The importance of patents in the development of building structures in the 19th century

Abstract

A patent is an exclusive right granted by a state to protect an invention. Patents played a key role in the development of new construction systems in the second half of the 19th century and the early decades of the 20th. A look at the historical origins of patents is necessary to understand how the foundations of the contemporary patent system were laid. In this regard, the early patents for reinforced concrete offer a good example of the technical, financial and even speculative nature behind the intellectual protection of the invention of a material that revolutionized construction in the 20th century.