Did Leonardo ever patent any of his inventions?

Leonardo never patented any of his inventions: there was no patent system in existence when he lived.

However, there is theory that in order to protect his inventions from abuse, he deliberately included simple faults in his drawings. When some of his inventions were re-built centuries later, these flaws came to light and scientists wondered whether Leonardo possibly didn’t fully understand the laws of science. However, apparently this was not the case. For example, his drawings of a hang glider suggest an operating modus that would lead to the glider plunging to the ground right-away. Still, Leonardo had studied birds and how they fly and this makes it very improbable he wasn’t aware of the basic laws of aerodynamics.

So why did he include such faults?

One theory says, he simply was a secretive person and it was his way of protecting his inventions.

Another theory says he was known to be a gay, vegetarian pacifist and that he wanted to make sure his inventions would not be abused for war purposes.

Today, the existence of the patent system gives an inventor an incentive not to be secretive. If the inventor is willing to share the invention by filing a patent application, they can be rewarded with a patent if the claimed invention proves to be novel, non-obvious and useful. The patent, if granted, gives the owner the exclusive right to exploit their invention or to licence others to do so.

So these days, Leonardo may have been known as one of the most active and creative patent applicants on the planet.

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