Mostly we hear about mobile phone patent wars, but today is special. It's the anniversary of telephone patent disputes.
On February 14, 1876, Alexander Graham Bell filed a US patent application for his telephone. On that same day, Elisha Gray filed a "patent caveat" for his telephone.
In 1876 a patent caveat was a preliminary document not unlike today provisional patent application. The point is they both went on record the same day and that was the start of a long patent dispute.
So today is the 136th anniversay of the start of the unfortunate (or beautiful, depending on your point of view) lasting relationship between telephony and patent lawyers.
I think it was great that Alexnder Graham Bell was able to invent the telephone. Maybe without the idea of telephone, people will not be able to develop the idea of long distance communication, or otherwise someone might be able to invent it other than Alexander Graham Bell.
Posted by: Android TV | April 30, 2012 at 04:15 AM