2018 -- H 7520

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LC003878

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2018

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H O U S E   R E S O L U T I O N

RECOGNIZING AND CELEBRATING "NATIONAL INVENTORS' DAY" ON FEBRUARY

11, 2018, IN THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

     Introduced By: Representatives Ucci, Corvese, Carson, Mendonca, and Giarrusso

     Date Introduced: February 08, 2018

     Referred To: House read and passed

     WHEREAS, In 1983, President Ronald Reagan proclaimed February 11th of each year to

be National Inventors' Day in the United States. February 11th was chosen in honor of Thomas

Edison, who was arguably America's greatest inventor. Thomas Edison invented the incandescent

light bulb, the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and at one time held over 1,000 patents;

and

     WHEREAS, The founding fathers recognized from the start that science, technology and

invention were vital components to a successful nation and society, and therefore declared within

the United States Constitution in Section 8 of Article I that "The Congress shall have the power to

propagate the progress of the useful arts by securing for a limited time to inventors the exclusive

right to their discoveries." Pursuant to this Constitutional provision, the United States Congress

protected inventors and their inventions by passing the first United States Patent Law, which was

signed into law by President Washington; and

     WHEREAS, The very first patent issued in the United States was given to Samuel

Hopkins on July 31, 1790. From its inception through December of 2011, the United States

Patent and Trademark Office has received 16,020,302 patent applications and has issued

8,743,423 patents. Each year, the United States Patent and Trademark Office issues more than

150,000 patents to individuals and companies across the globe. Thanks in large part to American

inventors and their ingenuity, America economically and technologically leads the world and

hopefully will continue to do so in perpetuity; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island and

Providence Plantations hereby recognizes and celebrates "National Inventors' Day" on February

11, 2018; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit a duly certified copies of this resolution to Governor Gina M. Raimondo and the

Inventors Association of New England.

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LC003878

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