Some Light Laser Reading

In light of Charles Townes' recent $1.5 million dollar prize, a couple of books on laser technology:

First, How the Laser Happened: Adventures of a Scientist by Charles H. Townes:

In How the Laser Happened, Nobel laureate Charles Townes provides a highly personal look at some of the leading events in twentieth-century physics. Townes was inventor of the maser, of which the laser is one example; an originator of spectroscopy using microwaves; and a pioneer in the study of gas clouds in galaxies and around stars. Throughout his career he has also been deeply engaged with issues outside of academic research.

And another viewpoint, Laser: The Inventor, the Nobel Laureate, and the Thirty-Year Patent War, by Nick Taylor:

In his latest effort, the prolific Taylor (John Glenn; In Hitler's Shadow) recounts the compelling life of Gordon Gould, a young scientist who hit upon how to build a laser in 1957. Over the 30 years he spent fighting for the patent, he neither finished his Ph.D. nor attended conferences to raise his scientific credibility. During that time, he butted up against Charles Townes, who won the Nobel Prize in physics for discovering the "optical maser," as he called it, even though courts later ruled against the U.S. patent office, arguing that Townes's original design wouldn't have worked.(Under U.S. patent law, an inventor need not reach the patent office first to claim a patent, but only show priority in writing down an idea that can be realized by someone skilled in that field. Gould fortunately had had his original notebook notarized.)

The Monopoly Machine

An interesting read:

In our last column, Attorney Bruce Epperson described how Colonel Albert Pope, the "Rockefeller of Bicycles" manuvered in 1878 to acquire all the significant patents covering the basic features of the bicycle, including Pierre Lallement's 1866 "Improvement in Velocipedes," the first bicycle patent in the United States. This Week, in Part 2 of "The Monopoly Machine" we look at how the Colonel tried to use those patents to create a monopoly over the entire bicycle industry.

Book Recommendation

I love reading non-fiction books about lawsuits. My favorites are those written by the attorney who actually worked on the case, or someone with some involvement in the case, like Helter Skelter, The Defense Never Rests, A Civil Action, World War 3.0, etc. There are surprisingly few that deal with IP issues. (Imagine that!)

However, I recently read The Billion Dollar Monopoly® Swindle, by Ralph Anspach. Ralph invented the game Anti-Monopoly in the 1970s. Remember that game? Bust the Trust? I vaguely do. This book deals with the sordid history of the game Monopoly® and the subsequent lawsuit against Anspach for copyright infringement. His argument? That Parker Brothers did not even have rights to Monopoly®. It includes pictures of early Monopoly-like games and patent drawings (!) of early Monopoly® games. Very interesting book, and a fun read.

And somewhat related to patentability, and the issue of first inventorship.

I'm also currently reading Innovation and Its Discontents: How Our Broken Patent System is Endangering Innovation and Progress and What to Do About It, by Adam B. Jaffe and Josh Lerner. I'll post my thoughts on it when I finish. Not only does it have the longest title I’ve ever seen (and I thought A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius was bad), but it’s a fairly dry read, even for a patent lawyer. Please note that if you click on any of the above links, you will have the option of using the infamous Amazon "One-Click" patent if you choose to buy.