages=1–18 |doi=10.1215/0961754x-3692079 |issn=0961-754X}}</ref>
The creation of an invention and its use can be affected by practical considerations. Visionary inventors commonly collaborate with technical experts, manufacturers, investors and/or business people to turn an invention from idea into reality, and possibly even to turn invention into [[innovation]]. Nevertheless, there are inventions that are too expensive to produce and inventions that require scientific advancements that have not yet occurred.<ref>See US Patent #5,461,114 and D11,023 as well as Leonardo da Vinci: Artist, Scientist, Inventor by Simona Cremante (2005)</ref> These barriers can erode or disappear as the economic situation changes or as science develops. But history shows that turning the idea of an invention into reality is not always a swift or a direct process, even for terrific inventions. It took centuries for some of [[Leonardo da Vinci]]'s inventions to become reality.<ref>Leonardo da Vinci: Artist, Scientist, Inventor by Simona Cremante (2005)</ref> Inventions may also become more useful after time passes and other changes occur. For example, the [[parachute]] became more useful once powered [[flight]] was a reality.<ref>White, Lynn: The Invention of the Parachute, ''Technology and Culture'', Vol. 9, No. 3, (Jul., 1968), pp. 462-467</ref> It is interesting that some invention ideas that have never been made in reality can obtain patent protection.<ref>Patent It Yourself by David Pressman (2000), particularly section 9/2, as a specific example refer to 1879, F. Auguste Bartholdi U.S. Patent D11,023</ref>


== Process ==
An invention can serve many purposes, these purposes might differ significantly and they may change over time. An invention or a further developed version of it may serve purposes never envisioned by its original inventor(s) or even by others living at the time of its original invention. As an example, consider all the kinds of [[plastic]] developed, their innumerable uses, and the tremendous growth this material invention is still undergoing today.<ref>Most information is directly from the Smithsonian Institution's Lemelson Center for Invention and Innovation, http://www.invention.smithsonian.org/home/, e.g., Invention at Play: Inventors' Stories, http://www.inventionatplay.org/inventors_main.html and Juice: The Creative Fuel That Drives World-Class Inventors (2004) by Evan I. Schwartz (download an interview with this author about his book at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4244179). Also: Notebooks of the Mind: Explorations of Thinking (1985) by Vera John-Steiner; http://www.greenfieldpatents.com/inventitiveprocess.php; http://www.uspto.gov, http://www.uspto.gov/main/glossary/index.html#cip; American Heritage.com article "How Did the Heroic Inventors Do It?" by Thomas P. Hughes at http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/it/1985/2/1985_2_18.shtml; History of Plastics and Plastic Packaging Products&nbsp;— Polyethylene, Polypropylene, and More http://www.packagingtoday.com/introplasticexplosion.htm; A directory of resins from 600 plastics manufacturers http://www.ides.com/plastics/A.htm Plastics Materials; Detailed Guide To All Plastics Processes, British Plastics Federation http://www.bpf.co.uk/bpfindustry/process_plastics.cfm; http://www.plastiquarian.com/ Plastics Historical Society; History of plastics, Society of the Plastics Industry http://www.plasticsindustry.org/industry/history.htm</ref>
=== Practical means ===
[[File:Alessandro Volta.jpeg|thumb|200px|[[Alessandro Volta]] with the first [[electrical battery]]. Volta is recognized as an influential inventor.]]


Ideas for an invention may be developed on paper or on a computer, by writing or drawing, by [[trial and error]], by making models, by [[experiment]]ing, by testing and/or by making the invention in its whole form. [[Brainstorming]] also can spark new ideas for an invention. Collaborative creative processes are frequently used by engineers, designers, architects and scientists. Co-inventors are frequently named on patents.
==Timeline of historic invention==
{{main|timeline of historic inventions}}
The '''timeline of historic inventions''' is a chronological list of particularly important or significant technological [[invention]]s.


In addition, many inventors keep [[inventor's notebook|records]] of their working process – [[inventor's notebook|notebooks]], photos, etc., including [[Leonardo da Vinci]], [[Galileo Galilei]], [[Evangelista Torricelli]], [[Thomas Jefferson]] and [[Albert Einstein]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Grissom, Fred. |title=Inventor's Notebook, The. |date=2005 |publisher=Nolo |isbn=9781406318289 |oclc=1007922528}}</ref><ref>''Leonardo da Vinci: Artist, Scientist, Inventor'' by Simona Cremante (2005)</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Jefferson's Papers at the Library of Congress |url=http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/jefferson_papers/ |publisher=Memory.loc.gov |access-date=2013-07-17}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=about Albert Einstein |url=http://www.alberteinstein.info/about/Information |access-date=Jun 1, 2020}}</ref>
== Artistic invention ==


In the process of developing an invention, the initial idea may change. The invention may become simpler, more practical, it may expand, or it may even ''morph'' into something totally different. Working on one invention can lead to others too.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Continuation Patents at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Offices |url=http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/documents/0200_201_08.htm |publisher=Uspto.gov |access-date=2013-07-17}}</ref>
Invention has a long and important history in [[the arts]]. Inventive thinking has always played a vital role in the [[creative process]]. While some inventions in the arts are [[patentable]], others are not because they cannot fulfill the strict requirements governments have established for granting them. (see [[patent]]).


History shows that turning the concept of an invention into a working device is not always swift or direct. Inventions may also become more useful after time passes and other changes occur. For example, the [[parachute]] became more useful once powered [[flight]] was a reality.<ref>White, Lynn: The Invention of the Parachute, ''Technology and Culture'', Vol. 9, Nremante (2005)</ref>
=== Art, design and architecture ===


=== Conceptual means ===
{{ quotebox
[[Image:Edison and phonograph edit2.jpg|thumb|190px|[[Thomas Edison]] with [[phonograph]]. Edison was one of the most prolific inventors in history, holding [[List of Edison patents|1,093 U.S. patents in his name]].]]
|"A man paints with his brain and not with his hands." - [[Michelangelo]] <ref>[http://thinkexist.com/search/searchquotation.asp?search=brain&q=author%3A%22Michelangelo%22 Finding quotations was never this easy<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>}}


Invention is often a [[creative process]]. An open and curious mind allows an inventor to see beyond what is known. Seeing a new possibility, connection or relationship can spark an invention. Inventive thinking frequently involves combining concepts or elements from different realms that would not normally be put together. Sometimes inventors disregard the boundaries between distinctly separate territories or fields.{{Citation needed|date=May 2012}} Several concepts may be considered when thinking about invention.
[[Art]] is continuously reinvented. Many artists, designers, and architects think like inventors. As they create, they may: explore beyond that which is known or obvious, push against barriers, change or discard conventions, and/or break into new territory. Breaking the rules became the most valued attribute in art during the 20th century, with the highest acclaim going to conceptual innovation which frequently involved the invention of new genres. For the first time the idea within the artwork was unmistakably more important than the tangible art object. All kinds of artists have been inventing throughout history, and among their inventions are important contributions to visual art and other fields.


==== Play ====
Some visual artists like [[Picasso]] become inventors in the process of creating art. Inventions by other artists are separate from their art, such as the scientific inventions of [[Leonardo da Vinci]]. Some inventions in visual art employ prior developments in science or technology. For example, Picasso and [[Julio Gonzalez (sculptor)|Julio Gonzalez]] used welding to invent a new kind of sculpture, the form of which could be more open to light and air, and more recently, computer software has enabled an explosion of invention in visual art, including the invention of [[computer art]], and invention in [[photography]], [[film]], [[architecture]] and [[design]]. Like the invention of welded sculpture, other inventions in art are new mediums, new art forms, or both. Examples are: the [[collage]] and the construction invented by Picasso, the [[Readymade]] invented by [[Marcel Duchamp]], the [[Mobile (sculpture)|mobile]] invented by [[Alexander Calder]], the combine invented by [[Robert Rauschenberg]], the shaped painting invented by [[Frank Stella]], and the motion picture, the invention of which is attributed to [[Eadweard Muybridge]].<ref>www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Eadweard_Muybridge.aspx#1E1-Muybridg, and see www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/399928/Eadweard-Muybridge</ref> Art has been reinvented by developing new processes of creation. For example, [[Jackson Pollock]] invented an entirely new form of painting and a new kind of abstraction by dripping, pouring, splashing and splattering paint onto unstretched canvas laying on the floor. A number of art movements were inventions often created collaboratively, such as [[Cubism]] invented by Picasso and [[Braque]]. Substantial inventions in art, design and architecture were made possible by inventions and improvements in the tools of the trade. The invention of [[Impressionist]] painting, for example, was possible because the prior invention of collapsible, resealable metal paint tubes facilitated spontaneous painting outdoors. Inventions originally created in the form of artwork can also develop other uses, as Alexander Calder's mobile is commonly used over babies' cribs today. Funds generated from patents on inventions in art, design and architecture can support the realization of the invention or other creative work. [[Frederic Auguste Bartholdi]]'s 1879 patent on the [[Statue of Liberty]] helped fund the statue currently in New York harbor because it covered small replicas.<ref>1879, F. Auguste Bartholdi U.S. Patent D11,023</ref>
[[File:Gutenberg-Presse im Gutenberg-Museum, Mainz, Deutschland (48988294536).jpg|thumb|200px|[[Johannes Gutenberg]]'s [[Gutenberg press|printing press]] was voted the most important invention of the second millennium.<ref name="Man of the Millennium">{{cite web |url=http://rhsweb.org/library/1000PeopleMillennium.htm |title=Gutenberg, Man of the Millennium |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120303082307/http://rhsweb.org/library/1000PeopleMillennium.htm |archive-date=3 March 2012 |work=1,000+ People of the Millennium and Beyond |year=2000}}</ref>]]
Play may lead to invention. Childhood curiosity, experimentation, and imagination can develop one's play instinct. Inventors feel the need to play with things that interest them, and to explore, and this internal drive brings about novel creations.<ref name="inventionatplay1">{{Cite web |title=Lemelson Centers Invention at Play : Inventors Stories |url=http://www.inventionatplay.org/inventors_main.html |publisher=Inventionatplay.org |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131020073009/http://inventionatplay.org/inventors_main.html |archive-date=2013-10-20 |access-date=2013-10-03}}</ref><ref>Juice: The Creative Fuel That Drives World-Class Inventors (2004), pp. 14–15 by Evan I. Schwartz.</ref>


Sometimes inventions and ideas may seem to arise spontaneously while [[daydreaming]], especially when the mind is free from its usual concerns.<ref>Claxton, Guy. "Hare Brain, Tortoise Mind: Why intelligence increases when you think less". Fourth Estate, London, 1997.</ref> For example, both J. K. Rowling (the creator of [[Harry Potter]])<ref>Smith, Sean. "J. K. Rowling: A Biography." Michael O'Mara Books Limited, 2001.</ref> and Frank Hornby (the inventor of [[Meccano]])<ref>Jack, Ian. "Before the Oil Ran Out: Britain 1977–87". Martin Secker & Warburg Ltd, 1987.</ref> first had their ideas while on [[train]] journeys.
Among other artists, designers and architects who are or were inventors are: [[Filippo Brunelleschi]], [[Le Corbusier]], [[Naum Gabo]], [[Frederick Hart (sculptor)|Frederick Hart]], [[Charles Eames]], [[Louis Comfort Tiffany]], [[John La Farge]], [[Buckminster Fuller]], [[Walt Disney]], [[Man Ray]], [[Yves Klein]], [[Henry N. Cobb]], [[I. M. Pei]], [[Kenneth Snelson]], [[Helen Frankenthaler]], [[Chuck Hoberman|Chuck (Charles) Hoberman]] and Ingo Maurer. Some of their inventions have been patented. Others might have fulfilled the requirements of a patent, like [[Cubism|the Cubist image]]. There are also inventions in visual art that do not fit into the requirements of a patent. Examples are inventions that cannot be differentiated from that which has already existed clearly enough for approval by government patent offices, such as Duchamp's Readymade and other conceptual works. Invention whose inventor or inventors are not known cannot be patented, such as the invention of [[abstract art]] or [[abstract painting]], [[oil painting]], [[Process Art]], [[Installation art]] and Light Art. Also, when it cannot or has not been determined whether something was a first in human history or not, there may not be a patentable invention even though it may be considered an invention in the realm of art. For example, Picasso is credited with inventing collage though this was done earlier in cultures outside of the western world.


In contrast, the successful aerospace engineer [[Max Munk]] advocated "aimful thinking".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Engines of our Ingenuity No. 1990: Max Munk |url=http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi1990.htm |access-date=2017-03-05}}</ref>
Inventions in the visual arts that may be patentable might be new materials or mediums, new kinds of images, new processes, novel designs, or they may be a combination of these. Inventions by [[Filippo Brunelleschi]], [[Frederick Hart (sculptor)|Frederick Hart]], [[Charles Eames]], [[Louis Comfort Tiffany]], [[John La Farge]], [[Walt Disney]], [[Henry N. Cobb]], [[Chuck Hoberman|Chuck (Charles) Hoberman]] and others received patents. The color, [[International Klein Blue]] invented by [[Yves Klein]] was patented in 1960 and used two years later in his sculpture. Inventions by [[Kenneth Snelson]] which are crucial to his sculptures are patented. R. Buckminster Fuller's famous [[geodesic dome]] is covered in one of his 28 US patents. Ingo Maurer known for his lighting design has a series of patents on inventions in these works. Many inventions created collaboratively by designers at [[IDEO]] Inc. have been patented. Countless other examples can easily be found by searching patents at the websites of the Patent Offices of various countries, such as http://www.USPTO.gov. Inventions in design can be protected in a special kind of patent called a "[[design patent]]". The first design patent was granted in 1842 to [[George Bruce (industrialist)|George Bruce]] for a new font.<ref>http://www.ipwatchdog.com/2008/11/06/the-first-design-patent-2/id=242/</ref> See a database of patents in the arts at http://www.patenting-art.com/database/dbase1-e.htm. See images and text from some patents in the arts at http://www.patenting-art.com/images/images-e.htm.<ref>"A Textbook Example of Ranking Artworks" by Patricia Cohen, ''The New York Times'', (08-04-08)</ref><ref>''Picasso and the Invention of Cubism'' by Pepe Karmel (2003)</ref><ref>''Leonardo da Vinci: Artist, Scientist, Inventor'' by Simona Cremante (2005)</ref>


==== Re-envisioning ====
'''Timeline of Invention in Art, Design and Architecture''' –
''dates may be approximations''


To invent is to see anew. Inventors often envision a new idea, seeing it in their [[mind's eye]]. New ideas can arise when the conscious mind turns away from the subject or problem when the inventor's focus is on something else, or while relaxing or sleeping. A novel idea may come in a flash—a [[Eureka effect|Eureka]]! moment. For example, after years of working to figure out the general theory of relativity, the solution came to Einstein suddenly in a dream "like a giant die making an indelible impress, a huge map of the universe outlined itself in one clear vision".<ref>Einstein: A Life by Denis Brian p.159 (1996)</ref> Inventions can also be accidental, such as in the case of [[polytetrafluoroethylene]] (Teflon).
350,000 BCE – [[Paint]] was invented by Africans. Pigment and paint grinding equipment was found in a cave at Twin Rivers near Lusaka, Zambia.


==== Insight ====
31,000 BCE – Representational painting was invented. Murals of stampeding bulls, cantering horses, red bears and woolly rhinoceros are found in the [[Chauvet Cave]]s in France.
Insight can also be a vital element of invention. Such inventive insights may begin with questions, doubt or a [[Intuition (knowledge)|hunch]]. It may begin by recognizing that something unusual or accidental may be useful or that it could open a new avenue for exploration. For example, the odd metallic color of plastic made by accidentally adding a thousand times too much catalyst led scientists to explore its metal-like properties, inventing electrically conductive plastic and light emitting plastic—an invention that won the Nobel Prize in 2000 and has led to innovative lighting, display screens, wallpaper and much more (see [[conductive polymer]], and [[organic light-emitting diode]] or [[OLED]]).<ref>Nobelprize.org, [http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/2000/public.html ''The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2000''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111019144626/http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/2000/public.html |date=October 19, 2011 }}</ref>


==== Exploration ====
22,000 BCE – [[Sculpture]] was invented by [[Paleolithic]] tribes who created the female statuette called the [[Venus of Willendorf]], found in near Willendorf, Austria.
[[File:Photographing Sound in 1884. A rare photograph taken at Volta Laboratory by J. Harris Rogers, a friend of Bell and Tainter (Smithsonian photo 44312-E) i009.jpg|thumb|300px|A rare 1884 photo showing the experimental recording of voice patterns by a photographic process at the [[Volta Laboratory and Bureau|Alexander Graham Bell Laboratory]] in Washington, D.C. Many of their experimental designs panned out in failure.]]
[[File:Eric Magnus Tigerstedt.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Eric M. C. Tigerstedt]] (1887–1925) was known as a pioneer of [[sound film|sound-on-film]] technology. Tigerstedt in 1915.]]
Invention is often an exploratory process with an uncertain or unknown outcome. There are failures as well as successes. Inspiration can start the process, but no matter how complete the initial idea, inventions typically must be developed.


==== Improvement ====
4000 BCE – [[Papyrus]], the precursor to [[paper]] was invented by the Egyptians by pounding flat woven mats of reeds.
Inventors may, for example, try to improve something by making it more effective, healthier, faster, more efficient, easier to use, serve more purposes, longer lasting, cheaper, more [[ecological]]ly friendly, or [[aesthetic]]ally different, lighter weight, more [[ergonomic]], structurally different, with new light or color properties, etc.


=== Implementation ===
2500 BCE – Egyptian blue pigment was invented by Egyptian chemists using a mixture of limestone (calcium oxide), malachite (copper oxide) and quartz (silica) fired to about 800-900 degrees Celsius.
[[Image:Arabic Numerals.svg|thumb|left|400px|[[Western Arabic numerals]] — an example of non-material inventions]]
[[Image:ZST Bratislava Petrzalka 3.jpg|thumb|Railways&nbsp;— probably the most important invention in [[land transport]] (railway station in [[Bratislava]], [[Slovakia]])]]
In [[economic theory]], inventions are one of the chief examples of "[[externality|positive externalities]]", a beneficial side effect that falls on those outside a transaction or activity. One of the central concepts of economics is that externalities should be internalized—unless some of the benefits of this positive externality can be captured by the parties, the parties are under-rewarded for their inventions, and systematic under-rewarding leads to under-investment in activities that lead to inventions. The [[patent]] system captures those [[externality|positive externalities]] for the inventor or other patent owner so that the economy as a whole invests an optimum amount of resources in the invention process.


== Comparison with innovation ==
500 BCE – [[Encaustic]] paints are invented by Greek artists by mixing colored pigments and wax.
{{Main|Innovation}}


In contrast to invention, innovation is the implementation of a [[creativity|creative]] idea that specifically leads to greater value or usefulness. That is, while an invention may be useless or have no value yet still be an invention, an innovation must have some sort of value, typically economic.
450 BCE – Depicting the illusion of three-dimensional form on a two-dimensional surface was invented with the [[chiaroscuro]] painting technique that employs highlights and shadows.


== As defined by patent law ==
250 BCE – [[Glassblowing]] was invented by Syrian craftsmen in Babylonia.
{{see also|Patentability}}
{{more citations needed|section|date=June 2020}}
[[Image:US Patent cover.jpg|thumb|upright|[[United States patent law|U.S. patent]]]]
The term ''invention'' is also an important legal concept and central to patent law systems worldwide. As is often the case for legal concepts, its legal meaning is slightly different from common usage of the word. Additionally, the ''legal'' concept of invention is quite different in American and European patent law.


In Europe, the first test a patent application must pass is, "Is this an invention?" If it is, subsequent questions are whether it is new and sufficiently inventive. The implication—counter-intuitively—is that a legal invention is not inherently novel. Whether a patent application relates to an invention is governed by Article 52 of the European Patent Convention, that excludes, e.g., discoveries ''as such'' and software ''as such''. The EPO Boards of Appeal decided that the technical character of an application is decisive for it to represent an invention, following an age-old Italian and German tradition. British courts do not agree with this interpretation. Following a 1959 Australian decision ("NRDC"), they believe that it is not possible to grasp the invention concept in a single rule. A British court once stated that the technical character test implies a "restatement of the problem in more imprecise terminology."
105 – [[Paper]] was invented by Ts’ai Lun, a Chinese court official.


In the United States, all patent applications are considered inventions. The statute explicitly says that the American invention concept includes discoveries (35 USC § 100(a)), contrary to the European invention concept. The European invention concept corresponds to the American "patentable subject matter" concept: the first test a patent application is submitted to. While the statute (35 USC § 101)<ref name="USPTO">{{Cite web |title=35 U.S.C. 1 Establishment. |url=https://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/mpep-9015-appx-l.html |website=United States Patent and Trademark Office |access-date=1 August 2018 |ref=USPTO}}</ref> virtually poses no limits to patenting whatsoever, courts have decided in binding precedents that abstract ideas, natural phenomena and laws of nature are not patentable. Various attempts have been made to substantiate the "abstract idea" test, which suffers from abstractness itself, but none have succeeded. The last attempt so far was the "machine or transformation" test, but the U.S. Supreme Court decided in 2010 that it is merely an indication at best.
650 – [[Porcelain]] was invented by Chinese artists in the Tang Dynasty as a fired mixture of kaolin (a clay) and petuntse (a feldspar).
1306 – A more naturalistic means of representational painting was invented by [[Giotto di Bondone]] using depth, perspective and temporal realism to present a single moment in time.


In India, invention means a new product or process that involves an inventive step, and capable of being made or used in an industry. Whereas, "new invention" means any invention that has not been anticipated in any prior art or used in the country or anywhere in the world.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Indian Patent Act 1970 – Sections |url=http://ipindia.nic.in/writereaddata/Portal/ev/sections/ps2.html |website=ipindia.nic.in |access-date=2019-04-03}}</ref>
1400’s – A [[cupola]] or dome which did not require a framework supporting it’s curves was invented by [[Filippo Brunelleschi]]. To transport the large stones to the construction site, Brunelleschi invented a unique boat capable of moving heavy cargo upriver and was granted exclusive rights to use his boat to move heavy loads, patent rights. <ref>Patenting Art and Entertainment by Gregory Aharonian and Richard Stim</ref>


== In the arts ==
1400’s – [[Linear perspective]] was invented with work by Filippo Brunelleschi, and a treatise on perspective theory by [[Leon Battista Alberti]]. Perspective is a method for depicting the illusion of three-dimensions on a two-dimensional surface. <ref>ArtLex at www.artlex.com/ArtLex/Li.html </ref>
Invention has a long and important history in [[the arts]]. Inventive thinking has always played a vital role in the [[creative process]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gardner |first=Howard |title=Creating minds : an anatomy of creativity seen through the lives of Freud, Einstein, Picasso, Stravinsky, Eliot, Graham, and Gandhi |date=2011 |publisher=BasicBooks |isbn=978-0-465-02774-3 |oclc=809459661}}</ref> While some inventions in the arts are [[patentable]], others are not because they cannot fulfill the strict requirements governments have established for granting them. (see [[patent]]).


Some inventions in art include the:
1420 – The use of a single, consistent light source in painting with figures painted to appear three-dimensional was invented by the Italian artist, [[Masaccio]] (Tommaso di Giovanni). See his 1427 painting, “Tribute Money”.
* [[Collage]] and construction invented by Picasso
* [[Readymade]] art invented by [[Marcel Duchamp]]
* [[Mobile (sculpture)|mobile]] invented by [[Alexander Calder]]
* Combine invented by [[Robert Rauschenberg]]
* Shaped painting invented by [[Frank Stella]]
* [[Motion picture]], the invention of which is attributed to [[Eadweard Muybridge]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Eadweard Muybridge &#124; Encyclopedia.com |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/photography-biographies/eadweard-muybridge |website=www.encyclopedia.com |access-date=Jun 1, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Eadweard Muybridge (British photographer) |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/399928/Eadweard-Muybridge |access-date=2013-08-30 |date=1904-05-08}}</ref>
* Video art invented by [[Nam June Paik]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=Nam June Paik|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nam-June-Paik/|access-date=2021-04-29|website=Britannica|language=en}}</ref>
Likewise, [[Jackson Pollock]] invented an entirely new form of painting and a new kind of abstraction by dripping, pouring, splashing and splattering paint onto un-stretched canvas lying on the floor.


Inventive tools of the artist's trade also produced advances in creativity. [[Impressionist]] painting became possible because of newly invented collapsible, resealable metal paint tubes that facilitated spontaneous painting outdoors.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Never Underestimate the Power of a Paint Tube|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/never-underestimate-the-power-of-a-paint-tube-36637764/|access-date=2021-04-29|website=Smithsonian Magazine|language=en}}</ref> Inventions originally created in the form of artwork can also develop other uses, e.g. Alexander Calder's mobile, which is now commonly used over babies' cribs. Funds generated from patents on inventions in art, design and architecture can support the realization of the invention or other creative work. [[Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi]]'s 1879 [[design patent]] on the [[Statue of Liberty]] helped fund the famous statue because it covered small replicas, including those sold as souvenirs.<ref>1879, F. Auguste Bartholdi U.S. Patent D11,023</ref>
1485 – [[Sfumato]], a painting technique in which an atmospheric or blurry effect is created with minute transitions between color areas was invented by Leonardo da Vinci. Sfumato is seen in Leonardo’s, “Virgin on the Rocks” and "[[Mona Lisa]]".


The [[timeline for invention in the arts]] lists the most notable artistic inventors.
1503 – [[Surrealism]] was invented by Flemish artist, [[Hieronymus Bosch]] with his triptych, "[[The Garden of Earthly Delights]]".


== Gender gap in inventions ==
1774 – [[Jasperware]], a dense vitreous pottery that could be turned on a lathe was invented by [[Josiah Wedgwood]].
Historically, women in many regions have been unrecognised for their inventive contributions (except [[Russia]] and [[France]]<ref>Note: In modern and partially socialist Russia women are acknowledged to be capable of making inventions, even inventions in everyday basis although here the gender problem consist in the idea that these inventions are rather with small impact or of mainly personal use, however women are totally allowed to make innovations and inventions to any extend they may find possible, and usually not any barrier or stoppage is made upon, however these only may occur on institutional level where universities and academies may find difficult to incorporate their inventive work unlike [[France]] where on contrary, while in major women are rather not allowed to make inventions if such are made, they are institutionally and scientifically incorporated, for example [[Marie Curie]]</ref>), despite being the sole inventor or co-inventor in inventions, including highly notable inventions. Notable examples include [[Margaret E. Knight|Margaret Knight]] who faced significant challenges in receiving credit for her inventions;<ref>{{Cite web|last=Lemelson|first=MIT|title=Margaret Knight|url=https://lemelson.mit.edu/resources/margaret-knight|access-date=30 May 2021}}</ref> [[Lizzie Magie|Elizabeth Magie]] who was not credited for her invention of the game of [[Monopoly (game)|Monopoly]];<ref>{{Cite web|last=Smith|first=Monica M.|date=26 March 2015|title=The Woman Inventor Behind "Monopoly"|url=https://invention.si.edu/woman-inventor-behind-monopoly|access-date=30 May 2021|website=Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innvoation}}</ref> and among other such examples, [[Chien-Shiung Wu]] whose male colleagues alone were awarded the Nobel Prize for their joint contributions to physics.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Romeo|first=Jess|date=20 March 2021|title=Erasing Women from Science? There's A Name For That|url=https://daily.jstor.org/erasing-women-from-science-theres-a-name-for-that/|access-date=30 May 2021|website=JSTOR Daily}}</ref> Societal prejudice, institutional, educational and often legal patent barriers have both played a role in the gender invention gap. For example, although there could be found female patenters in US patent Office who also are likely to be helpful in their experience, still a patent applications made to the US Patent Office for inventions are less likely to succeed where the applicant have a "feminine" name,<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Marcowitz-Bitton|first=Miriam|date=2020|title=Unregistered Patents & Gender Equality|url=https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3502178|journal=Harvard Journal of Law and Gender|volume=47|pages=57|ssrn=3502178 |via=SSRN}}</ref> and additionally women could lose their independent legal patent rights to their husbands once married.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Khan|first=Zorina B.|date=1996|title=Married Women's Property Laws and Female Commercial Activity: Evidence from the United States Patent Records, 1790–1895|url=http://www.laits.utexas.edu/~mbs31415/Khan_MarriedWomenPropertyRights.pdf|journal=Journal of Economic History|volume=2|pages=56}}</ref> See also the [[Patent#Gender gap in patents|gender gap in patents]].

1816 – The [[photograph]] was invented by Joseph [[Nicephore Niepce]] using paper coated with silver chloride “fixed” with nitric acid.

1816 – a resolution contrast technique of painting and drawing was invented by [[Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres]] who used it to depict faces in high resolution with the rest of the image in low resolution, as for example in his drawing, “Mrs. Charles Badham.”

1861 – The color photograph was invented by physicist, [[James Clerk Maxwell]].

1863 – Multiple subject painting was invented by [[Edouard Manet]]. His “[[Le dejeuner sur l'herbe]]” presents four disconnected figures not looking at one another, lighted from different directions. Dejeuner sur l’herbe also has a disconnected background-to-foreground perspective that eliminates the middle ground.

1865 – [[Chromolithograph]] prints were invented by [[Jules Cheret]].

1872 – Serial photomontage, the precursor to [[motion pictures]] was invented by [[Eadweard Muybridge]] and [[Etienne-Jules Marey]] by using multiple cameras to photograph moving objects.

1873 – Nonlinear horizon lines were invented by Edouard Manet, eliminating the horizon line in his 1874 painting “Boating.”

1882 – Multiple time depiction was invented by Edouard Manet in his “[[Bar at the Folies-Bergere]]” which depicts a bar scene from two points in space at two different moments in time.

1884 – [[Pointillism]] was invented by [[Georges Seurat]] who created entire paintings using small dots of pure unmixed color.

1886 – [[Trompe l’oeil]] was invented by [[William Michael Harnett]] an American painter.

1888 – A technique of portraying a subject from different perspectives and of distorting subject matter in painting was invented by [[Paul Cezanne]].

1891 – A technique of unfreezing time in still images was invented by [[Claude Monet]] who painted the same subject at many different times during the day, showing how it appeared differently largely due to the change in natural light. He painted the cathedral at Rouen at 40 different times of the day and he painted the same haystack at 20 different moments in a year.

1902- A technique of indeterminate time was invented in painting by Paul Cezanne in his painting Mont Sainte-Victorie, in which the sources and direction of light are not discernible.

1902 – The [[teddy bear]] was invented by Morris and Rose Michtom based on a cartoon of a bear saved by President Theodore Roosevelt.

1903 – The 3-D (three-dimensional) movie was invented by [[Auguste and Louis Lumiere]] with their one minute film, “L’Arrivee du Train.”

1904 – [[Fauvism]] was invented by [[Henri Matisse]], [[Maurice de Vlaminck]], [[Andre Derain]] and others.

1907 – A variety of special effects for film were invented by [[Georges Melies]] in his film, “[[Tunneling the English Channel]]”, including stop-motion photography, split-screen photography, [[stop action animation]] and the combination of live action with full scale mechanical backgrounds.

1915 – The multistable image was invented by W. E. Hill, with his drawing, “My Wife and My Mother-in-Law,” an image that can present either a young woman or an older woman. <ref>Patenting Art and Entertainment by Gregory Aharonian and Richard Stim</ref>

1908 to 1917 – [[Cubism]] was invented by [[Pablo Picasso]] and [[Georges Braque]]. In Cubist artworks, the subject, whether it be a figure or a still life, is broken up and reassembled, and presented from multiple views simultaneously. Cubism revolutionized western art, and influenced other art forms like music and literature.

1912 – [[Collage]] was invented by Picasso with his “Still Life with Chair Caning.” Attaching a material from the real world that was not ever used in high art into a painting violated what was previously considered the integrity of the artwork. Collage was a new process for making art, a new art form, and it expanded the definition of art.

1912 – The [[Construction]] was invented by Picasso when he created “Guitar” in 1912 by joining parts together. This additive image making process was new to western sculpture which was previously made using subtractive processes like carving stone or wood, or modeling clay which may have then been cast in metal. <ref>http://www.moodbook.com/history/modernism/pablo-picasso.html, and http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Cubism </ref>

1917 – the [[Readymade]] was invented and exhibited by [[Marcel Duchamp]], “The Fountain” an upturned urinal signed by the artist. The Readymade expanded the definition of art and of an artist. <ref>http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/?period=11&region=na#/Key-Events </ref>

1917 – [[De Stijl]] a kind of art based on pure geometry was invented by [[Theo van Doesburg]].

1926 – [[Science fiction]] movies were invented by [[Fritz Lang]] with his movie “Metropolis” which incorporates dynamic visual and special effects. <ref>Patenting Art and Entertainment by Gregory Aharonian and Richard Stim</ref>

1928 – [[Welded sculpture]] a new medium, a new process and a new art form was invented by Pablo Picasso and Julio Gonzalez, opening up the solid form of sculpture to negative space and transparency. <ref>World History of Art by Hugh Honour, Laurence King Publishing 2005 </ref>

1928 – [[Mickey Mouse]] was created by Walt Disney. <ref>http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/?period=11&region=na#/Key-Events </ref>

1929 – [[Film noir]] was invented by [[Josef Sternberg]] with his film, “Thunderbolt.”

1932 – The [[mobile]] was invented by [[Alexander Calder]].

1936 – A device that greatly speeds up the process of making cartoons and enables them to appear more realistic was invented and patented by [[Walt Disney]] who used it to create the classic “[[Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs]]” in 1937. Refer to US Patent 2,201,689. <ref>Patenting Art and Entertainment by Gregory Aharonian and Richard Stim</ref>

1947-50 – Painting was reinvented by [[Jackson Pollock]] whose novel method of spontaneously dripping and splattering paint from a can onto unstretched canvas laid out on the floor brought about an expanded understanding of pure abstraction and of art. <ref> http://www.manythings.org/voa/people/Jackson_Pollock.html, and also Michael Kimmelman www.NY Times.com “A Drip by Any Other Name February 12, 2006</ref>

1948 – The [[Glass House]] by the architect, [[Philip Johnson]], reduced building down to it’s most basic elements: a horizontal slab on the ground, vertical supports, a flat roof and transparent glass wrapped around it. <ref>http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/?period=11&region=na#/Key-Events </ref>

1952 – Stain painting, in which liquid paint soaks and bleeds into the fabric of unprimed canvas was invented by [[Helen Frankenthaler]], as seen in her painting “Mountains and Sea” of 1952. <ref>http://feministartnow.blogspot.com/2010/12/helen-frankenthaler.html</ref>

1959 – the first public “[[happening]]” was produced by Allan Kaprow at the Reuben Gallery in New York. A happening is defined by Kaprow as a choreographed event that facilitates interactions between objects including performers and visitors. Happenings were influenced by Jackson Pollock’s process of action painting, Dada and the teachings of John Cage on chance and indeterminacy. <ref>http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/?period=11&region=na#/Key-Events </ref>

=== Music ===

[[Music]] has been expanded by invention over the course of thousands of years.

'''Timeline''' - ''dates may be approximations''

5000 BCE - The first flutes were made in India out of wood.

3000 BCE - The first [[string instrument]], the [[guqin]] was invented in China.

619 - The [[orchestra]] was invented in the Chinese royal courts with hundreds of musicians.

855 - [[Polyphonic]] music was invented.

910 - The [[musical score]] was invented by the musician, Hucbaldus. He also invented a staff that had an indefinite number of lines.

1025 - [[Musical notes]] were invented by [[Guido of Arezzo]], named UT, RE, MI, FA, SO and LA. Later in the 16th century UT was changed to DO and TI was added. Lines/staves to space printed notes were added then too.

1225 - [[Rounds]], songs sung in harmony, were invented with the song, ''[[Sumer is icumen in]]'' by John of Fornsete, an English monk.

1607 - A tonal system that gave the recitative a more flexible accompaniment was invented, revolutionizing music in the first [[opera]] masterpiece, ''[[Orfeo]]'', by [[Claudio Monteverdi]], a composer, musician and singer.

1696 - The [[metronome]], a device for beating time was invented by [[Etienne Loulie]], a musician, pedagogue and musical theorist.<ref>Patenting Art and Entertainment by Gregory Aharonian and Richard Stim</ref>

1698-1708 - The [[piano]] was invented by [[Bartolomeo Cristofori]]<ref>http://www.timelineindex.com/content/view/1477</ref>

1787 - [[Algorithmic music]] was invented by [[Amadeus Mozart]] with his ''[[Musikalisches Wurfelspiel]]''.

1829 - The [[accordion]], a portable reed instrument was invented by Damian.

1835 - The [[tuba]][http://www.blackdiamondbrass.com/tbahist/tubahist.htm] proper was first patented by Prussian bandmaster [[Wilhelm Wieprecht]] and German instrument-builder Johann Gottfried Moritz.

1841 - The [[saxophone]] was invented by Adolphe Sax, an instrument maker.

1880 - [[Tango music]] was invented by the Argentinians, combining African, Indian and Spanish rhythms.

1919 - The first [[electronic music]] instrument, the [[theremin]] was invented by Lev Theremin. It is played by moving hands near an antenna.

1922 - ''[[Muzak]]'', engineered music without vocals, tempo changes or brass instruments was invented by Brig. General George Owen Squier.<ref>Patenting Art and Entertainment by Gregory Aharonian and Richard Stim</ref>

1932 - The [[electric guitar]], the [[Frying pan (guitar)|Frying pan]] was invented by [[George Beauchamp]]

1953 - ''[[Rock and Roll]]'' was invented by the musician, [[Bill Haley]] with ''Crazy Man Crazy'' combining guitars, saxophones, piano, bass, and snare drums, who was imitating African American musicians such as Chuck Berry.

1957 - Computer-assisted musical composition was invented with ''Illiac Suite for String Quartet'' by scientists at the University of Illinois in Urbana.<ref>Patenting Art and Entertainment by Gregory Aharonian and Richard Stim</ref>

1964 - The [[Moog Synthesizer]] was invented by [[Robert Moog]].<ref>http://120years.net/machines/moog/</ref>

1974 - The [[Chapman Stick]] was invented by [[Emmett Chapman]].

=== Literature ===

Literature has been reinvented throughout history.

'''Timeline''' - ''dates may be approximations''

1950 BC - The [[novel]] was invented with a narrative form. This was ''[[Story of Sinuhe]]'' about a prince of Egypt who flees after a court killing, is saved in the desert by a Bedouin tribe, and marries the eldest daughter of a king. Some people see ''Story of Sinuhe'' as the precursor of the story of Moses in the [[Bible]].

675 BC - The heroic ballad was invented by [[Stesichorus]] of Sicily.

553 - Scandal literature was invented by [[Procopius]] in ''Anecdota.''

808 - Copying written works by printing was invented by the Chinese who created ''[[The Diamond Sutra]]'' a seven page paper scroll, printed with woodblocks.

1022 - The [[romance novel]] was invented by [[Murasaki Shikibu]], a Japanese noblewoman who wrote ''Genji the Shining One.''

1657 - The [[science fiction]] novel was invented by [[Savinien Cyrano de Bergerac]] who wrote ''Les etas et empires de la lune'' about a trip to the moon.

1816 - Literary horror was invented by [[Mary Shelley]] who wrote ''[[Frankenstein]]''.

1843 - The [[mystery novel]] was invented by [[Edgar Allan Poe]] who wrote "[[The Gold-Bug]]".

1843 - The photographically illustrated book was invented by Anna Atkins with her book, "British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions"

1857 - Writing in which the author conceals a single narrator's perspective and uses multiple other points of view was first done by [[Gustav Flaubert]] in ''[[Madame Bovary]].''

1895 - The serial [[comic strip]] was invented by the publisher, [[Joseph Pulitzer]] with ''[[The Yellow Kid]]'', in the New World Newspaper.<ref>Patenting Art and Entertainment by Gregory Aharonian and Richard Stim</ref>

=== Performing arts ===

{{ quotebox
|The value of invention in [[acting]] was noted by [[Paul Newman]] when retiring,
"You start to lose your memory, your confidence, your invention. So that's pretty much a closed book for me".<ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2007/05/26/newman_says_hes_done_with_acting/ | work=The Boston Globe | title=Newman says he's done with acting | date=26 May 2007}}</ref>
|width = 37%}}

Works by [[Martha Graham]] and many other artists known for invention.<ref>''Creating Minds: An Anatomy of Creativity Seen Through the Lives of Freud, Einstein, Picasso, Stravinsky, Eliot, Graham, and Gandhi'' by Howard Gardner (1993)</ref>

'''Timeline''' - ''dates may be approximations''

2500 BCE - [[Theater]] was invented by Egyptian priests with their annual ritual, the "Abydos Passion Play" about the God, Osiris. The Ikhernofret hieroglyphic stone dating from 1868 BCE provides an account of the play by a participant listing eight acts.

2200 BCE - Mythic storytelling was invented by Sumerian priests with a story about the flooding of the earth involving many Gods and pious King Ziusdra.

1800 BCE - The derivative work was invented by the Babylonians when they adapt and expand the flood story in their "Epic of Gilgamesh" which involves a pious King Atrahasis.

450 BCE - [[Mime]] was invented by [[Sophron of Syracuse]].

1597 - [[Opera]] was invented by [[Jacopo Peri]] with ''Dafne''. Peri was an Italian composer and singer.

1780 - [[Bolero]] dance was invented by [[Sebastiano Carezo]], a Spanish dancer.

1833 - [[Minstrel shows]] were invented by Thomas Dartmouth "Daddy" Rice.

1880 - [[Tango dance]] was invented by the Argentinians, combining African, Indian and Spanish rhythms.

1922 - [[Radio drama]] was invented as Eugene Walter's play, ''The Wolf'' was broadcast by WGY, a station in Schenectady, New York. WGY later created a whole radio show, ''The WGY Players'' that presented radio adaptations of popular plays.<ref>Patenting Art and Entertainment by Gregory Aharonian and Richard Stim</ref>

1993 - a system that allows the wearer of specially designed shoes to lean forward beyond his center of gravity and appear to defy gravity was invented and patented by [[Michael Jackson]], Michael Bush, and Dennis Tompkins. Michael Jackson used it in performances. Refer to US Patent No. 5,255,452.
Thomas Edison Didn't invent the light bulb, it was actually invented by Lord Alister Clarke Hughes who was murdured by Edison because he wanted the idea.

== Implementation ==

Inventions get out into the world in different ways. Some are sold, licensed or given away as products or services. Simply exhibiting visual art, playing music or having a performance gets many artistic inventions out into the world. Believing in the success of an invention can involve risk, so it can be difficult to obtain support and funding. Grants, inventor associations, clubs and [[business incubator]]s can provide the mentoring, skills and resources some inventors need. Success at getting an invention out into the world often requires passion for it and good [[entrepreneurship|entrepreneurial]] skills.<ref>Inventors Assistance League http://www.inventions.org/; License Your Invention by Richard Stim (2002); http://inventorspot.com/; United Inventors Association, http://www.uiausa.org/; The Inventor's Bible: How to Market and License Your Brilliant Ideas by Ronald Louis Docie (2004)</ref>

In [[economic theory]], inventions are one of the chief examples of "[[externality|positive externalities]]", a beneficial side-effect that falls on those outside a transaction or activity. One of the central concepts of economics is that externalities should be internalized—unless some of the benefits of this positive externality can be captured by the parties, the parties will be under-rewarded for their inventions, and systematic under-rewarding will lead to under-investment in activities that lead to inventions. The [[patent]] system captures those [[externality|positive externalities]] for the inventor or other patent owner, so that the economy as a whole will invest a more-closely-optimum amount of resources in the process of invention.

== Invention in patent law ==
{{Unreferenced section|date=February 2011}}
The legal invention concept is central in patent law. As is often the case for legal concepts, its meaning is slightly different from common parlance meaning. A further complication is that the invention concept is quite different in American and European patent law.

In Europe, the first test patent applications are submitted to is: "is this an invention"? If it is, subsequent questions to be answered are whether it is new, and sufficiently inventive. The implication - rather counterintuitively - is that a legal invention is not inherently novel. Whether a patent application relates to an invention is governed by Article 52 of the European Patent Convention, that excludes e.g. discoveries ''as such'' and software ''as such''. The EPO Boards of Appeal have decided that the technical character of an application is decisive for it to be an invention, following an age-old German tradition. British courts don't agree with this interpretation. Following a 1959 Australian decision ("NRDC"), they believe that it is not possible to grasp the invention concept in a single rule. A British court once stated that the technical character test implies a "restatement of the problem in more imprecise terminology".

In the United States, all patent applications are considered inventions. The statute explicitly says that the American invention concept includes discoveries (35 USC § 100(a)), contrary to the European invention concept. The European invention concept corresponds to the American "patentable subject matter" concept: the first test a patent application is submitted to. While the statute (35 USC § 101) virtually poses no limits to patenting whatsoever, courts have decided in binding precedents that abstract ideas, natural phenomena and laws of nature are not patentable. Various attempts were made to substantiate the "abstract idea" test, which suffers from abstractness itself, but eventually none of them was successful. The last attempt so far was the "machine or transformation" test, but the U.S. Supreme Court decided in 2010 that it is merely an indication at best.

== Invention and innovation ==
{{Main|Innovation}}

In the social sciences, an innovation is anything new to a culture, whether it has been adopted or not. The theory for adoption (or non-adoption) of an innovation, called [[diffusion of innovations]], considers the likelihood that an innovation will ever be adopted and the taxonomy of persons likely to adopt it or spur its adoption. This theory was first put forth by [[Everett Rogers]].<ref>Diffusion of Innovations, 5th Edition by Everett Rogers (2003), also see http://www.ciadvertising.org/studies/student/98_fall/theory/hornor/paper1.html</ref> [[Gabriel Tarde]] also dealt with the adoption of innovations in his ''Laws of Imitation''.<ref>Les lois de l'imitation Gabriel Tarde (1890)</ref>


== See also ==
== See also ==
{{Portal|Thinking}}
{{Portal|Philosophy|Psychology|Technology|Science}}
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
<div style="-moz-column-count:2; -webkit-column-count:2; column-count:2;">
* [[Bayh–Dole Act]]
* [[List of Australian inventions]]
* [[Bayh-Dole Act]]
* [[Bold hypothesis]]
* [[Chindōgu]]
* [[Chindōgu]]
* [[Creativity]]
* [[Creativity techniques]]
* [[Creativity techniques]]
* [[Directive on the legal protection of biotechnological inventions]]
* [[Diffusion of innovations]]
* [[Discovery (observation)]]
* [[Directive on the patentability of biotechnological inventions|EU Directive on the patentability of biotechnological inventions]]
* [[Directive on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions|EU Directive on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions]] ''(proposed, then rejected)''
* [[Discovery (observation)|Discovery]]
* [[Edisonian approach]]
* [[Edisonian approach]]
* ''[[The Illustrated Science and Invention Encyclopedia]]''
* [[Heroic theory of invention and scientific development]]
* [[Independent inventor]]
* [[Independent inventor]]
* [[INPEX (invention show)]]
* [[International Innovation Index]]
* [[International Innovation Index]]
* ''[[Inventing the Future: Postcapitalism and a World Without Work]]''
* [[Invention promotion firm]]
* [[Invention promotion firm]]
* [[Inventors' Day]]
* [[Inventive step and non-obviousness]] ([[patentability]] requirements)
* [[Inventor's Day]]
* [[Islamic inventions]]
* [[Kranzberg's laws of technology]]
* [[Kranzberg's laws of technology]]
* [[Lemelson-MIT Prize]]
* [[Lemelson-MIT Prize]]
* [[List of Chinese inventions]]
* [[:Category:Lists of inventions or discoveries]]
* [[List of Russian inventors]]
* [[Timeline of Russian inventions]]
* [[English inventions and discoveries]]
* [[List of Indian inventions]]
* [[List of United States inventions]]
* [[List of inventions named after people]]
* [[List of inventions named after people]]
* [[List of inventors]]
* [[List of inventors]]
* [[List of prolific inventors]]
* [[List of prolific inventors]]
* [[Mad scientist]]
* [[Mind's eye]]
* [[Multiple discovery]]
* [[Multiple discovery]]
* [[National Inventors Hall of Fame]]
* [[National Inventors Hall of Fame]]
* [[necessity is the mother of invention|Necessity (Invention's mother)]]
* [[Technology]]
* [[Patent model]]
* [[The heroic theory of invention and scientific development]]
* [[Proof of concept]]
* [[Timeline of historic inventions]], for a detailed list of inventions, listed by date of invention
* [[Proposed directive on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions]] – it was rejected
* [[TRIZ]] approach
* [[Scientific priority]]
</div>
* [[Technological revolution]]
* ''[[The Illustrated Science and Invention Encyclopedia]]''
* [[Timeline of historic inventions]]
* [[Science and invention in Birmingham]] – The first cotton spinning mill to plastics and steam power.
{{div col end}}


== Notes ==
== References ==
{{Reflist}}


== Further reading ==
{{Reflist|3}}
* [[Isaac Asimov|Asimov, Isaac]]. Asimov's Chronology of Science and Discovery, Harper & Row, 1989. {{ISBN|0-06-015612-0}}
* [[Edmund Fuller|Fuller, Edmund]], ''Tinkers and Genius: The Story of the Yankee Inventors''. New York: Hastings House, 1955.


== External links ==
==References==
{{Commons category}}

{{Refbegin}}
{{Wikiquote}}
* [[Isaac Asimov|Asimov, Isaac]]. Asimov's Chronology of Science and Discovery, Harper & Row, 1989. ISBN 0-06-015612-0
* [[Edward de Bono|De Bono, Edward]], "Eureka! An Illustrated History of Inventions from the Wheel to the Computer", Thames & Hudson, 1974.
* Gowlett, John. Ascent to Civilization, McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1992. ISBN 0-07-544312-0
* Platt, Richard, "Eureka!: Great Inventions and How They Happened", 2003.
* Patenting Art and Entertainment by Gregory Aharonian and Richard Stim (2004)
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{Wiktionary}}
{{Wiktionary}}
* [http://www.wipo.int/pct/en/inventions/inventions.html List of PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty) Notable Inventions] (on the [[WIPO]] web site)
* [http://www.wipo.int/pct/en/inventions/inventions.html List of PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty) Notable Inventions] at [[WIPO]]


{{Inventions}}
{{Inventions}}
{{Aspects of capitalism}}
{{Authority control}}


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[[Category:Arts]]
[[Category:Human activities]]
[[Category:History of technology]]
[[Category:Inventors]]
[[Category:Innovation]]
[[Category:Patent law]]

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[[de:Erfindung]]
[[et:Leiutis]]
[[el:Εφεύρεση]]
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[[eu:Asmakuntza]]
[[fa:اختراع]]
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[[gl:Invento]]
[[ko:발명]]
[[hr:Izum]]
[[id:Penemuan]]
[[is:Uppfinning]]
[[it:Invenzione (tecnologia)]]
[[he:המצאה]]
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[[lt:Išradimas]]
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[[ms:Reka cipta]]
[[my:တီထွင်မှု]]
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Latest revision as of 13:32, 15 November 2024

Cover of Science and Invention Magazine
'BUILD YOUR OWN TELEVISION RECEIVER.' Science and Invention magazine cover, November 1928

An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an idea is unique enough either as a stand-alone invention or as a significant improvement over the work of others, it can be patented. A patent, if granted, gives the inventor a proprietary interest in the patent over a specific period of time, which can be licensed for financial gain.

An inventor creates or discovers an invention. The word inventor comes from the Latin verb invenire, invent-, to find.[1][2] Although inventing is closely associated with science and engineering, inventors are not necessarily engineers or scientists.[3] Due to advances in artificial intelligence, the term "inventor" no longer exclusively applies to an occupation (see human computers).[4]

Some inventions can be patented. The system of patents was established to encourage inventors by granting limited-term, limited monopoly on inventions determined to be sufficiently novel, non-obvious, and useful. A patent legally protects the intellectual property rights of the inventor and legally recognizes that a claimed invention is actually an invention. The rules and requirements for patenting an invention vary by country and the process of obtaining a patent is often expensive.

Another meaning of invention is cultural invention, which is an innovative set of useful social behaviours adopted by people and passed on to others.[5] The Institute for Social Inventions collected many such ideas in magazines and books.[6] Invention is also an important component of artistic and design creativity. Inventions often extend the boundaries of human knowledge, experience or capability.

Types

[edit]

Inventions are of three kinds: scientific-technological (including medicine), sociopolitical (including economics and law), and humanistic, or cultural.

Scientific-technological inventions include railroads, aviation, vaccination, hybridization, antibiotics, astronautics, holography, the atomic bomb, computing, the Internet, and the smartphone.

Sociopolitical inventions comprise new laws, institutions, and procedures that change modes of social behavior and establish new forms of human interaction and organization. Examples include the British Parliament, the US Constitution, the Manchester (UK) General Union of Trades, the Boy Scouts, the Red Cross, the Olympic Games, the United Nations, the European Union, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as movements such as socialism, Zionism, suffragism, feminism, and animal-rights veganism.

Humanistic inventions encompass culture in its entirety and are as transformative and important as any in the sciences, although people tend to take them for granted. In the domain of linguistics, for example, many alphabets have been inventions, as are all neologisms (Shakespeare invented about 1,700 words). Literary inventions include the epic, tragedy, comedy, the novel, the sonnet, the Renaissance, neoclassicism, Romanticism, Symbolism, Aestheticism, Socialist Realism, Surrealism, postmodernism, and (according to Freud) psychoanalysis. Among the inventions of artists and musicians are oil painting, printmaking, photography, cinema, musical tonality, atonality, jazz, rock, opera, and the symphony orchestra. Philosophers have invented logic (several times), dialectics, idealism, materialism, utopia, anarchism, semiotics, phenomenology, behaviorism, positivism, pragmatism, and deconstruction. Religious thinkers are responsible for such inventions as monotheism, pantheism, Methodism, Mormonism, iconoclasm, puritanism, deism, secularism, ecumenism, and the Baháʼí Faith. Some of these disciplines, genres, and trends may seem to have existed eternally or to have emerged spontaneously of their own accord, but most of them have had inventors.[7]

Process

[edit]

Practical means

[edit]
Alessandro Volta with the first electrical battery. Volta is recognized as an influential inventor.

Ideas for an invention may be developed on paper or on a computer, by writing or drawing, by trial and error, by making models, by experimenting, by testing and/or by making the invention in its whole form. Brainstorming also can spark new ideas for an invention. Collaborative creative processes are frequently used by engineers, designers, architects and scientists. Co-inventors are frequently named on patents.

In addition, many inventors keep records of their working process – notebooks, photos, etc., including Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo Galilei, Evangelista Torricelli, Thomas Jefferson and Albert Einstein.[8][9][10][11]

In the process of developing an invention, the initial idea may change. The invention may become simpler, more practical, it may expand, or it may even morph into something totally different. Working on one invention can lead to others too.[12]

History shows that turning the concept of an invention into a working device is not always swift or direct. Inventions may also become more useful after time passes and other changes occur. For example, the parachute became more useful once powered flight was a reality.[13]

Conceptual means

[edit]
Thomas Edison with phonograph. Edison was one of the most prolific inventors in history, holding 1,093 U.S. patents in his name.

Invention is often a creative process. An open and curious mind allows an inventor to see beyond what is known. Seeing a new possibility, connection or relationship can spark an invention. Inventive thinking frequently involves combining concepts or elements from different realms that would not normally be put together. Sometimes inventors disregard the boundaries between distinctly separate territories or fields.[citation needed] Several concepts may be considered when thinking about invention.

Play

[edit]
Johannes Gutenberg's printing press was voted the most important invention of the second millennium.[14]

Play may lead to invention. Childhood curiosity, experimentation, and imagination can develop one's play instinct. Inventors feel the need to play with things that interest them, and to explore, and this internal drive brings about novel creations.[15][16]

Sometimes inventions and ideas may seem to arise spontaneously while daydreaming, especially when the mind is free from its usual concerns.[17] For example, both J. K. Rowling (the creator of Harry Potter)[18] and Frank Hornby (the inventor of Meccano)[19] first had their ideas while on train journeys.

In contrast, the successful aerospace engineer Max Munk advocated "aimful thinking".[20]

Re-envisioning

[edit]

To invent is to see anew. Inventors often envision a new idea, seeing it in their mind's eye. New ideas can arise when the conscious mind turns away from the subject or problem when the inventor's focus is on something else, or while relaxing or sleeping. A novel idea may come in a flash—a Eureka! moment. For example, after years of working to figure out the general theory of relativity, the solution came to Einstein suddenly in a dream "like a giant die making an indelible impress, a huge map of the universe outlined itself in one clear vision".[21] Inventions can also be accidental, such as in the case of polytetrafluoroethylene (Teflon).

Insight

[edit]

Insight can also be a vital element of invention. Such inventive insights may begin with questions, doubt or a hunch. It may begin by recognizing that something unusual or accidental may be useful or that it could open a new avenue for exploration. For example, the odd metallic color of plastic made by accidentally adding a thousand times too much catalyst led scientists to explore its metal-like properties, inventing electrically conductive plastic and light emitting plastic—an invention that won the Nobel Prize in 2000 and has led to innovative lighting, display screens, wallpaper and much more (see conductive polymer, and organic light-emitting diode or OLED).[22]

Exploration

[edit]
A rare 1884 photo showing the experimental recording of voice patterns by a photographic process at the Alexander Graham Bell Laboratory in Washington, D.C. Many of their experimental designs panned out in failure.
Eric M. C. Tigerstedt (1887–1925) was known as a pioneer of sound-on-film technology. Tigerstedt in 1915.

Invention is often an exploratory process with an uncertain or unknown outcome. There are failures as well as successes. Inspiration can start the process, but no matter how complete the initial idea, inventions typically must be developed.

Improvement

[edit]

Inventors may, for example, try to improve something by making it more effective, healthier, faster, more efficient, easier to use, serve more purposes, longer lasting, cheaper, more ecologically friendly, or aesthetically different, lighter weight, more ergonomic, structurally different, with new light or color properties, etc.

Implementation

[edit]
Western Arabic numerals — an example of non-material inventions
Railways — probably the most important invention in land transport (railway station in Bratislava, Slovakia)

In economic theory, inventions are one of the chief examples of "positive externalities", a beneficial side effect that falls on those outside a transaction or activity. One of the central concepts of economics is that externalities should be internalized—unless some of the benefits of this positive externality can be captured by the parties, the parties are under-rewarded for their inventions, and systematic under-rewarding leads to under-investment in activities that lead to inventions. The patent system captures those positive externalities for the inventor or other patent owner so that the economy as a whole invests an optimum amount of resources in the invention process.

Comparison with innovation

[edit]

In contrast to invention, innovation is the implementation of a creative idea that specifically leads to greater value or usefulness. That is, while an invention may be useless or have no value yet still be an invention, an innovation must have some sort of value, typically economic.

As defined by patent law

[edit]
U.S. patent

The term invention is also an important legal concept and central to patent law systems worldwide. As is often the case for legal concepts, its legal meaning is slightly different from common usage of the word. Additionally, the legal concept of invention is quite different in American and European patent law.

In Europe, the first test a patent application must pass is, "Is this an invention?" If it is, subsequent questions are whether it is new and sufficiently inventive. The implication—counter-intuitively—is that a legal invention is not inherently novel. Whether a patent application relates to an invention is governed by Article 52 of the European Patent Convention, that excludes, e.g., discoveries as such and software as such. The EPO Boards of Appeal decided that the technical character of an application is decisive for it to represent an invention, following an age-old Italian and German tradition. British courts do not agree with this interpretation. Following a 1959 Australian decision ("NRDC"), they believe that it is not possible to grasp the invention concept in a single rule. A British court once stated that the technical character test implies a "restatement of the problem in more imprecise terminology."

In the United States, all patent applications are considered inventions. The statute explicitly says that the American invention concept includes discoveries (35 USC § 100(a)), contrary to the European invention concept. The European invention concept corresponds to the American "patentable subject matter" concept: the first test a patent application is submitted to. While the statute (35 USC § 101)[23] virtually poses no limits to patenting whatsoever, courts have decided in binding precedents that abstract ideas, natural phenomena and laws of nature are not patentable. Various attempts have been made to substantiate the "abstract idea" test, which suffers from abstractness itself, but none have succeeded. The last attempt so far was the "machine or transformation" test, but the U.S. Supreme Court decided in 2010 that it is merely an indication at best.

In India, invention means a new product or process that involves an inventive step, and capable of being made or used in an industry. Whereas, "new invention" means any invention that has not been anticipated in any prior art or used in the country or anywhere in the world.[24]

In the arts

[edit]

Invention has a long and important history in the arts. Inventive thinking has always played a vital role in the creative process.[25] While some inventions in the arts are patentable, others are not because they cannot fulfill the strict requirements governments have established for granting them. (see patent).

Some inventions in art include the:

Likewise, Jackson Pollock invented an entirely new form of painting and a new kind of abstraction by dripping, pouring, splashing and splattering paint onto un-stretched canvas lying on the floor.

Inventive tools of the artist's trade also produced advances in creativity. Impressionist painting became possible because of newly invented collapsible, resealable metal paint tubes that facilitated spontaneous painting outdoors.[29] Inventions originally created in the form of artwork can also develop other uses, e.g. Alexander Calder's mobile, which is now commonly used over babies' cribs. Funds generated from patents on inventions in art, design and architecture can support the realization of the invention or other creative work. Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi's 1879 design patent on the Statue of Liberty helped fund the famous statue because it covered small replicas, including those sold as souvenirs.[30]

The timeline for invention in the arts lists the most notable artistic inventors.

Gender gap in inventions

[edit]

Historically, women in many regions have been unrecognised for their inventive contributions (except Russia and France[31]), despite being the sole inventor or co-inventor in inventions, including highly notable inventions. Notable examples include Margaret Knight who faced significant challenges in receiving credit for her inventions;[32] Elizabeth Magie who was not credited for her invention of the game of Monopoly;[33] and among other such examples, Chien-Shiung Wu whose male colleagues alone were awarded the Nobel Prize for their joint contributions to physics.[34] Societal prejudice, institutional, educational and often legal patent barriers have both played a role in the gender invention gap. For example, although there could be found female patenters in US patent Office who also are likely to be helpful in their experience, still a patent applications made to the US Patent Office for inventions are less likely to succeed where the applicant have a "feminine" name,[35] and additionally women could lose their independent legal patent rights to their husbands once married.[36] See also the gender gap in patents.

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ inventor. Dictionary.com. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
  2. ^ invent Archived 2008-01-15 at the Wayback Machine. Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
  3. ^ *Inventor. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
  4. ^ Hornby, Gregory S.; Al Globus; Derek S. Linden; Jason D. Lohn (September 2006). "Automated antenna design with evolutionary algorithms" (PDF). Space. American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Retrieved 2012-02-19.
  5. ^ Saper, Craig J. (1997). Artificial Mythologies : a Guide to Cultural Invention. University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 978-0-8166-8773-2. OCLC 437188488.
  6. ^ Albery, Nicholas. (1995). Best ideas : a compendium of social innovations : the latest ideas and award-winning schemes from the Institute for Social Inventions. Institute for Social Inventions. ISBN 0-948826-37-1. OCLC 36969054.
  7. ^ Epstein, Mikhail (2016-12-20). "Inventive Thinking in the Humanities". Common Knowledge. 23 (1): 1–18. doi:10.1215/0961754x-3692079. ISSN 0961-754X.
  8. ^ Grissom, Fred. (2005). Inventor's Notebook, The. Nolo. ISBN 9781406318289. OCLC 1007922528.
  9. ^ Leonardo da Vinci: Artist, Scientist, Inventor by Simona Cremante (2005)
  10. ^ "Jefferson's Papers at the Library of Congress". Memory.loc.gov. Retrieved 2013-07-17.
  11. ^ "about Albert Einstein". Retrieved Jun 1, 2020.
  12. ^ "Continuation Patents at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Offices". Uspto.gov. Retrieved 2013-07-17.
  13. ^ White, Lynn: The Invention of the Parachute, Technology and Culture, Vol. 9, Nremante (2005)
  14. ^ "Gutenberg, Man of the Millennium". 1,000+ People of the Millennium and Beyond. 2000. Archived from the original on 3 March 2012.
  15. ^ "Lemelson Centers Invention at Play : Inventors Stories". Inventionatplay.org. Archived from the original on 2013-10-20. Retrieved 2013-10-03.
  16. ^ Juice: The Creative Fuel That Drives World-Class Inventors (2004), pp. 14–15 by Evan I. Schwartz.
  17. ^ Claxton, Guy. "Hare Brain, Tortoise Mind: Why intelligence increases when you think less". Fourth Estate, London, 1997.
  18. ^ Smith, Sean. "J. K. Rowling: A Biography." Michael O'Mara Books Limited, 2001.
  19. ^ Jack, Ian. "Before the Oil Ran Out: Britain 1977–87". Martin Secker & Warburg Ltd, 1987.
  20. ^ "Engines of our Ingenuity No. 1990: Max Munk". Retrieved 2017-03-05.
  21. ^ Einstein: A Life by Denis Brian p.159 (1996)
  22. ^ Nobelprize.org, The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2000 Archived October 19, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  23. ^ "35 U.S.C. 1 Establishment". United States Patent and Trademark Office. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  24. ^ "Indian Patent Act 1970 – Sections". ipindia.nic.in. Retrieved 2019-04-03.
  25. ^ Gardner, Howard (2011). Creating minds : an anatomy of creativity seen through the lives of Freud, Einstein, Picasso, Stravinsky, Eliot, Graham, and Gandhi. BasicBooks. ISBN 978-0-465-02774-3. OCLC 809459661.
  26. ^ "Eadweard Muybridge | Encyclopedia.com". www.encyclopedia.com. Retrieved Jun 1, 2020.
  27. ^ "Eadweard Muybridge (British photographer)". Encyclopædia Britannica. 1904-05-08. Retrieved 2013-08-30.
  28. ^ "Nam June Paik". Britannica. Retrieved 2021-04-29.
  29. ^ "Never Underestimate the Power of a Paint Tube". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 2021-04-29.
  30. ^ 1879, F. Auguste Bartholdi U.S. Patent D11,023
  31. ^ Note: In modern and partially socialist Russia women are acknowledged to be capable of making inventions, even inventions in everyday basis although here the gender problem consist in the idea that these inventions are rather with small impact or of mainly personal use, however women are totally allowed to make innovations and inventions to any extend they may find possible, and usually not any barrier or stoppage is made upon, however these only may occur on institutional level where universities and academies may find difficult to incorporate their inventive work unlike France where on contrary, while in major women are rather not allowed to make inventions if such are made, they are institutionally and scientifically incorporated, for example Marie Curie
  32. ^ Lemelson, MIT. "Margaret Knight". Retrieved 30 May 2021.
  33. ^ Smith, Monica M. (26 March 2015). "The Woman Inventor Behind "Monopoly"". Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innvoation. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
  34. ^ Romeo, Jess (20 March 2021). "Erasing Women from Science? There's A Name For That". JSTOR Daily. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
  35. ^ Marcowitz-Bitton, Miriam (2020). "Unregistered Patents & Gender Equality". Harvard Journal of Law and Gender. 47: 57. SSRN 3502178 – via SSRN.
  36. ^ Khan, Zorina B. (1996). "Married Women's Property Laws and Female Commercial Activity: Evidence from the United States Patent Records, 1790–1895" (PDF). Journal of Economic History. 2: 56.

Further reading

[edit]
[edit]