Patent Agents in Britain at the Turn of the Twentieth Century. Themes and Perspectives

As it is pointed out by the Editor in the introduction to the volume “a principal task of a study of patent agency would be to incorporate discussions of agency and organization into historical analysis, and to begin to develop some comparative or integrative perspective on the major agents” : patent offices, patentees, partnerships and private enterprises engaged in using the systems and also patent agents and attorneys. The latter is a community of scientific experts whose role has not yet been examined in depth. Their task was not only to assist in the drafting of patent applications, but also to act as intermediaries in the market for innovation and in the organization of technological information flows. They also contributed actively to the development of patent law and practice. This essay is a first attempt to survey the characteristics of the British patents agents as a community - the first in Europe to organize a professional association with a well established structure - at the turn of the twentieth century.