The Industrial Foundation
Inventor ingenuity redefines how things get done

Just a few years ago, who would have dared to think that our United States Post Office system would be sorting letters via a zip code at the speed of 30,000 per hour. This is just one of dozens of examples of how our world has changed in recent years. Today we are making major shifts in product technology about every two or three years. These product innovations have been, and will continue to be, the foundation of an industrial society’s advancement. The customer is pushing these innovations through more and more demands for new product functions.

The negative side of this customer push for more product function is the effect it is having on the life cycle of technical professionals. An engineer could expect to practice his profession at the turn of the last century for about 35 years without concern about skills obsolescence. This life cycle has been gradually reduced to the current level that requires continuous learning.

One must ask the question, “What happened in our society long ago that pushed us ahead of all other nations in the world technologically? The historical key to innovative technology has been the work of persistent and determined individuals. Thousands have written their names in the sands of time through their innovative ideas. The thing that happened in our society was a simple act: The U. S. Patent Act.

The patent act
America was the first country in the world to establish, by Constitutional law, rights of an inventor to reap the profits of his labor. This single act stimulated individuals to make the impossible reality. The United States Patent Office archives stand as an eternal monument to their achievements. The freedom to discover by individuals is the ultimate freedom.

April 10, 1990 officially marked the 200th anniversary of the U. S. patent process. When George Washington signed the first American patent statute and appointed Thomas Jefferson as patent reviewer, along with the able assistance of Henry Knox and Edmund Randolph, it represented an important step in protecting the work of an inventor. The original law provided protection for 14 years, which was later extended to 17 years, where it stands today.

The inventor
Traditionally, inventions have been the work of individuals: Alexander G. Bell’s telephone, Samuel F. B. Morris’ Code and Thomas Edison’s light bulb. Elias Howe, Jr. of Cambridge, Massachusetts, with his Patent No. 4,750 for the sewing machine, changed the way sewing would be done. The story is that, as Howe watched his mother sew, he conceptualized a twisting action method to replace the needle and thread push-through-pull method. He redefined how sewing could be done. This is what all inventors do. They redefine how a thing can be done.

Alfred Bernard Noble: Noble invented a device that solved the problem of safety in detonating nitroglycerin. His approach was a re-definition of the problem. He designed a blasting cap – a charge of gunpowder, which was ignited by a fuse, which in turn ignited a container of liquid nitroglycerin.

Noble saw himself as an idea man. He said, “If I have a thousand ideas a year, and only one turns out to be good, then I am satisfied.” His ideas developed into 355 patents. He was a generalist. Even though Noble is best know for his invention of dynamite, this was not his only interest. His work included experiments to find artificial substitutes for silk, leather, and rubber. He also developed an idea for aerial photography in map making.

Intellectual property law
Have you ever asked, “Why is it that we don’t hear much about men like Thomas Edison, Charles F. Kettering, Alfred B. Noble, and George Eastman today? The answer is our intellectual property laws. Business organizations generally claim patent rights of inventors regardless of whether they invent on the job or at home. George Eastman, for example, was employed as a bookkeeper and did his experimenting at home using his mother’s kitchen. Kettering invented the automobile starter as a moonlighter in a barn in Dayton, Ohio, while working for National Cash Register Company.

These men would not have had a chance to claim rights to their patents in today’s business environment. Our courts uphold the rights of organizations to claim the rights to the brains of their engineers. Can you imagine not having a starter in your automobile because Charles Kettering was not free to explore his ideas? He filed over 700 patents in his lifetime. Your automobile is a living testimony to his freedom to explore ideas.

Back to Industry Index

Back to March Issue

Copyright 1996-2001, by Kentucky Business Online.  All rights reserved.

Editorial content is copyright 2001, Lane Communications Group
All editorial material is fully protected and must not be reproduced in any manner without prior permission.

The Lane Report is a trademark of Lane Communications Group.  All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.