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The First Ballpoint Pen
The ballpoint pen origins date back to 1888, when the first patent was registered to John J Loud. Loud was trying to design a pen that would reliably write on things other than paper, but what he found was the design was not suitable for everyday use, meaning his idea never took off.
https://www.theonlinepencompany.com/us/ballpoint-pens/history -
Laszlo Josef Biro
Laszlo Josef Biro (Sept 29 1899 - Oct 24 1985) was a Hungarian Jewish journalist credited with developing the ballpoint pen.
https://www.theonlinepencompany.com/us/ballpoint-pens/history -
The Beginning Stages of the Ballpoint Pen
Laszlo Josef Biro worked as a journalist and noticed the difference in ink between the ink used in fountain pens and the ink used on newspapers. He began experimenting with newspaper ink in pens but found the ink to be difficult to work with.
https://www.invent.org/inductees/laszlo-josef-biro -
The Ballpoint Pen is Official (almost)
Laszlo began working with his brother Georg, a chemist on a new version of his ballpoint pen. The tool they developed was comprised of a pen with a metal ball bearing at the tip, which applied the ink onto paper and other surfaces.
https://ipwatchdog.com/2014/12/10/the-evolution-of-modern-ballpoint-pen-a-patent-history/id=52550/# -
A Chance Encounter
By chance, Laszlo met the president of Argentina, Augustin Pedro Justo, on vacation. The Argentinian president was so impressed by Laszlo’s innovative invention that he urged him to relocate to Argentina to further commercialize his product.
https://ipwatchdog.com/2014/12/10/the-evolution-of-modern-ballpoint-pen-a-patent-history/id=52550/# -
Laszlo Relocates
When anti-Jewish laws went into effect in Hungary in 1938, Laszlo, his brother, and his family fled to Paris and then to Argentina. It is not small stretch of the imagination to assume that the president of Argentina, inadvertently saved Laszlo’s life and the lives of his family members.
https://ipwatchdog.com/2014/12/10/the-evolution-of-modern-ballpoint-pen-a-patent-history/id=52550/# -
The British Royal Air Force
The British Royal Air Force would order the first bulk supply of 30,000 of Laszlo’s pens.
https://www.invent.org/inductees/laszlo-josef-biro -
Intellectual Property Thievery
Milton Reynolds, an American businessman visited Argentina and bought some of Laszlo’s pens. Milton was able to copy most of Laszlo’s design and licensed the ballpoint pen through a department store known as Gimbels. Gimbels would then sell the stolen pen idea at exorbitant prices.
https://ipwatchdog.com/2014/12/10/the-evolution-of-modern-ballpoint-pen-a-patent-history/id=52550/# -
The First Patent for Laszlo
On December 11th 1945, Laszlo was issued U.S. Patent No. 2390636, which is titled Writing Instrument, to protect his innovation. It claims a writing instrument with a reservoir for charging dense ink as well as an air intake and a free ball tip.
https://ipwatchdog.com/2014/12/10/the-evolution-of-modern-ballpoint-pen-a-patent-history/id=52550/# -
The Work Towards a Better Pen
Although Laszlo’s pen worked well, it had some leakage issues with angered consumers. Patrick J. Frawley Jr. and Fran Seech further developed on Laszlo’s pen and improved ink compositions.
https://ipwatchdog.com/2014/12/10/the-evolution-of-modern-ballpoint-pen-a-patent-history/id=52550/# -
Project Normandy Campaign
Patrick J. Frawley Jr. had a bewildering and brazen business campaign to improve the perception of the once leaky and messy ballpoint pens. Having improved the ink quality, Patrick had salespeople trained to barge into the offices of store buyers and even executives and scribble on their shirts with the new and improved pen. Of course, they would be immediately angered by their “ruined” shirt only to discover that the ink washes out!
https://ipwatchdog.com -
57 Units Per Second
57 units per second over a course of a year, that is how often a ballpoint pen was sold around the world during 2006.
https://ipwatchdog.com/2014/12/10/the-evolution-of-modern-ballpoint-pen-a-patent-history/id=52550/#