The Robot Patent is an English-language scholarly term for the imperial decrees (patents) in the 1700s abolishing compulsory labor (robot) of serfs, issued by Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor, who had carried out a register of all land with a division between peasant and noble holdings.
In 1641, the first patent in North America was issued to Samuel Winslow by the General Court of Massachusetts for a new method of making salt.
 On April 10, 1790, President George Washington signed the Patent Act of 1790 (1 Stat.
 109) into law which proclaimed that patents were to be authorized for "any useful art, manufacture, engine, machine, or device, or any improvement therein not before known or used."
 On July 31, 1790, Samuel Hopkins of Pittsford, Vermont became the first person in the United States to file and to be granted a patent for an improved method of "Making Pot and Pearl Ashes."
 The Patent Act of 1836 (Ch.
 357, 5 Stat.
 117) further clarified United States patent law to the extent of establishing a patent office where patent applications are filed, processed, and granted, contingent upon the language and scope of the claimant's invention, for a patent term of 14 years with an extension of up to an additional 7 years.
 However, the Uruguay Round Agreements Act of 1994 (URAA) changed the patent term in the United States to a total of 20 years, effective for patent applications filed on or after June 8, 1995, thus bringing United States patent law further into conformity with international patent law.
 The modern-day provisions of the law applied to inventions are laid out in Title 35 of the United States Code (Ch.
 950, sec. 1, 66 Stat.
 792).
G 2/06 is a decision by the Enlarged Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office (EPO), which issued on 25 November 2008.
 In its answer to question 2, the Enlarged Board of Appeal ruled that "Rule 28(c) EPC (formerly [Rule 23d(c) [[European Patent Convention|EPC 1973]] ]) forbids the patenting of claims directed to products which – as described in the application – at the filing date could be prepared exclusively by a method which necessarily involved the destruction of the human embryos from which the said products are derived, even if the said method is not part of the claims."
 In short, a patent under the [[European Patent Convention]] (EPC) cannot be granted for an invention which necessarily involves the use and destruction of [[human embryo]]s.
 The decision notably refers to the provisions of [[EU Directive 98/44/EC of 6 July 1998 on the legal protection of biotechnological inventions]], referred to in Rule 26(1) [[European Patent Convention|EPC]] .
Under United States patent law, a provisional application is a legal document filed in the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), that establishes an early filing date, but does not mature into an issued patent unless the applicant files a regular non-provisional patent application within one year.
 There is no such thing as a "provisional patent".
The "'history of Connecticut Industry" is a major part of the history of Connecticut.
 Between the birth of the U.S. patent system in 1790 and 1930, Connecticut had more patents issued per capita than any other state; in the 19th century, when the U.S. as a whole was issued one patent per three thousand population, Connecticut inventors were issued one patent for every 700–1000 residents.
 Connecticut's first recorded invention was a lapidary machine, by Abel Buell of Killingworth, in 1765.
Letters patent (always in the plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, president, or other head of state, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, title, or status to a person or corporation.
 Letters patent can be used for the creation of corporations or government offices, or for the granting of city status or a coat of arms.
 Letters patent are issued for the appointment of representatives of the Crown, such as governors and governors-general of Commonwealth realms, as well as appointing a Royal Commission.
 In the United Kingdom they are also issued for the creation of peers of the realm.
 A particular form of letters patent has evolved into the modern patent (referred to as a utility patent or design patent in United States patent law) granting exclusive rights in an invention (or a design in the case of a design patent).
 In this case it is essential that the written grant should be in the form of a public document so other inventors can consult it to avoid infringement and also to understand how to "practice" the invention, i.e., put it into practical use.
The IXI was the worlds first digital audio player and was invented by Kane Kramer in 1979.
 In 1981 Kramer filed for a UK patent.
 UK patent 2115996 was issued in 1985, and U.S. Patent 4,667,088 was issued in 1987.
 In 1988 Kramer's failure to raise the £60,000 required to renew the patent resulted in the patent entering the public domain, but he is still the owner of the designs.
A fiant was a writ issued to the Irish Chancery mandating the issue of letters patent under the Great Seal of Ireland.
 The name "fiant " comes from the opening words of the document, "Fiant litterae patentes ", Latin for "Let letters patent be made".
 Fiants were typically issued by the chief governor of Ireland, under his privy seal; or sealed by the Secretary of State, who served as "Keeper of the Privy Seal", just as the English Secretary of State did in England.
 Fiants dealt with matters ranging from appointments to high office and important government activities, to grants of pardons to the humblest of the native Irish.
 Fiants relating to early modern Ireland are an important primary source for the period for historians and genealogists.
 The Tudor fiants were especially numerous, many relating to surrender and regrant.
 A fiant often provides more information than the ensuing letters patent recorded on patent rolls.
 There are also fiants for which the patent roll does not list any letters patent, either because none were issued or because those issued were never enrolled, through accident or abuse.
 Prior to the Act of Explanation 1665, letters patent were enrolled (if at all) after they were granted; under the act, the fiant was enrolled first, and the letters issued afterwards.
 Thereafter the rolls, which were catalogued in the 19th century, give the same information as the original fiants.
"Patent pending" (sometimes abbreviated by "pat.
 pend."
 or "pat.
 pending") or "patent applied for" are legal designations or expressions that can be used in relation to a product or process once a patent application for the product or process has been filed, but prior to the patent being issued or the application abandoned.
 The marking serves to notify the public, business, or potential infringers who would copy the invention that they may be liable for damages (including back-dated royalties), seizure, and injunction once a patent is issued.
Joseph II (Joseph Benedikt Anton Michael Adam; 13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1765 to 1790 and ruler of the Habsburg lands from 1780 to 1790.
 He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Emperor Francis I, and was the brother of Marie Antoinette.
 He was thus the first ruler in the Austrian dominions of the House of Lorraine, styled Habsburg-Lorraine.
 Joseph was a proponent of enlightened absolutism; however, his commitment to modernizing reforms subsequently engendered significant opposition, which eventually culminated in an ultimate failure to fully implement his programmes.
 He has been ranked, with Catherine the Great of Russia and Frederick the Great of Prussia, as one of the three great Enlightenment monarchs.
 His policies are now known as Josephinism.
 He died with no sons and was succeeded by his younger brother, Leopold II.

Question: Who was the mother of the emperor that issued the Robot Patent?
Answer: Empress Maria Theresa