Laser

Arthur Schawlow and Charles Townes, Bell Labs, USA, patent 2,929,922 of 1960. The optical maser and a 30-year patent war.

Overview

Schawlow and Townes extended the maser principle to light and received their patent for optical masers in 1960, the same year Theodore Maiman built the first working ruby laser at Hughes. Graduate student Gordon Gould had written notebook descriptions in 1957, coining the word laser, but filed late and fought the patent office for decades. Courts finally granted him key patents from 1977 onward, earning him millions in royalties. Lasers now carry internet traffic, read barcodes, cut metal and reshape corneas.