As I’m sure you know I said civilizations as in plural.
Romans did not have a patent system but they kept tons of detailed drawings, notes, records, some which are still around today.
https://www.recordsbackground.com/blog/do-any-ancient-roman-records-still-exist-today/
Heckling is a difficult job, but somebody has to do it. ;-D
I am under the opinion that our society is undergoing collapse right now. There are numerous indications that such is the case. Our general productivity is not up to par even though there have been several spectacular inventions in recent times.