Season 7 Ep We’re #1! Intellectual Property Firsts

“If you’re not first, you’re last!” This week on IP Goes Pop!®, co-hosts Michael Snyder and Joseph Gushue chase down “IP firsts” and explain why these origin stories still matter to creators, brands, and inventors today.

The episode opens with our hosts’ personal firsts (early movie-theater memories, ticket-counter hijinks). The discussion then shifts to media milestones. Michael and Joe start by highlighting the first televised commercial during a live sports broadcast, decades before the modern era of Super Bowl commercials and “skip ad” buttons. From there, the hosts trace more “TV firsts”. These include the first laugh track, heard in The Hank McCune Show, and the first prime-time animated series, The Flintstones.

The episode then moves from the screen to intellectual property firsts. On the patent side, the early United States patent system looks nothing like what we know today. In the beginning, patent applications were reviewed by top federal officials, including Thomas Jefferson, and personally signed off on by President George Washington. Patent history also includes a key reset point: the 1836 Patent Office fire, which destroyed records and forced rebuilding and renumbering.

Trademarks bring their own twist. Trademark No. 1 (1870) went to the Averill Chemical Paint Company, but the Supreme Court later invalidated the 1870 federal trademark statute, prompting a reboot of the whole system under a new act in 1881.

For “copyright firsts,” Michael and Joe look in their own backyard to Philadelphia for the 1790 copyright registration for the Philadelphia Spelling Book.

This episode of IP “firsts” isn't just a collection of fun facts. Knowing the roots of intellectual property helps with understanding how ideas and designs are protected today. The episode explains the rules that guide the IP process, why they changed, and what that means when you’re protecting a brand, a product, or a creative work today. What will your IP protection “first” be?

Timestamps & Resources:

(01:45) Pop Culture Firsts: First Movie Theater Memory

• Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (Joe’s first theater memory)
• The Aristocats (Mike’s early theater memory)

(03:45) First “Adult” Movie + Rating History

• PG-ratings-era controversy
  • Gremlins (1984), PG rating
  • Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), PG rating
  • Red Dawn (1984), first PG-13 rated film
• Sneaking Into a Movie: The “Note From Mom” Era
  • The Matrix (1999), R-rated
  • King Kong (1976), remake with Jeff Bridges & Jessica Lange

(06:45) First TV Commercial

• Modern commercials on Streaming and YouTube
  • Skippable vs. non-skippable ads
• First televised commercial (1941) during Dodgers vs. Phillies
  • Bulova watches

(09:39) First Laugh Track on TV

• The Hank McCune Show (1949-1953)
  • Precursor: Bing Crosby radio-era “canned laughter”
• Laugh-track examples
  • Friends (1994-2004)
  • Seinfeld (1989-1999)
• No-laugh-track mockumentaries
  • The Office (2005-2013)
  • The Paper (2025-)

(12:08) First Primetime Animated TV Show

• The Flintstones (1960-1966)
  • Hanna-Barbera
  • The Honeymooners (1955-1956)
• “Modern successor” comparison
  • The Simpsons (1989-present, 36 seasons and counting)
• 70 Consecutive years of The Tonight Show Starring…
  • Steve Allen (1953-1957)
  • Jack Paar (1957-1962)
  • Johnny Carson (1962-1992)
  • Jay Leno (1992-2009, 2010-2014)
  • Conan O’Brien (2009-2010)
  • Jimmy Fallon (2014-present)
• Gunsmoke (1955-1975, 20 seasons)

(14:50) Patent Firsts and Early U.S. Patent System

• Modern vs. Early patent process
• Patent Act of 1790 (early patent statute)
  • Early patent reviewers: Thomas Jefferson (Secretary of State), Henry Knox (Secretary of War), and the U.S. Attorney General
  • Patents signed by George Washington instead of the Commissioner of the Patent Office
  • Jefferson testing inventions; plow at Monticello
• Appealing via patent judgements
  • Use of “specimen”

(19:20) Patent Office Fire + Patent Numbering Begins

• 1836 patent office fire; records destroyed
• Patent numbering reset in 1836: “Patent No. 1” era begins
  • pre-1836 “X” patents explained

(20:10) First U.S. Patent(s)

• First patent under the 1790 Act
  • Patent x000001 granted July 31, 1790
  • Inventor: Samuel Hopkins; Famous Quaker from Philadelphia (not Vermont)
  • Patent for Potash process (fertilizer/soap use)
    • Important (and profitable) chemical at the time
  • Secured first Canadian patent on same process
• First “Modern Era” Patent
• Patent No. 1 July 13, 1836 for locomotive traction wheel
• Inventor: Senator John Ruggles
• Benjamin Franklin (didn’t patent inventions; Franklin Stove example)
  • IP as incentive vs. public access tension
  • The Franklin Stove

(24:15) Trademark Firsts

• First Coca-Cola Trademarks
• First Disney Trademark
• First U.S. trademark registration
  • Averill Chemical Paint Company (NY)
  • Eagle/wreath logo (filed August 1870)
• Trademark Act struck down by Supreme Court (1879)
• 1881 Trademark Act

(27:16) Oldest Still-Active Trademark Mentioned 

• Samson Rope mark (Samson wrestling a lion)
  • First registered to JP Tolman Company
  • Continuous use/renewal highlighted
• Longevity comparisons mentioned
  • The Coca-Cola Company
  • Quaker Oats
  • Brooks Brothers
  • Levi Strauss

(29:10) Copyright Firsts + International “Piracy” Problem

• Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol (U.S. piracy)
• Mark Twain (U.K. piracy)
• “Philadelphia Spelling Book” (1790) by John Barry (Pennsylvania)
• Noah Webster
  • American Dictionary of the English Language (1828)
• Library of Congress
  • First page of Philadelphia Spelling Book
• Wheaton v. Peters
  • Government works and court opinions not copyrightable

 

(32:05) Final Thoughts

• IP protection goes back to the country’s founding
• Law evolves through “trial and error” from firsts to modern practice
• Remember: “If you are not first, you’re last.”