The USPTO granted its first patent in 1836 and 175 years later, the government body now has a database that is eight million strong.
On August 16, 2011, patent number 8,000,000 received the rubber stamp of approval. This patent was granted to Second Sight Medical for a prosthetic device that restores the sight of patients blinded by retinal degeneration.
Other notable millions describe computing devices, tires and even our favorite bacteria E. Coli. Check out numbers one to eight million in the gallery above. [USPTO via Slashdot]
