2004 audit of Catholic clergy sex abuse claims [US CCB] News
2004 audit of Catholic clergy sex abuse claims [US CCB]

Report on the Implementation of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, National Review Board, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, February 18, 2005 [reporting that the past year has produced 1,092 new allegations of sexual abuse against at least 756 Catholic clergymen]. Read the full text of the report [PDF]. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

THIS DAY @ LAW

US Congress approves first Patent Act

On April 10, 1790, Congress approved the US's first Patent Act. The Patent Act of 1790 allowed inventors to maintain "sole and exclusive right and liberty of making, constructing, using and vending to others" a patented invention for fourteen years. The Act furthermore created the US Patent Board, the precursor to the modern US Patent Office. Read the current US Patent Law from the Cornell University Law School.

Hugo Grotius born

Hugo Grotius, Dutch jurist, statesman and father of international law was born in Delft, Holland, on April 10, 1583. His best-known work is De Jure Belli ac Pacis (On the Law of War and Peace), which he published in 1625.