In 1790, just a few years after the Constitution was ratified, the United States granted its first patent.

President George Washington signed a patent for a process to make fertilizer production better and more efficient, invented by Vermont native Samuel Hopkins.

Our young nation was experiencing many tests in its early years. Our borders were surrounded by threats. The economy was wobbly. And Americans were still learning how our experiment in self-government was supposed to work. President Washington had no shortage of troubles and issues to take care of.

And yet, he took the time to sign that first patent, as the law required.

This moment tells us something important about what the Founders believed: In America, what you create is worth protecting. And that’s worth the time of somebody as great as George Washington.

Our continued commitment to liberty, creativity, and innovation has made America an entrepreneurial and technological giant.

For most of history, governments managed innovation from the top: licenses, guilds, royal approval. If you wanted to build something new, you had to........

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