June 1, 2000, the Patent Law Treaty (PLT) was signed in Geneva. The purpose of PLT is to make the patent process easier for the applicant at the international level by streamlining the regional and national patent procedures in member countries. Today, there are 19 contracting states and 59 additional nations have signed PLT.

Learn more about the Patent Law Treaty from the World Intellectual Property Organization.

On June 1, 1869, inventor Thomas A. Edison received a patent for an electric voting machine for use by Congress.

Learn more about the history of electronic voting.