The first true, broadly employed, patent law in the traditional sense was the Venetian statute of 1474. It gave property rights to creators of devices that were considered new and made in Venice for a period of 10 years, and assigned fines for infringements of those rights. However, these patents were refutable if the patentee failed to implement it for the benefit of the economy, and were short term licenses or personal rights, not permanent property rights and thus uninheritable. It is quite apparent that patenting was heavily reliant on the economic drive of the state, and the economic advantages took priority over the rights of the patentee. It is also fairly natural that Patent Law was truly established during the Renaissance. With the influx of innovation and artistic expression associated with this time, creators needed laws to protect their livelihoods, and states saw this as an opportunity to better themselves through their constituents. This also poses the question of whether such regulation on copyrights promote or else inhibits the progress of innovation, a question that resonates throughout history.
The development of the concept of Intellectual property was not, however, confined to Europe and the western world during these early times. In Islamic society, protection of intellectual property was backed by Muslim, or Sharia, Law. That is, Sharia Law, does not necessarily explicitly outline the conduct of intellectual property, but rather implicitly treats it as an extension of personal property. However, the overall sense of mutual cooperation in society did pose a challenge to implementing a solidly outlined law. In China, some evidence suggests that the feudal system had some ideals pertaining to piracy before international trade in the late 19th century called for a system of trademark. One can see that although somewhat present in these eastern societies, patent law played a less extensive and much less regulated role than it did in Europe. In some cultures, reproductions were a call to homage of the original creator, an uncited allusion per-se. One can then draw the conclusion that these societies emphasized the benefit of society more than that of the individual. This outlook on innovation was very much present in the western world, but the idea of claiming individual possession to one’s creation was forming.  
As the renaissance progressed, arguable the most prominent innovation to impact intellectual property, and ideas in general, the printing press came about. The concept of printing revolutionized the concepts of authorship and authority over ideas, and started an entire craft for printers, which formed guilds and became a trade as many others. It also initiated licenses, which were approvals of the state to publish a work, and also extended patents to protect against reprints. This was an immense step towards regulation of publications and prevention of piracy. It also marked the initial establishment of censorship, which was viewed as a means to upkeep the image of the printer.
