An Act concerning Monopolies and Dispensations with penall Lawes and the Forfeyture thereof.[2]
Citation
21 Jas. 1. c. 3
Introduced by
Sir Edward Coke
Territorial extent
England and Wales
Dates
Royal assent
29 May 1624
Commencement
12 February 1624
Other legislation
Amended by
Statute Law Revision Act 1863
Patents, Designs, and Trade Marks Act 1883
Statute Law Revision Act 1948
Administration of Justice Act 1965
Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1969
Status: Partially repealed
Text of the Statute of Monopolies 1623 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.
The Statute of Monopolies[1] (21 Jas. 1. c. 3) was an act of the Parliament of England notable as the first statutory expression of English patent law. Patents evolved from letters patent, issued by the monarch to grant monopolies over particular industries to skilled individuals with new techniques. Originally intended to strengthen England's economy by making it self-sufficient and promoting new industries, the system gradually became seen as a way to raise money (through charging patent-holders) without having to incur the public unpopularity of a tax. Elizabeth I particularly used the system extensively, issuing patents for common commodities such as starch and salt. Unrest eventually persuaded her to turn the administration of patents over to the common law courts, but her successor, James I, used it even more. Despite a committee established to investigate grievances and excesses, Parliament made several efforts to further curtail the monarch's power. The result was the Statute of Monopolies, passed on 29 May 1624 (although at the time this was thought to be 1623).
The statute repealed some past and future patents and monopolies but preserved exceptions: one of these was for patents for novel inventions. Seen as a key moment in the evolution of patent law, the statute has also been described as "one of the landmarks in the transition of [England's] economy from the feudal to the capitalist".[3] Even with the statute in force, it took over a century for a comprehensive legal doctrine around patents to come into existence, and James I's successor Charles I regularly abused the patents system by ensuring that all cases relating to his actions were heard in conciliar courts, which he controlled. The English Civil War and the resulting English Restoration finally curtailed this system. The statute is still the basis for Australian law, and until the United Kingdom began following the European Patent Convention in 1977, was also a strong pillar of the United Kingdom's intellectual property law.
^ abThe citation of this act by this short title was authorised by section 5 of, and schedule 2 to, the Statute Law Revision Act 1948. Due to the repeal of those provisions, it is now authorised by section 19(2) of the Interpretation Act 1978.
^These words are printed against this act in the second column of schedule 2 to the Statute Law Revision Act 1948, which is headed "Title".
^Cite error: The named reference blox157 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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The StatuteofMonopolies (21 Jas. 1. c. 3) was an act of the Parliament of England notable as the first statutory expression of English patent law. Patents...
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"projects of new invention". This was incorporated into the 1624 StatuteofMonopolies in which Parliament restricted the Crown's power explicitly so that...
application on the grounds that it was not a "manner of manufacture" under section 6 of the StatuteofMonopolies because the invention was neither a new saleable...
they were only to be used for "projects of new invention". This was incorporated into the StatuteofMonopolies (1624) in which Parliament restricted the...
system (the StatuteofMonopolies in 1623) is considered an influential factor. The effects of patents, both good and ill, on the development of industrialisation...
The Statuteof Anne, also known as the Copyright Act 1709 or the Copyright Act 1710 (cited either as 8 Ann. c. 21 or as 8 Ann. c. 19), was an act of the...
but the StatuteofMonopolies (21 Jas. 1. c. 3) specifically exempted them. Nor to the liberties of Newcastle-upon-Type, nor to licences of keeping taverns;...
matter of an invention is patentable in Australia, if it is a manner of manufacture within the meaning of section 6 of the StatuteofMonopolies. The High...
to complaints about monopoly, until King James I began to grant them again. In 1623 Parliament passed the StatuteofMonopolies, which for the most part...
system of granting patents in the six Australian colonies was based upon British law, and can be traced back to the English StatuteofMonopoliesof 1623...
the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I, and was eventually regulated by the StatuteofMonopoliesof 1624, the first statutory expression of English patent...
introduced or developed. 1623 England adopts StatuteofMonopolies, which has been acknowledged as a legal predecessor of the US patent law. 1789. U.S. Constitution...
fine, citing the StatuteofMonopoliesof 1624. He held that Sandys and the other interloping merchants had never been possession of the East India trade...
legislation that controls the use of patents, such as the Patentgesetz in Germany. Patent Act StatuteofMonopolies 1623 (21 Jas. 1. c. 3) German Patents...
of the 1630s. It was alleged that popish soap scarred the soul as well as skin and fabric.[citation needed] The statute forbade grants ofmonopolies to...
bookseller monopolies. Andrew Millar was a bookseller who in 1729, had purchased the publishing rights to James Thomson's poem The Seasons. After the term of the...
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