The idea of protecting intellectual activity and creation has deep roots. The ancient Greeks used an awards system to   (A)   design achievements, which performed some of the same functions as the modern patent system. Their pottery, sculptures, and other manufactured goods had symbols on them to note the tradesmen who created them, which are the predecessors of modern trademarks. Similar marks and symbols functioning as trademarks have been found on Chinese pottery, possibly dating as far back as 2698 BCE, and in many other ancient societies, including the Egyptians, the Assyrians, and the Vedic civilization.

The concept of intellectual property continued to develop during the Roman period. The Roman Empire had an incredible variety of trademarks. Roman potters alone used approximately 6,000 trademarks. Additionally, Roman authors had a sense that their intellectual creations were   (B)  , as they complained about the exploitation of those creations. Their sense of injustice was probably heightened by the fact that there were laws and traditions in place that supported their belief that only they could exploit their creations. Roman authors could, in fact, make money from the copying and publishing of their works because the value of their intellectual creations was recognized.