The first U.S. patent was issued July 31, 1790 for "making pot and pearl ashes" - a formula to make soap.  At that time, patents could be issued by any two of following three people: the Secretary of War, the Secretary of Defense and the Attorney General.  This system soon changed in 1793 to a registration process in which a patent was issued with no examination, leaving the courts to decide if a patent was valid. 

The word "heroin" was originally registered as a trademark of the Friedrich Bayer & Co. A.G. in 1898.  It was derived from the     
Greek word for "hero." Consumers came to think the term referred to the product itself, and the word became "generic."

During the Civil War, the Confederate States of America had a Confederate Patent Office that issued over 250 patents, including one for the ironclad ship, the Merrimack.