Famous Patents

Are you the next Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, or the Wright Brothers?

Who was the first person to patent the light bulb, television, camera, plastic, or modern electronics?

Do you have the next great idea? Then take a tour through 18 famous inventions and patents (United States) that have transformed daily life.

View the full text and all technical drawings for the following inventions:

The first patent ever granted (Pot Ash - 1790)
First numbered patent (Railroad Engine - 1830)
Camera (1840)
Telephone (1876)
Light Bulb (1880)
Otto Engine (1887)
AC Electricity Transmission (1888)
Automobile (1895)
Diesel Engine (1898)
Airplane (1906)
Plastic (1909)
Television (1930)
Transistor (1950 and 1951)
Computer Mouse (1970)
Visual Display Computer (Apple - 1979)
Amazon One-Click Shopping (1999)
Microsoft Playlist (2006)

The patents are disclosed in tutorial format as case studies of the four primary federal requirements (search, application, drawings, and claims).

Each category includes the relevant statutory section (U.S. Code) and Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) to fully describe the legal background. Each patent is broken down and formatted to correspond to these laws, rules, and application requirements.

Due to changes in disclosure requirements, not all included patents have the same format. For instance, the computer mouse (1970) is the first patent in this application that is broken down into sections (i.e. abstract, background, etc). The earliest patent in this set to have included references is the Transistor (1950).

All trademarks used or cited are the property of their respective owners.

The developer, Michael E. Byczek, is a licensed attorney in the State of Illinois and Apple certified system administrator. He is in the process of registration with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

All patents were transcribed by hand using scanned images available from the USPTO. Some symbols were difficult to determine, such as the difference between subscript 'e' and 'c', therefore some transcription errors may be found.

The U.S.C. is current as of October 18, 2010 based upon The Office of the Law Revision Counsel (LRC) classification tables. The C.F.R. is current as of October 26, 2010 (GPO e-CFR).