[3] Economic historian Sean Vannatta suggests that some key antebellum inventions, such as Eli Whitney's cotton gin and Cyrus McCormick's reaper, were likely influenced by the contributions of enslaved individuals.
The period saw a significant decline in patent filings by African Americans, correlating with heightened racial violence and the enforcement of segregation laws.
[2] The landmark Plessy v. Ferguson decision in 1896, which legalized "separate but equal" public facilities, coincided with a sharp drop in African American patenting rates.
The denial was based on the fact that Ned, as a slave, could not execute the required patent oath, and Stuart could not claim to be the inventor.
[9][10] Benjamin Boardley, born into slavery around 1830, developed an improved marine steam engine while working at the United States Naval Academy.
[17] The rejection was due to two reasons: In 1861, under Jefferson Davis' leadership, the Confederate States enacted a patent law that formalized slaveholders' ownership of their slaves' inventions.
[20] This case shows how the patent system denied recognition and economic benefits to African American inventors and reinforced racial inequalities.
Patent racism remains a significant issue in the United States despite advancements in civil rights and anti-discrimination laws.
Modern-day patent racism manifests through systemic barriers that disproportionately affect minority groups, particularly African-American inventors.
Patented algorithms that use public data for racial and ethnic classifications can perpetuate systemic racism present in the underlying datasets.