Today in Technology History
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March 30
An invention patented on this date started a legal controversy that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. The invention in question? A pencil with a writing point at one end and an eraser at the other.
Lead pencils and separate rubber erasers were common by 1800. But on March 30, 1858, Mr. Hymen L. Lipman of Philadelphia was issued a patent for combining the pencil and eraser. (We know nothing about Lipman's life. In fact, newspaper articles and Web sites usually misspell his first name as "Hyman.")
Click the image above to see Lipman's patent (number 19,783). The patent, which is simplistically illustrated, states that Lipman's invention is not just a pencil with an eraser attached. His invention, specifically, was to put the rubber eraser inside the wooden pencil. That way, Lipman reasoned, the rubber could be sharpened to erase fine lines.
When a different inventor patented another way to attach erasers, he tried to get money from Faber, a pencil company. The company argued in court that Lipman and the other inventor should never have been granted patents since pencils and erasers were not new inventions.
The case eventually went to the U.S. Supreme Court, which agreed with Faber. According to the Court, Lipman should not have received a patent since he only combined two things that already existed. "The combination, to be patentable, must produce a different force or effect" than when the pencil and eraser are separate. "A handle in common… does not create a new or combined operation," the Court said. Both patents were revoked.
Related links:
Click here to read the 1875 U.S. Supreme Court case that revoked Lipman's patent.
Click here to read more about the history of pencils, erasers and pens.
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