Obviousness is a critical element to patentability. In essence, even if the applicant can demonstrate patentable subject matter, utility and novelty, the patent will not issue if the invention is trivial.
While the earliest C. megalodon remains were reported from late Oligocene strata, around 28 million years old, a more reliable date for the origin of the species is the early Miocene, about 23 million years ago.
Unfortunately, the location of that material was never confirmed, and at that time, the idea of a 'dinosaur' bone had not been yet invented. So, the answer to the question, 'When were the dinosaurs first discovered?', is most likely, 'In the early years of the nineteenth century.'. Source(s): See, 'The Great Dinosaur Hunters and Their Discoveries' by Edwin H. Colbert, Dover Books, 1968.