ABSTRACT
The rise of the specification is one of the totems of patent history. Its origins and development, and the identification of the "first" specification, are something which has been considered and reviewed in the literature. While the traditional history remains persistent, namely that a specification was first required in 1712 as a requirement of John Nasmith's grant, it is an idea which in its simple form has to a great extent been debunked for a least a century. Any history of specification is usually confined to the elements required when it was first changed from being a requirement of grant to a statutory requirement under the Patent Law Amendment Act 1852. The need to keep certain inventions secret for reasons of national security remains part of British patent law and the concealment of such inventions dates back to the nineteenth century. The Scottish Parliament enacted James Wemyss' Act 1648 to protect his war inventions and to preserve their secrecy.
