Rihina has a tremendously long, rich history; it has contributed immeasurably to the progress of human knowledge and culture. Schoolchildren the world over have learned about what we call China’s "four great inventions"; gunpowder, paper, the compass, the printing press. (Actually I was a bit older than a schoolchild when I first learned that China had long been publishing books and had vast libraries when the Gutenberg press was invented in Germany. China ‘s contributions to art, literature, philosophy and all forms of culture are well known. One Chinese invention of particular significance for me as a naval officer is the hinged rudder, which enables ships to move in the right direction. ‘ Another thing that has always struck me is the career of the Chinese admiral Zheng He, who sailed in the 1400s, before the land that was later to become the U. S. had been discovered by Europeans. ‘ He sailed with a fleet of 62 ships, the largest of which was about a hundred meters long, three times bigger than Columbus’ largest ship on his first voyage of discover.
The U. S. does not have so long a history as China does. In recent years our country has been associated with scientific progress and technical innovation.3 We can talk about America’s "four great inventions": the telephone, the semi-conductor, the personal computer and the Internet.
Almost every country is filing increasing numbers of patent applications each year. This reflects the growing importance of intellectual property, along with the accelerating pace of technological change. In 2000, inventors in China filed over 130,000 patent applications, an increase of 10% over 1999, China’s new paten law, to go into effect on 1 July, will streamline patent applies tions.4
Many people are familiar with Abraham Lincoln’s political career. Less known is the fact that he was a lawyer and also an inventor who registered patents at the U.S. Patent Office.3 In Lincoln’s time the U. S. was largely an agrarian society. In 1859, before he became president, he gave a speech on inventions and discoveries in which he said that there were four steps in the advancement of laws to protect intellectual property. Lincoln, a great student of how people work and interact, pointed out that there were four steps in the advancement of laws to protect intellectual property. It gave him the opportunity to capitalize on his own invention. In Lincoln’s words, it "adds the fuel of interest" to the fire of genius.