ABSTRACT
The Patent Act of July 4, 1836, established an examination Corps and the office of Commissioner of Patents. This act required that copies of issued patents be available and that each patent contain a written description of the invention in such terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertained to make and use the device patented. The main body of the patent has two main functions. The first of these is to describe the invention as completely, clearly and exactly as possible, while at the same time being concise. The second function is to point out with particularity the subject matter the inventor claims as his or her invention. The US Patent Office has developed the United States Patent Classification System (USPCS) so that patents may be found relatively easily from their subject matter. The USPCS is an arrangement of classes and subclasses of apparatus, articles of manufacture, processes, and compositions.
