| R 058 |
| 2018 -- H 7520 Enacted 02/08/2018 |
| 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 |
| 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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