The Most Famous Patent Battles in History

Bell beat Elisha Gray to the patent office by hours in 1876, and litigation over the telephone ran 600 cases. Marconi won radio patents but lost in court to Tesla in 1943, months after Tesla died.

The ENIAC patent, granted 1964, was voided in 1973 when a judge found the ABC computer anticipated it, freeing the computer industry. The CRISPR decade-long interference fight between Berkeley and MIT ended with key editing patents going to the Broad Institute.

Each battle shaped which company, and which country, owned the next economy..