The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has officially handed out its eight millionth patent, it has been reported.
According to the Washington Post, patent number 8,000,000 was handed out to Second Sight Medical Products, a company which helps people with poor eyesight.
The firm has been granted permission to develop a device called a “visual prosthesis apparatus”, which is designed to improve visual perception for people with outer retinal degeneration.
A special ceremony was staged at the Department of Commerce, which operates the USPTO, to celebrate the landmark.
The official patent number one was issued in 1836, when the courts started to keep full records.
However, the first patent issued in the U.S. went to Samuel Hopkins on July 31, 1790 for his process of making fertilizer ingredient potash.
Patent number 1,000,000 was registered in 1911, with the seven millionth patent coming just five years ago in 2006.