An important part of black history is the many inventive contributions of black Americans. The achievements of just a few of them are highlighted below.

George Washington Carver was an African American scientist and educator, famous for many inventions relating to peanuts. He as born into slavery but become one of the most prominent scientists and inventors of his time, as well as a teacher at the Tuskegee Institute. Carver did not patent most of his inventions, but did receive three patents, including U.S. Patent No. 1,522,176 on a Cosmetic and Process for Making Same, and U.S. Patent No. 1,632,236 on Process of Producing Paints and Stains.

Lonnie G. Johnson is a former Air Force/NASA engineer who among other things, invented the Super Soaker water gun, for which he received U.S. Patent No. 5,074,437.

Johnson’s other patents include U.S. Patent No. 5,982,144 on Rechargeable Battery Power Supply Overcharge Protection Circuit; U.S. Patent Nos. 6,000,386 and 6,003,503 on Toy Gun with Fluid Pulsator; U.S. Patent No. 6,099,266 on Air Pump; U.S. Patent No. 6,180,281 on Composite Separator and Electrode; U.S. Patent No. 6,220,237 on Compressed Air Toy Gun; U.S. Patent No. 6,223,449 on Apparatus for Extracting Plasticizer; U.S. Patent Nos. 9,266,085 and 9,387,453 on Johnson Ambient-Heat Engine.

Garrett Morgan, the son of a freed slave, started out as a sewing-machine mechanic, but went to patent several inventions, including a hair-straightening product, a breathing device (U.S. Patent No. 1,113,675), an improved sewing machine and an improved traffic signal (U.S. Patent No. 1,475,074).

Lewis H. Latimer was an patent draftsman and inventor in his own right who worked with Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, and Hiram Maxim. His greatest invention may be the carbon filament for light bulbs , a vital component of the light bulb (U.S. Patent No. 252,386).

His other inventions included Water-Closets for Railroad-Cars (U.S. Patent No. 147,363); Electric Lamp (U.S. Patent No. 247,097), Globe Supporter for Electric Lamps (U.S. Patent No. 255,212); Apparatus for Cooling and Disinfecting (U.S. Patent No. 334,078); Locking Rack for Hats, Coats, Umbrellas, &c. (U.S. Patent No. 557,076); and Book Supporter (U.S. Patent No. 781,890).

Marie Van Brittan Brown was an African-American inventor, who, motivated by how long it would take the police to arrive in her neighborhood, invented the first form of a home security system. Her U.S. Patent No. 3,482,037 issued in 1969.

Otis Frank Boykin was an African American engineer and inventor of as many as 27 electronic devices, but he is best known for inventing electronic control devices for guided missiles, IBM computers, and the pacemaker. His other inventions included a Resistor, U.S. Patent 2,634,352 and 2,891,227; Electrical Resistor And Method Of Making The Same, U.S. Patent No. 4,418,009, and 4,561,996; Self Supporting Electrical Resistor Composed Of Glass, Refractory Materials And Noble Metal Oxide (U.S. Patent No. 4,267,074.

Marian R Croak is a Vice President of Engineering at Google. She was previously Senior Vice President of Research and Development at AT&T Labs, where she is credited as a developer of Voice over IP (VoIP) creating most of methods and features that both improved its reliability and ushered in its nearly universal adoption, and more than 125 of her more than 200 U.S. patents cover VoIP.

Her U.S. patents include: 10,295,358, 9,823,087, 9,621,719, 9,360,327, 9,344,322, 9,282,198, 9,224,108, 9,219,820, 9,210,027, 9,137,361, 9,078,023, 9,054,887, 9,014,053, 9,001,987, 8,983,046, 8,954,352, 8,953,763, 8,942,367, 8,934,474, 8,897,436, 8,885,638, 8,867,525, 8,867,524, 8,855,908, 8,837,695, 8,836,752, 8,804,703, 8,804,539, 8,799,976, 8,798,258, 8,793,150, 8,787,551, 8,775,639, 8,755,496, 8,750,479, 8,737,584, 8,737,575, 8,737,381, 8,731,164, 8,730,952, 8,730,941, 8,718,265, 8,711,680, 8,705,518, 8,705,401, 8,699,681, 8,693,665, 8,687,502, 8,682,711, 8,681,633, 8,676,702, 8,675,857, 8,675,638, 8,670,323, 8,667,545, 8,660,903, 8,654,788, 8,654,670, 8,644,296, 8,638,656, 8,625,770, 8,625,754, 8,625,578, 8,615,004, 8,615,003, 8,614,959, 8,612,512, 8,611,258, 8,600,009, 8,594,128, 8,593,939, 8,588,216, 8,588,083, 8,582,590, 8,576,832, 8,570,906, 8,565,409, 8,553,863, 8,549,156, 8,538,005, 8,532,088, 8,520,816, 8,520,811, 8,515,045, 8,457,108, 8,437,337, 8,437,246, 8,411,668, 8,379,817, 8,369,230, 8,358,770, 8,358,760, 8,355,314, 8,340,261, 8,307,091, 8,306,190, 8,295,461, 8,284,679, 8,279,856, 8,275,828, 8,265,256, 8,259,608, 8,254,540, 8,243,912, 8,238,353, 8,213,584, 8,199,744, 8,199,742, 8,184,792, 8,184,548, 8,155,295, 8,150,009, 8,130,934, 8,130,932, 8,130,923, 8,107,459, 8,098,803, 8,098,281, 8,094,568, 8,072,968, 8,072,881, 8,064,452, 8,064,438, 8,059,645, 8,018,835, 7,995,739, 7,995,709, 7,995,486, 7,995,464, 7,983,404, 7,978,601, 7,974,292, 7,965,700, 7,958,561, 7,948,965, 7,933,213, 7,925,503, 7,924,814, 7,912,039, 7,903,798, 7,899,159, 7,881,294, 7,881,289, 7,852,991, 7,852,832, 7,843,964, 7,843,841, 7,839,992, 7,801,115, 7,801,114, 7,797,459, 7,792,269, 7,783,024, 7,778,402, 7,773,734, 7,760,861, 7,756,254, 7,756,024, 7,746,771, 7,738,641, 7,738,446, 7,734,024, 7,734,022, 7,734,021, 7,733,850, 7,733,847, 7,715,548, 7,715,412, 7,715,368, 7,668,714, 7,664,252, 7,664,241, 7,664,237, 7,664,106, 7,664,101, 7,664,099, 7,664,039, 7,664,038, 7,664,033, 7,639,793, 7,639,790, 7,627,106, 7,626,980, 7,626,941, 7,623,647, 7,613,113, 7,609,830, 7,602,900, 7,602,887, 7,599,359, 7,599,357, 7,593,520, 7,593,343, 7,593,325, 7,583,794, 7,583,660, 7,580,792, 7,555,113, 7,532,579, 7,522,717, 7,468,984, 7,450,502, 7,447,160, 7,447,159, 7,440,445, 7,417,984, 7,415,010, 7,411,942, 7,369,506, 7,231,210, 7,224,773, 5,987,508.

Celebrating the start of a new year and a new decade with patents.

Happy New Year and best wishes for a prosperous 2020 from HDP.

It’s Presidents Day, and while the USPTO is closed for the occasion, here is a look a few instances where presidents were honored in the records of the USPTO:

U.S. Patent No. D537666 covered a toy bank that celebrated the apocryphal story of George Washington and the cherry Tree:

The presents have been remembered in a chart puzzle show in U.S. Patent No. 1148885:

Americans are big fans of George Washington, and in U.S. Patent No. D9138, George Washington was a big fan for the people:

Commemorative medals and badges were apparent a “thing” and several design patents, including D8000 and D51046:

Happy Valentine’s Day! Here is a tribute to the inventors who make Valentine’s Day, and every day better for society.

Saturday is Groundhog Day, but despite having their own day, it seems that groundhogs have been largely ignored by inventors. Groundhogs are referenced in the claims of only four patents, and mentioned in only 106 U.S. patents (since 1976).

However there is a prominent piece of technology associated with Groundhog Day — familiar to horopalettologists (look it up):

the iconic flip clock — the Panasonic RC-6025 clock radio that restart’s Phil Conner’s day in the classic movie Groundhog Day. Split-flap flip clock displays (or leaf-type digital displays) were first patented in 1965:

While briefly popular, these displays were soon supplanted by LCD and then LED displays. However they still have a small but dedicated following, and vintage flip clocks, like the RC-6025, can sell for hundreds of dollars on eBay.

On February 1, 1938, U.S. Patent P269 issued to Luther Burbank on a Rose:

Best wishes from everyone at Harness, Dickey for a Happy and Prosperous 2019.

On December 31, 1935, Charles B. Darrow obtained U.S. Patent No. 2,026,082 on Board Game Apparatus, protecting the game Monopoly.Happy New Year!

Patents can be an interesting window into the past.  For example on December 14, 1937, U.S. Patent No. D107425 issued to Wallace K. Harrison and J. Andre Fouilhoux on a model of an architectural unit.

The design is of the Trylon, Perisphere, and Helicline that became the central symbol of the 1939 New York World’s Fair, reproduced by the millions on a wide range of promotional materials.   and serving as the fairground’s focal point.  The structures were razed and scrapped after the closing of the fair, and their materials repurposed into World War II armaments, but the image and the optimism for the future they were intended to convey, persist in the records of the USPTO.