The Main Provisions of Modern Patent Law: Prerequisites for the Formation and Development

. Many principles and basic concepts of modern patent law were laid down in the XV and XVII centuries with the adoption of the first patent laws and the issuance of the first patents. Thus, in the first Law of Venice on Patents of 1474, insufficiently studied in Russian science, the foundations of such phenomena as the inventive level, exemptions from the patent in the public interest, granting equal rights to foreigners with their citizens in respect of patenting, etc. were laid. The author refutes the thesis that patent law appeared only at the end of the XVIII century, i. e. later than copyright. The influence that the mentioned Venice Law and the Statute of England on Monopolies of 1623 had on modern patent law is described in detail. Contrary to popular opinion, this Statute had a significant impact on the patent legislation not only of Great Britain, but also of many other countries. This Statute has also become part of the modern legal system of Australia and New Zealand and is used in judicial practice today. The article also highlights the laws of the XVII century adopted in the United States in relation to patents, and tells about the origin of many modern concepts and principles of patent law in the XIX century, in particular about the emergence of such fundamental concepts for patent law as the formula of invention, pre-use, statutory damages, compulsory licenses, etc.