The History of Patent Medicine

The idea of patent medicine or patent in general goes back to European monarchies where a monarch would issue something called a letters patent, which would co-sign a product or service. So it could be medicine, but it could also be we like the way this guy makes shoes or we like the how this lady makes lace. They're our official co-signed person, which means that if you are a grifter, if you are selling a fake medicine, a medicine that does not do what it purports to do, you just have to convince the queen or the king or the Duke or whomever, right?