Were Letters Patent for Invention Hereditaments?

In the 18th century cases of Hamblin’s, James’s and Wilkinson’s patent, the committees that examined that patent included serving or retired justices of the common law courts. Moreover the meetings that determined the validity of these patents also advised the King on various appeals made to the King in Council from decisions of the law courts in Jersey, Guernsey and His Majesty’s Colonies. Thus the Privy Council seems to have acted as a conciliar court advising the King on the exercise of his judicial powers.

Consider the act of parliament of 1641 entitled

An act for the regulating of the Privy Council, and for taking away the court commonly called the star-chamber.

The text is on this website:

https://lonang.com/library/organic/1641-asc/

and on many other websites.

Here is the text of Article 5 of that act of 1641:

“V. Be it likewise declared and enacted by authority of this present parliament, That neither his Majesty, nor his privy council, have or ought to have any jurisdiction, power or authority, by English bill, petition, articles, libel or any other arbitrary way whatsoever, to examine or draw into question, determine or dispose of the lands, tenements, hereditaments, goods or chattels of any the subjects of this kingdom, but that the same ought to be tried and determined in the ordinary courts of justice, and by the ordinary course of the law. ”

In view of this, one might ask whether or not letters patent granting a legal monopoly to an inventor are a hereditament.

First note that “honours, liberties and franchises” (in the medieval sense of those terms) are regularly included with “castles, manors, mesuages…” in lists, in charters etc. in lists that conclude with “and other hereditaments”.

Now, to the best of my knowledge, hereditaments are property, corporeal or incorporeal, that can pass by inheritance.

So the question arises whether, in 18th century England, patent grants could pass by inheritance, if the inventor died within the fourteen year duration of the grant

In the standard boilerplate text of the letters patent, to be found in John Dyer Collier and many other sources:

“Know ye therefore, that we, of our especial grace, certain knowledge and mere motion, have given and granted, and by these presents for us, our heirs and successors, Do give and grant unto the said A. B. his executors, administrators and assigns, our especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that he the said A. B. his executors, administrators and assigns,…”

The presence of the words “executors, administrators and assigns”, repeated many times in the document, therefore seems to show that such letters patent granted (incorporeal) property that could pass by inheritance or assignments, and therefore were indeed hereditaments.