Projector is a 19th-century term in United States patent law meaning the original true inventor. "True inventor" at the time meant the first inventor to reduce an invention to practice.
As a synonym for promoter, e.g. in the phrase "railway projectors", the term was used in a derogatory fashion in a 1790 document. In that discussion of needed changes in the patent act, 'projector' described someone who overzealously promotes an invention.
See also
References
- Willard Phillips, The Law of Patents for Inventions: including the remedies and legal proceedings in relation to Patent Rights”, pp65 et seq. American Stationers’ Company, Boston, 1837
- Frank D. Prager, "Proposals for the Patent Act of 1790", Journal of the Patent and Trademark Office Society, March 1954, vol XXXVI, No. 3, pp 157 et Seq.
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