Hopwood-Lewis, 2013, Griffith Brewer
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Jonathan Hopwood-Lewis. 2013. Griffith Brewer, The Wright brothers’ Boswell: Patent management and the British aviation industry, 1903–1914. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A, Volume 44, Issue 2, June 2013, Pages 259-268. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.shpsa.2012.11.006
From the abstract page at sciencedirect.com:[1]
- Griffith was a British patent agent who managed the UK patents of the Wright brothers. He didn't charge the Wrights. In 1914, Brewer successfully sued [the British] government for £15,000 for infringing on the Wright patents. "Brewer gained higher revenues via deterrence than by litigation (as used overseas)."
- "From 1908, the British aviation community increasingly feared the possibility of litigation over their perceived (often actual) infringement of the Wright brothers’ UK patent that described wing-warping, their pivotal invention for three-dimensional control in flight."
- Wilbur Wright met Griffith Brewer, one of the first professional patent agents specializing in aeronautics and an established member of the British aviation community.
- Brewer was a key person who protected the Wrights’ interests in Britain and elsewhere
- Brewer aided the growth of the British aviation industry.
- In 1914, he did not sue the struggling British aviation firms for infringement of the Wright patent. Instead Brewer successfully sued its main customer, the British government, for £15,000.
- Brewer accomplished all this without accepting payment for his labor time. He said he was motivated to do “a fair thing in the Wright matter.”
- Brewer’s example demonstrates the often crucial but largely invisible role of the patent agent—in this instance, in British aviation during the first pioneering decades of powered flight.
References
| Original title | Griffith Brewer, "The Wright brothers’ Boswell": Patent management and the British aviation industry, 1903–1914 |
|---|---|
| Simple title | Griffith Brewer, patent management, the Wrights, and the British aviation industry, 1903–1914 |
| Authors | Jonathan Hopwood-Lewis |
| Date | 2013-06 |
| Countries | |
| Languages | en |
| Keywords | Griffith Brewer, Wright brothers, patents, patent agent, patent management, patent litigation, British industry |
| Journal | Studies in History and Philosophy of Science |
| Related to aircraft? | 1 |
| Page count | 10 |
| Word count | |
| Wikidata id |
