Leaving One’s Mark

We have frequently commented in this blog about how the U.S. patent collection records historic events in the country. So it should not be surprising that Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I have a Dream,” left its mark not just on society, but in the patent collection. His speech has been referenced in at least 22 patents:

5461711

5920838

6356867

6810378

6847980

7398199

7608041

7621808

8346620

8463594

8678833

9111537

9280599

9384734

9621655

9685095

10387301

10242378

10489373

10521511

10885110

11093544

11320895

Dr. King indisputably left his mark on the world, but he also left a mark on the patent collection. We salute a great American on what would be his 94th birthday, as we still wait for his dream to come true, sixty years later.