On the Move | Beem Patent Law Firm. Presidents and Patents: The Beem Presidential Patent Collection

On the Move

Join us for a tour of the Beem Presidential Patent Collection, lead by Richard Beem, Intellectual Property and Technology Lawyer, followed by a pay-your-own dinner at the Rendezvous room at the Union League Club. This will be one of the last times to view the collection before it is relocated to the Peoria Riverfront Museum.

Every day is Presidents Day in the offices of Beem Patent Law Firm. The collection includes thirteen original U.S. patents signed by early presidents of the United States. The Beem Presidential Patent Collection spans the years from 1800, when John Adams signed an original patent at the seat of the federal government in Philadelphia, to 1836, when Andrew Jackson signed many original patents and broke ground for what was then called the “New Patent Office” (now the magnificent National Portrait Gallery) in Washington, D.C.

President George Washington’s first-ever address to Congress called for a Patent Act to provide incentives for innovation, technology, and manufacturing. Congress responded three short months later with the Patent Act of 1790. A grand total of three patents would issue in that year. Over the next 46 years, patent filings would increase rapidly, resulting in the issuance of almost 10,000 patents by 1836. Now, the Patent Office issues 10,000 patents every two weeks.

Tour Followed by pay-your-own dinner

Union League Club of Chicago Rendezvous room

65 W. Jackson Blvd.

Guided tour of the collection is free of charge. Cost of dinner depends on menu items you select.