Intellectual Property for Project Development

Early movers in a new field can make audacious claims and often become incredibly wealthy. In 1612, some of the first English settlers in America were able to persuade King James I to grant the “Virginia Company” a Charter to a huge portion of North America spanning the entire coast from New York City to Savannah, Georgia, and inland from “sea to sea,” i.e., from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean! In addition, they were granted any islands up to 300 leagues offshore (~1,000 miles) so they could claim title to Bermuda, which was later sold for profit. Unfortunately for the Virginia Company, in 1624 their Charter was not renewed and the lands in which they had invested were converted to a ‘royal' colony, without compensation for their investors, not to mention for the Native Americans inhabiting them.