The heart and soul of American innovation has always been the individual inventor — that special, inspired person who toils for days, months and even years in a garage, at a computer, or in a laboratory to create the next product, service or cure that will change the way we live our lives.

These remarkable people are found throughout America today, helping us achieve things nobody thought possible when Thomas Edison was issued patent #223,898 for the light bulb. That same patent system — grounded in a Constitutional recognition of the importance of individual rights to inventions for a limited period of time — has provided the necessary underpinning for billions of dollars invested in cures, technologies and scientific advancements.