X-Patent
On July 31, 1790 inventor Samuel Hopkins of Pittsford, Vermont became the first person to be issued a patent in the United States. His patented invention was an improvement in the "making of Pot Ash by a new apparatus & process." The earliest patent law required that a working model of each invention be produced in miniature.
Oscar Wirkkala
His first patent was granted in 1917, and was for a four-drum donkey engine used in his high lead logging system. In the following years, several of his patented devices were manufactured, under the Wirkkala brand, at the Willapa Harbor Iron Works in South Bend. A few of his patented inventions were still in manufacture well into the second half of the 20th century. Wirkkala sued his own patent attorney for patent infringement on the choker hook, and after several years of litigation the suit was decided in Wirkkala's favor. Later, Wirkkala developed and patented a marine propeller. In the course of his career he patented at least 18 different inventions.