Pasquale Joseph Federico
Encyclopedia
Pasquale Joseph Federico (March 25, 1902 – January 2, 1982) was a lifelong mathematician and longtime head of the United States Patent Office.
. About 1910 the family moved to Cleveland, Ohio where he gained a bachelor's degree
in physics at Case Institute of Technology
in 1923.
He was instrumental in several major changes to how patents were issued and how intellectual property is treated. Federico also served for many years as the Patent Office's unofficial historian and editor of the "Journal of the Patent Office Society"". Some of his most well known contributions to the field of mathematics focused on the study of perfect squares
and the writings of Descartes.
Federico is credited for providing the quotation underlying the scope of patentable subject matter under United States law when he testified before a House subcommittee in 1951 that "under section 101 a person may have invented a machine or manufacture, which may include anything under the sun that is made by man." This testimony was later quoted by the United States Supreme Court when the Court held in 1980 that living organisms were proper subject matter for patents.
Published by U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1957
Biography
He was born in Monessen, PennsylvaniaMonessen, Pennsylvania
Monessen is a city in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 8,669 at the 2000 census. In 1940, 20,257 people lived there. In 1990 the population was 13,026. Steel-making was a prominent industry in Monessen, which was a Rust Belt borough in the "Mon Valley" of...
. About 1910 the family moved to Cleveland, Ohio where he gained a bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
in physics at Case Institute of Technology
Case Western Reserve University
Case Western Reserve University is a private research university located in Cleveland, Ohio, USA...
in 1923.
He was instrumental in several major changes to how patents were issued and how intellectual property is treated. Federico also served for many years as the Patent Office's unofficial historian and editor of the "Journal of the Patent Office Society"". Some of his most well known contributions to the field of mathematics focused on the study of perfect squares
Squaring the square
Squaring the square is the problem of tiling an integral square using only other integral squares. The name was coined in a humorous analogy with squaring the circle. Squaring the square is an easy task unless additional conditions are set...
and the writings of Descartes.
Federico is credited for providing the quotation underlying the scope of patentable subject matter under United States law when he testified before a House subcommittee in 1951 that "under section 101 a person may have invented a machine or manufacture, which may include anything under the sun that is made by man." This testimony was later quoted by the United States Supreme Court when the Court held in 1980 that living organisms were proper subject matter for patents.
Mathematics
- Vector Differential Geometry of Curves, By Pasquale Joseph Federico, Published by George Washington University, 1925
- "Descartes on polyhedra: a study of the De solidorum elementis," By Pasquale Joseph Federico. Edition: illustrated, Published by Springer, 1982 ISBN 0387907602, 9780387907604
Patent Office
- "The First Patent Act," By Pasquale Joseph Federico, Journal of the Patent Office Society 14:237-252 (April 1932)
- "Statutory Disclaimers in Patent Law," By Pasquale Joseph Federico, Published by P. Pearlman, 1935
- "Operation of the Patent Act of 1790," By Pasquale Joseph Federico, Journal of the Patent Office Society 18:237-251 (April 1936)
- "A Fragment of Texas History", By P.J. Federico and J.R. Nunn, Journal of the Patent Office Society 18:407-410 (1936)
- "Outline of the History of the United States Patent Office," By P.J. Federico, Volume 18, Journal of the Patent Office Society, 251 (1936).
- "Treaties Between the United States and Other Countries Relating to Trademarks," By Pasquale Joseph Federico, Published 1949
- "Distribution of Patents Issued to Corporations (1939-55): Study of the Subcommittee on Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, Eighty-fourth Congress, Second Session, Pursuant to S. Res. 167," By Pasquale Joseph Federico, United States Congress. Senate. Committee on the Judiciary. Subcommittee on Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights, United States Patent Office, Published by U. S. Govt. Print. Off., 1957
- "Opposition and Revocation Proceedings in Patent Cases: Study of the Subcommittee on Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, Eighty-fourth Congress, Second Session, Pursuant to S. Res. 167," By Pasquale Joseph Federico, United States Congress. Senate. Committee on the Judiciary. Subcommittee on Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights
Published by U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1957
- "Renewal Fees and Other Patent Fees in Foreign Countries: Study of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, Eighty-fifth Congress, Second Session, Pursuant to S. Res. 236," By Pasquale Joseph Federico, United States Congress. Senate. Committee on the Judiciary. Subcommittee on Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights, Published by U.S. Govt. Printing Office, 1958