- Halliburton Company once tried to patent patenting. – Source
- Microsoft has a patent, for opening a new window when you click a hyperlink that expires in 2021 –Source
- Amazon holds a patent on 1-click buying; Apple pays them licensing fees – Source
- As Apple is granted “Slide-to-Unlock” patent, they in a case against Motorola also argued “a tap is a zero-length swipe.” – Source
- Abraham Lincoln is the only U.S. president to receive a patent while in the office. He was awarded patent No. 6,469 in May 1849 for a device designed to lift boats off the sand bars. – Source
- In 1945, a radar engineer, Percy Spencer while working at Ratheon stepped in front of a magnetron, a device that powers radars. He noticed a chocolate bar in his pocket had melted. Later that year, he filed a patent for the first microwave oven. – Source
- There is a patent for a surgical procedure to implant semiconductors into eyes to give humans night vision like Deus Ex and Riddick. – Source
- In the mid-1800s France gave out an important patent in photography for free as a gift to the world except for Britain. They were made to pay. – Source
- There is a patent troll company that claims ownership on WIFI sharing. It has being suing small businesses and hotels for the last couple of years. – Source
- For unknown reasons, during a bidding war with a consortium of tech firms for Nortel’s 6,000 patents, Google bid $1,902,160,540, then $2,614,972,128, and eventually $3.14159 billion (references to Brun’s constant, Meissel–Mertens constant, and pi) – Source
- When Marconi, who is erroneously cited as the “Inventor of Radio”, attempted to get a patent in the US, he was repeatedly turned down because Tesla already held the patent. In 1904, however, Marconi’s patent was inexplicably granted, and Tesla died broke. – Source
- In 1955, Jonas Salk chose not to patent his polio vaccine for the sake of humanity. If he would have patented it he would have earned an estimated $7 billion. – Source
- The inventor of the Laser, Gordon Gould fought with both the US Patent office and Laser manufacturers for a period of 38 years before finally achieving the right to both obtain and enforce patents covering the Laser technology he had invented. – Source
- No one really knows who invented the fire hydrant, because its patent perished in a fire. – Source
- WD-40 ( a lubricant, penetrating oil and water-displacing spray. ) is not patent protected, thereby avoiding completely disclosing its ingredients, making it harder for any other companies to mimic. – Source
- The movie industry is based in Hollywood on the west coast because movie makers were trying to get away from Thomas Edison (based in New Jersey). He had patents covering virtually all the movie making process and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in California was known to rule against patent claims. –Source
Credit: Kickassfacts