Pride and Priority: the true tale of Handley Page and the slotted wing

Taking a moment off from the immediate issues of intellectual property law, the IPKat is delighted to step back into the realm of history. Here's a masterpiece of genuine historical research into a fascinating UK first-to-invent issue, penned by the IPKat's friend, patent attorney and IP scholar David Musker who writes:
"Sir Frederick Handley Page was a giant in the field of aviation - his company was the first in Britain founded to build aeroplanes, and maintained its independence into the 1970s. His commercial survival rested on one crucial invention, which kept his company afloat - the slotted wing, which made aviation both safer and more efficient and is still in use today. He patented it heavily, and garnered much of the credit. But did he really invent it? 
This paper tells the story of his exploitation strategies, against priority challenges from many others who claimed to have beaten him to the punch, particularly patent agent and aeronauticist Albert Peter Thurston [right], in the pre- and inter-War eras when extremes of bravery and eccentricity were the hallmark of aviation pioneers".
Pride and Priority: the true tale of Handley Page and the slotted wing Pride and Priority: the true tale of Handley Page and the slotted wing Reviewed by Jeremy on Sunday, April 19, 2009 Rating: 5

No comments:

All comments must be moderated by a member of the IPKat team before they appear on the blog. Comments will not be allowed if the contravene the IPKat policy that readers' comments should not be obscene or defamatory; they should not consist of ad hominem attacks on members of the blog team or other comment-posters and they should make a constructive contribution to the discussion of the post on which they purport to comment.

It is also the IPKat policy that comments should not be made completely anonymously, and users should use a consistent name or pseudonym (which should not itself be defamatory or obscene, or that of another real person), either in the "identity" field, or at the beginning of the comment. Current practice is to, however, allow a limited number of comments that contravene this policy, provided that the comment has a high degree of relevance and the comment chain does not become too difficult to follow.

Learn more here: http://ipkitten.blogspot.com/p/want-to-complain.html

Powered by Blogger.