Top 10 Black Inventors

In honor of Martin Luther King Day, I wanted to post a list of some famous African-American inventors and their patents. There obviously may be some disagreement as to who should, and who should not, make the list of famous African-American inventors. I have tried to include not only those who have contributed to mankind as a whole, but also those African-American inventors we know from other endeavors, or from the fun things they have brought to our lives.

10)Thomas Mensah
Dr. Mensah is the Chairman of Supercond Technology Inc. of Norcross, Georgia. Holder of many United States and International patents covering everything from fiber optics to guided vehicle systems, Dr. Mensah's work with SMART weapons, like the Patriot missile, were critical to the success of the Gulf War.


Representative Patent
Guided Vehicle System
United States Letters Patent Number 5,035,169

9) Lonnie G. Johnson

President of Johnson Research & Development Co. and formerly with NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab, Lonnie Johnson is a nuclear engineer with over 100 patents. This Tuskegee alumnus has generated over $100 million in sales with his patented SuperSoaker squirt gun. He is currently working on a solar energy cell which promises to cut solar energy costs in half.

Representative Patent
Pinch trigger pump water gun
United States Letters Patent Number 5,074,437

8) Lewis Latimer

Everyone knows Thomas Edison invented the light bulb, but few know that it took African American inventor Lewis Latimer to come up with the carbon filament that made it practical. Edison’s original draftsman, Latimer drafted the plans for Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone. Latimer worked late nights with Bell to file a patent on Bell’s telephone mere hours before the filing of a patent by a rival inventor.

Representative Patent
Electric Lamp
United States Letters Patent Number 247,097


7) Elijah McCoy

Elijah McCoy patented dozens of devices and methods for lubricating machinery. Especially useful were his inventions for lubricating machinery while it was running, including a novel oil dripping cup. While others tried to copy McCoy’s cup, nothing worked as well as the original. That is why, even today, we ask for “the real McCoy”

Representative Patent
Lubricator
United States Letters Patent Number 472,066

6) Dr. Joycelyn Simpson

As a research scientist for NASA’a Langley Research Center, Dr. Simpson invented a new type of high performance piezoelectric polymers. When pressure is applied to these polymers, the polymers generate electricity. Utilizing these polymers in conjunction with wind and water power may lead to an unlimited, low-cost, environmentally friendly source of power.

Representative Patent
Thermally stable piezoelectric polymeric substrates
United States Letters Patent Number 6,379,809

5) Dr. Patricia Bath

Born in Harlem, internationally acclaimed ophthalmologist and surgeon, Dr. Bath has dedicated her life to the prevention and treatment of blindness in African-Americans. Her laser-powered Laserphaco Probe vaporizes and fragments cataracts in minutes.

Representative Patent
Method of removing cataracts
United States Letters Patent Number 6,083,192

4) James Edward West

The research of James Edward West Ph.D. led to the development of the foil-electret transducers used in 90% of today’s microphones. James West holds over 40 patents on microphones and their components and is a 1999 inductee into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. In 1964, West patented the electret microphone while working at Bell Laboratories.

Representative Patent
Electroacoustic transducer
United States Letters Patent Number 3,118,022

3) Percy Julian

Awarded over 100 patents Percy Julian was most well known for his innovative synthesis of cortisone from soy beans. His inventions significantly reduced the cost of cortisone which is used to treat rheumatoid arthritis and inflammation. Julian is a 1990 inductee into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

Representative Patent
Preparation of cortisone
United States Letters Patent Number 2,752,339

2) Mark Dean

Holder of more than 20 patents, Mark Dean, along with Dennis Moeller, created a computer bus system for controlling the use of computer peripherals like disk drives, video monitors, printers, speakers, and scanners. Dean holds three of the original nine IBM patents on the personal computer. IBM granted Dean an IBM Fellowship in 1996 and, a year later, Dean received the Black Engineer of the Year President’s Award. Dean is a 1997 inductee into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

Representative Patent
Bus Controls system for computer peripherals
United States Letters Patent Number 4,528,626

1) George Washington Carver

Despite inventing hundreds of novel products and methods for improving agriculture, George Washington Carver, patented only a handful. Born a slave, Carver consistently shunned fortune, taking no money at all for the majority of his inventions, in pursuit of mankind’s greater good. Granted a scholarship in Kansas, the college refused Carver admission when they discovered he was African American. Carver enrolled at Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa before enrolling the following year in what is now Iowa State University. Carver Carver is a 1988 inductee into the Iowa Inventor’s Hall of Fame and a 1997 inductee into the National Inventors Hall of Fame

Representative Patent
Process for Producing Paints and Stains
United States Letters Patent Number 1,632,365

As a patent lawyer, I truly appreciate the gifts these extraordinary inventors have bestowed upon us. I look forward, with great anticipation, to great inventions to come from those inventors able to stand on the shoulders of great African-American inventors that have gone before. If you have a favorite African-American inventor, please leave a comment and let me know.

Brett Trout

African American black inventors inventors George Washington Carver patents

The Best Patent Lawyer in the World

In researching my continuing series on finding the best patent lawyer in the world, I ran across a particularly interesting post on Stephen Nipper's Invent Blog. Stephen posted a great video produced by a successful toy inventor. Rather than recommend a particular attorney, the inventor recommends strategies for finding a patent lawyer with a skill set and hourly rate most suited to your needs.

One of the best pieces of advice the inventor gives is contacting inventors to find out how they feel about their patent attorney AFTER the process is over. This is great advice, but you are really limiting your research to that narrow group of people whom the patent attorney made happy. If the patent attorney only gets 5% of his or her clients patents, those 5-10% are probably pretty happy. This still gives you a 95% chance of being unsatisfied with the process.

A better solution might be to use the United States Patent and Trademark Office to search patent applications, rather than issued patents. This will give you the opportunity to contact satisfied, as well as dissatisfied inventors.

Other helpful patent attorney finding advice from the video:

Search patents by inventor city to find inventors who can refer local patent attorneys;
Locate inventor contact info through Google, call them and ask them if they liked their attorney.
Speak with several patent attorneys before you decide which one to hire.
You do not always get what you pay for.

That last point is pretty important. Many time larger market attorneys charge much higher rates and are much less responsive, especially to small inventors. If you live in a large market, you may want to search a smaller market city where the attorney's response may be better and the overhead smaller.

Brett Trout

best patent lawyer inventor USPTO

Iowa Inventor Patent Database

The State Library of Iowa has just launched the Iowa Inventor Patent Database on its website. The Patent Database includes the patents of over 75,000 Iowa inventors, covering the years 1843 until 2006. I just did a vanity check of my patent and the search appears to be working flawlessly. Thanks to Martha for the heads up on this great Iowa project.

Brett Trout

inventors patent Iowa

MLK Day Post – African-American Inventors

In honor of Martin Luther King Day next Monday, I wanted to post a list of some famous African-American inventors and their patents. There obviously may be some disagreement as to who should, and who should not, make the list of famous African-American inventors. I have tried to include not only those who have contributed to mankind as a whole, but also those African-American inventors we know from other endeavors, or from the fun things they have brought to our lives. If you take issue with any of my selections, I have provided a small bucket of sand in the reception area of our offices which you are free to stop by and pound if you wish.

And with that introduction - here is the list:

10) Michael Jackson

In 1993, singer and entertainer Michael Jackson received a patent on a novel shoe, The shoe includes a cut-out in the heel, which an entertainer slides on and off a nail head in the stage. The nail head grabs the heel and allows the entertainer to perform apparently gravity defying leans.

Representative Patent
Method and means for creating anti-gravity illusion
United States Letters Patent Number 5,255,452

9) Lonnie G. Johnson

President of Johnson Research & Development Co. Lonnie Johnson holds over 20 patents. His patented SuperSoaker squirt gun has generated over $100 million in sales.

Representative Patent
Pinch trigger pump water gun
United States Letters Patent Number 5,074,437

8) Lewis Latimer

Everyone knows Thomas Edison invented the light bulb, but few know that it took African American inventor Lewis Latimer to come up with the carbon filament that made it practical. Edison’s original draftsman, Latimer drafted the plans for Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone. Latimer worked late nights with Bell to file a patent on Bell’s telephone mere hours before the filing of a patent by a rival inventor.

Representative Patent
Electric Lamp
United States Letters Patent Number 247,097

7) Elijah McCoy

Elijah McCoy patented dozens of devices and methods for lubricating machinery. Especially useful were his inventions for lubricating machinery while it was running, including a novel oil dripping cup. While others tried to copy McCoy’s cup, nothing worked as well as the original. That is why, even today, we ask for “the real McCoy”

Representative Patent
Lubricator
United States Letters Patent Number 472,066

6) Dr. Joycelyn Simpson

As a research scientist for NASA’a Langley Research Center, Dr. Simpson invented a new type of high performance piezoelectric polymers. When pressure is applied to these polymers, the polymers generate electricity. Utilizing these polymers in conjunction with wind and water power may lead to an unlimited, low-cost, environmentally friendly source of power.

Representative Patent
Thermally stable piezoelectric polymeric substrates
United States Letters Patent Number 6,379,809

5) Dr. Patricia E. Bath

Born in Harlem, internationally acclaimed ophthalmologist and surgeon, Dr. Bath has dedicated her life to the prevention and treatment of blindness in African-Americans. Her laser-powered Laserphaco Probe vaporizes and fragments cataracts in minutes.

Representative Patent
Method of removing cataracts
United States Letters Patent Number 6,083,192

4) James Edward West

The research of James Edward West Ph.D. led to the development of the foil-electret transducers used in 90% of today’s microphones. James West holds over 40 patents on microphones and their components and is a 1999 inductee into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. In 1964, West patented the electret microphone while working at Bell Laboratories.

Representative Patent
Electroacoustic transducer
United States Letters Patent Number 3,118,022

3) Percy Julian

Awarded over 100 patents Percy Julian was most well known for his innovative synthesis of cortisone from soy beans. His inventions significantly reduced the cost of cortisone which is used to treat rheumatoid arthritis and inflammation. Julian is a 1990 inductee into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

Representative Patent
Preparation of cortisone
United States Letters Patent Number 2,752,339

2) Mark Dean

Holder of more than 20 patents, Mark Dean, along with Dennis Moeller, created a computer bus system for controlling the use of computer peripherals like disk drives, video monitors, printers, speakers, and scanners. Dean holds three of the original nine IBM patents on the personal computer. IBM granted Dean an IBM Fellowship in 1996 and, a year later, Dean received the Black Engineer of the Year President’s Award. Dean is a 1997 inductee into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

Representative Patent
Bus Controls system for computer peripherals
United States Letters Patent Number 4,528,626

1) George Washington Carver

Despite inventing hundreds of novel products and methods for improving agriculture, George Washington Carver, patented only a handful. Born a slave, Carver consistently shunned fortune, taking no money at all for the majority of his inventions, in pursuit of mankind’s greater good. Granted a scholarship in Kansas, the college refused Carver admission when they discovered he was African American. Carver enrolled at Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa before enrolling the following year in what is now Iowa State University. Carver is a 1988 inductee into the Iowa Inventor’s Hall of Fame and a 1997 inductee into the National Inventors Hall of Fame

Representative Patent
Process for Producing Paints and Stains
United States Letters Patent Number 1,632,365

As a patent lawyer, I truly appreciate the gifts some of these extraordinary inventors have bestowed upon us. I look forward, with great anticipation, to great inventions to come from those inventors able to stand on the shoulders of great African-American inventors that have gone before.

Brett Trout

African American inventors George Washington Carver patents

Zen of invention

Ever think of a solution to a difficult problem when you were in the shower? If so, you are a Zen inventor. Zen invention is the art of solving a problem with your unconscious mind. As a patent lawyer, I have seen hundreds of inventions walk through my door. I can tell immediately, whether the invention is a result of Zen invention or brute application of technology. Zen inventions are just more . . . beautiful.

Invention is something different than technology. Technology is the past. Invention is the future. Technology is science. Invention is art. The paradox is that without technology, invention cannot exist and vice versa. Necessity is indeed the mother of invention. You encounter a problem and set about to discover a solution. It is not until you encounter a problem that the Zen of invention becomes critical.

Say a lug nut on your car sticks. You arrived at the problem using known technology. You used a lug wrench for the other four lug nuts and it worked just fine. You figure, therefore, that since known technology got you through similar situations, it will work in this situation. You compile all of the known facts, prioritize them, access your complete store of knowledge and then proceed to apply the knowledge to the prioritized facts to solve the problem.

Unfortunately, the harder you force this process, the more frustrated you become. What you need to do is think like an inventor. Think of technology as a jet fighter. Think of invention as the shock wave in front of the jet fighter. If you isolate the jet fighter and try to find the invention, it is not there. It is only when the jet fighter is moving that you can access the invention. Invention is not static.

The Zen of invention involves using an unconscious analysis and unconventional approaches to examine a problem from a fresh angle. The more you are able to isolate the problem from your warehouse of knowledge, the more likely you will be able to solve the problem with your unconscious mind. Simply look at the problem without prioritizing facts or systematically accessing known technology. Strip the problem from the surrounding environment and put it into your subconscious mind. Do not think, empty your thoughts and facilitate a stream of consciousness. Zen invention brings many solutions, even if they often appear quite ridiculous.

The advantage of bringing the shockwave of your unconscious mind to bear on problems, rather than the jet fighter of your knowledge, is that the solutions provided by your unconscious mind have an inner beauty that others will recognize and appreciate with their own unconsciousness. The next time you run into a technical problem, think like an inventor. Instead of trying to force a round peg through a square hole, sit back, take a deep breath, empty your mind and let the solution come to you.

Brett Trout

Other Related Topics:
Inventors, Invention, oblique strategies, Zen, Zen the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

Iowa Inventors’ Group

Inventor extraordinaire Michael Hill is the founder of the Iowa Inventors' Group. The Group is a non-profit group of inventors looking to share ideas about inventions and entrepreneurship. The Iowa Inventors' Group's website has all kinds of valuable information, including helpful links for new and seasoned inventors alike. Whether it is getting a patent or marketing a product, the Iowa Inventor’s Group has the answers.

Created to "assist, disseminate and promote services, education and networking opportunities to independent inventors" the Iowa Inventors' Group meets every second Monday of the month at 7:oo p.m. Most of the meetings are in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, but I will do what I can to bring one down to Des Moines. If you are interested in a Des Moines meeting, drop me a line and let me know what month would be best for you.

The Iowa Inventors’ Group is a fantastic opportunity to meet with other inventors and to share ideas about what works and what does not in getting your invention out of your head and into the marketplace. The newly updated website includes a blog , as well as an interesting article from Inventors’ Digest on the Ten Commandments of Invention (you have to like any article that speaks of patent lawyers with such high regard). If you are an inventor, or are even thinking about becoming one, make sure the next Iowa Inventors' Group meeting is on your calendar.

Brett Trout

Other Related Topics:
patent, inventor, invention, Iowa Inventors’ Group, patent lawyer