Selden v. Ford
George Selden, a seasoned patent attorney, kept his horseless carriage patent application pending for over 16 years while he waited for the automotive industry to develop. He then sued the entire automotive industry with a patent that was good for another 14 years. Here is how Selden played his game:
Total time that Selden’s patent remained pending in the patent office: 16.5 years
Patent Office Turn Around Time once Selden Responded: 4 to 31 days
Average time for Selden to Respond to the Patent Office: 2 years
At the time, a patent applicant had two years to respond-which Selden gladly took. This was later reduced to a year, then to today’s time limit of 6 months (by paying for 3 months of extensions).
- Selden’s Application – Filed May 8, 1879
- First Patent Office Rejection – May 31, 1879
- Selden’s First Amendment – May 26, 1881
- Second Patent Office Rejection – June 17, 1881
- Selden’s Second Amendment – May 15, 1883
- Third Patent Office Rejection – May 26, 1883
- Selden’s Third Amendment – May 18, 1885
- Patent Office Fourth Communication – June 15, 1885
- Selden’s Further Amendment – June 15, 1887
- Patent Office Next Rejection – June 21, 1887
- Selden’s Next Amendment – June 10, 1889
- Patent Office Sixth Communication – June 14, 1889
- Selden Files a Substitute Specification – June 5, 1891
- Patent Office Seventh Communication – July I, 1891
- Selden Files a New Oath – June 28, 1893
- Patent Office Additional Rejection – July 29, 1893
- Selden’s Additional Amendment – April I, 1895
- Patent Office Ninth Communication – April 29, 1895
- Selden’s Further Amendment – May 1, 1895
- Patent Office Mails Notice of Allowance – May 28, 1895
- Selden Pays Final Fee – Oct. 12, 1895
- Patent Issues – Nov. 5, 1895
Nearly every automobile company took a license and marked their vehicles with a brass plate like the following:
[box type=”info” size=”large” style=”rounded” border=”full”]
LICENSED
UNDER
SELDEN-
-PATENT
No 549,160,
PATENTED
NOVEMBER 5, 1895[/box]
Henry Ford refused and one of America’s largest patent battles ensued.
The Association of License Automobile Manufacturers (the business owner of Selden’s patent) put out the following notice to any infringers.
Ford countered with his own promise of protection.
