瑪麗‧凱斯 (Mary Kies) 在1809年5月5日成為第一個得到美國專利權的女性

你有沒有發明過什麼東西呢？如果有，你可能會想跟瑪麗‧凱斯做一樣的事：去申請專利。1790年通過的「專利法案」 (The Patent Act) 讓所有人的發明，不管是男是女，都得到專利的保障。不過，因為在許多州里，女性並不能在丈夫之外私自擁有財產，許多女發明家也不想為她們的發明申請專利。瑪麗‧凱斯在1809年5月5日打破了這個現象。她因為發明將麥稈與絲線編織在一起的方式，而成為第一個得到美國專利的女性，藉由這個新方法，凱斯可以製作並販賣圖中這種漂亮的帽子。透過法律保護，也沒有任何其他人可以販賣跟他一樣的帽子。這就是專利的功能所在。


Have you ever invented something? If you have, you may want to do what Mary Kies did: patent it. The Patent Act of 1790 opened the door for anyone, male or female, to protect his or her invention with a patent. However, because in many states women could not legally own property independent of their husbands, many women inventors didn't bother to patent their new inventions. Mary Kies broke that pattern on May 5, 1809. She became the first woman to receive a U.S. patent for her method of weaving straw with silk. With her new method, Kies could make and sell beautiful hats such as this one, and, by law, no one else could sell hats just like hers. That's how a patent works.

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