Daily Archives: December 12, 2012

There were many poorly written and researched reviews this year and here's a…

This entry was posted in Uncategorized on by (updated 3995 days ago)
There were many poorly written and researched reviews this year and here's a small sample

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The Ten Worst Car Reviews Of 2012
Car reviews are easy to write. Interesting car reviews are quite difficult. Our Jalopnik readers put together the ten worst they’ve seen from this year. More »

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Patent battles between non-practicing entities (aka trolls) and people that actually…

This entry was posted in Uncategorized on by (updated 3995 days ago)
Patent battles between non-practicing entities (aka trolls) and people that actually make stuff has been going on for well over a century

Dennis Simanaitis give a wonderfully concise overview of the battle between Henry Ford and George Selden over the latter's patent on cars. Selden got an overly broad patent on the basic idea of the automobile without ever building one (sound familiar?) and Henry Ford refused to pay up. After a 7 year legal battle, Ford ultimately prevailed and the auto industry thrived.

None of this of course excuses the much later behavior of Ford and other automakers in the case of Robert Kearns and the intermittent wiper. Kearns actually built and demonstrated a system that he offered to sell to Ford. The automakers all proceeded to copy the idea and it took Kearns many years in court before he finally got paid for his work. 

GEORGE B. SELDEN VS HENRY FORD
IN 1879, GEORGE B. Selden patented the automobile. Selden wasn’t an engineer. He was a tinkerer, though, and more important, a patent attorney. Selden recognized the value of delaying the … …

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