A History of U.S. Patents: State-Supported Patent Alliances

Inventors in the Edison era were keen to protect their innovations. They persistently and systematically applied for patents for any small improvement inventions they made, forming a "patent jungle" in various innovation fields ". In order to solve the problem of patent jungle affecting manufacturing production, with the support of the government, some large enterprises enjoy the most favorable government resources and monopoly benefits. The most typical one is the patent examination committee established by General Electric Company and Westinghouse Electric.

After losing the current war, Edison was kicked out of General Electric, and the new GM began to get involved in the AC business, engaging in a head-to-head battle with Westinghouse, resulting in an intensive patent infringement litigation dispute. The patent war has hampered the two companies' new product development, and the huge expenses of litigation have also overwhelmed the two companies. The US federal government began to pay attention to this matter and participated in finding solutions to reduce the number of patent lawsuits and ensure a stable electricity supply in American society.

With the permission of the federal government, from 1896 to 1911, General Electric and Westinghouse jointly established the "Patent Examination Committee". The committee has two main responsibilities. One of the duties is to protect the patent assets of both companies. When a new patent in the electrical field is filed, the application is quickly sent to the Patent Review Board, which decides whether the patent conflicts with a General Motors or Westinghouse patent. If the applied patent is deemed to conflict with the patents owned by the above two, the review committee immediately uses legal means to prevent the new patent from being reviewed and authorized. The second responsibility is to purchase or obtain licenses for new patents. If the Commission finds that a new patent application is creative and not easily invalidated, it will send a representative to work towards the purchase of the patent. If the inventor refuses to sell the patent, the Commission sometimes decides to resort to the law, arguing various prior art entanglements, with or without, and restricting the free transfer of the patent through various court decisions. In most cases, inventors lack the funds needed for long-term litigation and end up transferring patents to GM or Westinghouse at a very low price.

The basic patents of Edison and Tesla owned by General Electric and Westinghouse are very strong, and with the above-mentioned rogue tactics, the Patent Review Board has formed a strong patent reserve and began to use various methods to monopolize the market to gain benefits. It is very difficult for a single electric light manufacturer to compete with these two companies. As a result, a number of small producers joined forces to form the National Electric Light Association (NELA) in 1901.

Under various pressures, the two giants did not launch a patent attack on the organization, but adopted soft means to control the organization by issuing licenses. They allow association members to use General Electric and Westinghouse patents to produce products, provided they comply with specific rules-including the brands they use, production volumes, prices, and sales markets.

Under the control of the two giants, all the light bulbs sold in the United States at that time were Mazda brands. Mazda was the "God of Light" in Persian Manichaeism ". At that time, there were three Mazda brands in the US market: General Electric used "Edison Mazda" alone; Westinghouse Electric used "Westinghouse Mazda" alone; and the other 30 NECA members used "National Mazda" together ".

The first two brands can independently develop sales strategies, independent pricing, and export bulbs at their own discretion. "National Mazda" by the two giants to allocate production quota, determine the sale price of light bulbs, and prohibit them from exporting products overseas, so as to ensure that the high price of light bulbs, to ensure that the two monopoly giants to obtain excess profits.

In 1911, under the pressure of an antitrust investigation, the Patent Examination Board and the National Electric Light Association were dissolved.

By today's standards, this practice is undoubtedly suspected of monopoly, but it was legal at that time in history and supported by the Washington government.

Although organizations such as the Patent Review Board no longer exist, large companies such as General Electric have been striving to effectively protect their patent monopoly rights through legal means. Big companies have long believed in the fact that it will be difficult for small companies to bear the legal costs of patent disputes.