The term patent comes from ‘letters patent’ (an official document granting a right or privilege) that a monarch or government created that gave the holder an absolute monopoly or right.

Like all law, copyright law was a purely national affair, and was developed to regulate internal markets. As a result, some nations chose to recognize copyright as existing from the moment of creation of a work (book, play, poem, picture, photograph and so on) whilst other introduced different tests – originality, proof that novelty was present, sweat of the brow in creation of the work, performance of the play or musical work – in order to prove that the work was worthy of copyright, or formal registration with a national authority (just as patents are registered today, although with lower tests by the registration authority).

This document is in PDF format. To view it click here.