Jerome H. Lemelson 533912 222502496 2008-06-29T18:05:10Z SmackBot 433328 Date the maintenance tags or general fixes '''Jerome "Jerry" Hal Lemelson''' ([[July 18]], [[1923]] [[Staten Island]], [[New York]] - [[October 1]], [[1997]]) was a prolific and controversial [[United States of America|American]] [[inventor]] and [[patent]] holder. His inventions make possible, wholly or in part, innovations like automated [[warehouse]]s, [[industrial robot]]s, [[cordless telephone]]s, [[fax machine]]s, [[videocassette recorder]]s, [[camcorder]]s and the [[magnetic tape|magnetic tape drive]] used in [[Sony]]'s [[Walkman]] [[tape player]]s. <ref name="nat museum"/> Lemelson's over 600 patents make him the second most prolific inventor in American history. Only Thomas Alva Edison surpassed him in total patents awarded. <ref> Teresa Riordan, [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F04E7DF173BF931A35751C0A9629C8B63&st=cse&sq=lemelson&scp=4 ''Patents; As shown by recent cases argued in the courts, properly crediting an inventor can be murky business.''], [[The New York Times]], February 2, 2004. Consulted on April 13, 2008. </ref> Lemelson was an advocate for the rights of independent inventors; he served on a federal advisory committee on patent issues from 1976 to 1979.<ref name="inventionconvention"/> A series of patent litigations and subsequent licensing negotiations made him a controversial figure, seen as a champion by the community of independent inventors <ref> http://www.usnews.com/usnews/culture/articles/020211/archive_020167.htm </ref>, while criticized by patent attorneys and directors of some of the companies with whom he was involved in litigation.<ref>http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/discoveries/2005-08-21-lemelson-fraud_x.htm Some claim inventor Lemelson a fraud, Adam Goldman, The Associated Press, 2005</ref> In 1993, Lemelson and his family established the Lemelson Foundation, a philanthropy with the mission to support invention and innovation to improve lives in the U.S. and developing countries. == Biography == Lemelson was born on Staten Island, New York, on July 18, 1923, the oldest of three brothers. His first invention, as a child, was for a lighted tongue depressor that his father, a local physician, could use. <ref name="bio">[http://lemelson.org/about/bio_jerry.php Biographical Profile of Jerome Lemelson<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> He also ran a business in his basement as a teenager, making and selling gas powered [[model airplane]]s. <ref name="bio"/> He attended [[New York University]] after serving during World War II in the Army Air Corps engineering department. <ref name="inventionconvention">[http://www.inventionconvention.com/americasinventor/dec97issue/section16.html#Friday America's Inventor[tm&#93; Online: Jerome Lemelson<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> His experience with teaching African American engineers, in segregated units in the Army, led to a life long interest in civil rights and in particular promoting the education of minority engineering students. <ref name="nat museum"/> After the war he received two master's degrees: in [[aeronautical engineering|aeronautical]] and [[industrial engineering]]. He worked for the Office of Naval Research on Project Squid, a postwar effort to develop pulse jet and rocket engines and then [[Republic Aviation]], designing guided missiles. After taking a job as a safety engineer at a smelting plant in [[New Jersey]], he quit because he claimed the company would not implement safety improvements Lemelson believed could save lives. This was his last job before striking out on his own as an independent inventor. <ref name="bio"/> Lemelson's first major invention involved utilizing a universal robot, for use in a variety of industrial systems, that could do numerous actions such as [[welding]], moving and measuring products, and utilized optical image technology to scan for flaws in the production line. He wrote a 150 page application which he submitted for his first patent, on what he termed "[[machine vision]]", in 1954. <ref name="nat museum"> Jerome Lemelson, American Inventor. National Museum of American History, Smithsonian. The Lemelson Center for the Study of Innovation and Invention</ref> Parts of these automated warehousing systems he licensed to the Triax Corporation in 1964.<ref name="inventionconvention"/> During the 1950s he also worked on systems for video filing of data utilizing magnetic or [[videotape]] to record documents, which could be read either on a monitor or from stop frame images. This process, along with mechanisms to control and manipulate the tape, were later licensed to [[Sony corporation]] in 1974 for use in both audio and video cassette players.<ref name="nat museum"/> During this period he also worked on a series of patents developing aspects of data and [[word processing]] technologies. He licensed twenty of these patents to [[IBM]] in 1981.<ref name="nat museum"/> IBM offered him a position running one of their research divisions, which Lemelson turned down because he wanted to remain an independent inventor.<ref name="amazon">[http://www.amazon.com/dp/0899195334/ Amazon.com: The Best American Essays, 1987: Books: Gay Talese<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> He also developed a series of patents on the manufacturing of [[integrated circuit]]s, which he licensed to [[Texas Instruments]] in 1961.<ref name="nat museum"/> While working during this period on complex industrial products, ranging across the fields or [[robotics]], [[laser]]s, computers, and electronics, Lemelson utilized some of the concepts in these more "high tech areas" and applied them to a variety of toy concepts, receiving patents for [[velcro]] target games, wheeled toys, [[board game]]s, and improvements on the classic propeller beanie, among others.<ref name="nat museum"/> This cross fertilization across disparate fields was typical for Lemelson, and can be seen in how he came up with ideas and patents for new ways of making [[semiconductor]]s. While watching and reading about the problems with the heating and subsequent [[oxidation]] on heat shields of rockets re-entering the earth's atmosphere, Lemelson realized that this same process could operate on the molecular level when [[electrical resistance]] in a [[silicon wafer]] creates an insulative barrier and thus provides for more efficient conduction of [[electrical current]].<ref>[http://www.memagazine.org/backissues/membersonly/oct04/features/downbut/downbut.html "Down But Not Out," Feature Article, October 2004<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> From 1957 on he worked exclusively as an independent inventor. From this period on Lemelson received an average of one patent a month for more than 40 years, in technological fields related to automated [[warehouse]]s, [[industrial robot]]s, [[cordless telephone]]s, [[fax machine]]s, [[videocassette recorder]]s, [[camcorder]]s and the [[magnetic tape|magnetic tape drive]] used in [[Sony]]'s [[Walkman]] [[tape player]]s. <ref name="nat museum"/> As an independent inventor, Lemelson wrote, sketched and filed almost all of his patent applications himself, with little help from outside counsel.<ref>[http://web.mit.edu/invent/w-lemelsonbio.html Who We Are: Jerome Lemelson Biography<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Lemelson was described as a "workaholic", and he spent 12-14 hours a day writing up his ideas. His notebooks, in which he wrote these ideas down, numbered in the thousands. <ref>[http://invention.smithsonian.org/about/about_bio_jerome.aspx Lemelson Center: Jerome Lemelson biography<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Lemelson's younger brother described that when he and Lemelson were roomates in college, after they would go to sleep, the light would go on several times during the night and Lemelson would write something down. In the morning Lemelson's brother would read and witness the several inventions that Lemelson had conceived of that previous night. His brother stated "This happened every night, seven days a week".<ref> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xye8GJLyQFU&feature=PlayList&p=D28D1A4F0DA474F7&index=0</ref> Lemelson died in 1997, after a one year battle with liver cancer. In the final year of his life, he applied for over 40 patents, many of them in the biomedical field related to cancer detection and treatment, including a "Computerized medical diagnostic system" ({{US patent|5878746}}) and several "Medical devices using electrosensitive gels" all issuing posthumously. Lemelson was a staunch advocate for the rights of independent inventors. He served on a federal advisory committee on patent issues from 1976 to 1979.<ref name="inventionconvention"/> In this capacity he advocated for a variety of issues, including protecting the secrecy of patent applications and advocating for a "first to invent" patent system. <ref name="inventionconvention"/> In his testimony before the Patent Trademark Office Advisory Committee he decried what he believed as an "innovation crisis", and that the barriers, such as high legal and filing costs to failures of the courts to protect independent inventors rights, was creating a negative environment for American inventors and U.S. technological ascendancy. <ref name="nat museum"/> == Patents and litigation == Jerome H. Lemelson was granted over 600 patents,<ref> The Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention & Innovation web site, [http://invention.smithsonian.org/about/about_patents.aspx ''Jerome Lemelson's Patents'']. Retrieved on September 1, 2006. </ref> making him one of the 20th century's most prolific patent grantees. Through much of his later career Lemelson was involved in a series of patent litigations and subsequent licensing negotiations. Because of which he was either excoriated by some of those he sued and their patent counsels, or hailed as a hero by much of the independent inventor's community <ref>[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9501E6D6133AF935A15757C0A9629C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2 Patents; The Lemelson Foundation, named for a prolific inventor, aims to reward inventions that help poor countries develop. - New York Times<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> . For example, Lemelson claimed he had invented the "flexible track" used in the popular "Hot Wheels" toys manufactured by Mattel Co. In the 1980s Lemelson sued for willful infringement, from which he initially won, in a jury trial, a substantial judgement. This case was later overturned on appeal. <ref name="nat museum"/> Later that same year, Lemelson won a 17 million dollar judgement against Illinois Tool Works who infringed on a robot tool spraying device.<ref>http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CEEDD1F31F930A25752C1A964958260&sec=technology&spon=&pagewanted=all </ref> In relation to other litigation, Lemelson is most well know for what he termed his "machine vision" patents, the earliest of which dates from the mid 1950's. These patents described scanning visual data from a camera, which are then stored in a computer. Combining this with robotic devices and bar coders this could be used to check, manipulate or evaluate the products moving down an assembly line. Items or products could then be adjusted or sent on to different parts of a factory for further procedures. <ref> http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CEEDD1F31F930A25752C1A964958260&sec=technology&spon=&pagewanted=all </ref> Lemelson also sued a variety of Japanese and European automotive and electronics manufacturers for infringing on his [[machine vision]] patents. Lemelson and these companies reached a settlement, with the companies taking a license to the patents, in 1990-1991. <ref name="nat museum"/> Lemelson later utilized this strategy in attempting to reach settlements over alleged patent infringement with American companies. Before his death he first sued, then negotiated and received licenses from a variety of corporations. He was controversial for his alleged use of [[submarine patent]]s to negotiate licenses worth over 1.3 billion dollars from major corporations in a variety of industries. Partially as the result of his filing a succession of [[continuing application|continuation application]]s, a number of his patents, particularly those in the field of industrial machine vision, were delayed, in some cases by several decades. This had the effect of taking the industry by surprise when the patents in question finally issued; hence the term submarine patent. Lemelson's supporters have claimed that the bureaucracy of the Patent Office was also responsible for the long delays.<ref> http://lemelson.org/news/articles_of_interest_detail.php?id=420 American Scientist magazine, May 1998.</ref> The courts, in the Symbol and Cognex case discussed below, however found that Lemelson had engaged in “culpable neglect” and noted that "Lemelson patents occupied the top thirteen positions for the longest prosecutions from 1914 to 2001."<ref>[http://fedcir.gov/opinions/04-1451.pdf United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, 04-1451, Symbol Technologies, Inc. et al v. Lemelson Medical, Education & Research Foundation, LP], September 9, 2005 p.13</ref> However, they found no convincing evidence of inequitable conduct.<ref name="cognex">[http://www.cognex.com/pdf/corporate/Lemelson_decision.pdf]United States District Court District of Nevada CV-S-01-701-PMP],January 23, 2004 p.28</ref> Indeed, Lemelson always claimed that he followed all the rules and regulations of the United States patent office. <ref>[http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=aOmqPqs3330E&refer=us. Bloomberg.com: U.S<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> In 2004, Lemelson's estate was defeated in a notable [[court]] case involving [[Symbol Technologies]] and [[Cognex Corporation]], which sought (and received) a ruling that 76 claims under Lemelson's machine vision patents were unenforceable.<ref> Hansen 2004 </ref><ref>Heinze 2002</ref> The plaintiff companies, with the support of dozens of industry supporters spent millions on this landmark case. The ruling was upheld on [[September 9]], [[2005]] by a three judge panel of the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit|U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit]] under the doctrine of [[Laches (equity)|laches]], citing "unreasonably long … delays in prosecution."<ref>[http://fedcir.gov/opinions/04-1451.pdf United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, 04-1451, Symbol Technologies, Inc. et al v. Lemelson Medical, Education & Research Foundation, LP], September 9, 2005 </ref><ref>[http://www.out-law.com/page-6111 ''Appeals Court confirms invalidity of bar code patents''], OUT-LAW News, September 12, 2005</ref> Lemelson's estate appealed for a review by the full circuit [[en banc]]. On [[November 16]], [[2005]], the full court declined to review the case, but, citing "prejudice to the public as a whole," extended the original unenforceability ruling to ''all'' claims under the patents in question.<ref>[http://fedcir.gov/opinions/04-1451o.pdf United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, 04-1451, Symbol Technologies, Inc. et al v. Lemelson Medical, Education & Research Foundation, LP], November 16, 2005</ref> However, the judge also ruled that Cognex and Symbol did not demonstrate that Lemelson had "intentionally stalled" getting the patents.<ref> http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/bulldog/20050906-9999-invent_part2.html ''Associated Press article-Adam Goldman, Only WE Could Defeat this Guy''</ref> Lemelson himself always denied intentionally stalling the patent application process,<ref>[http://ipmall.info/news_activities/news_rines/rines039.asp Patents, Copyrights, Trademarks, Trade Secrets - Pierce Law Center IP Mall - Training Intellectual Property, Commerce, & Technology Professionals Skills to Meet Marketplace Needs - Industrial, Trade Mark, Branding, Legal, Electronic, Privacy, Sports, Entertainment, Information, Resources, Research, Inventors, Inventions, Internet, Piracy, Service, Design, Infringement, Licensing, Technology Transfer, Education, School, Networking, Digital Rights Management, IPR's - News: Dr. Robert Rines Founder & Former President: Does Patent Law Sell Out Small Inventors<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> and asserted that he attempted for many years to get companies interested in his ideas, only to be rejected by what he termed the "not invented here" response. <ref name="amazon"/> Indeed, although Lemelson died in 1997, uncontested patents he had applied for were still being issued as late as 2005-2006, such as his patent titled "Superconducting electrical cable" ({{US patent|6951985}}) which was applied for in May 1995, but only issued in October of 2005. To this day, the battle wages on in Congress as supporters of a more narrowly defined patent law, seek shelter from independent inventors like Lemelson emerging after an extended period of time demanding large licensing fees.<ref>[http://www.strategy-business.com/press/article/05414?pg=0 As Patent Laws Weaken, Innovation Suffers], Strategy + Business Winter 2005 </ref> == Controversy == "To his many detractors, (...) Lemelson's patents were in fact worthless. Lemelson, they say, was one of the great [[fraud]]s of the 20th century".<ref> Adam Goldman, [http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=1055043&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312 ''Some Claim Inventor Lemelson a Fraud''], ABCNews, August 20, 2005</ref> To his proponents, "(...), Jerome Lemelson [was] a great philanthropist, [but] the value of his charitable work could not possibly match the value of his contributions to American society as an innovator and entrepreneur."<ref> John Hood, [http://www.policyreview.org/jul96/bless.html ''How Business Delivers the Good''], Policy Review, July-August 1996, Number 78</ref> Lemelson was named Engineer of the Year by readers of Design News in 1995, made many millions more in uncontested licenses with a number of the world’s most successful companies including IBM and Sony, among others.<ref> [http://www.lemelson.org/pdf/lemelson_design_news.pdf#search=%22Lemelson%20design%20news%22 ''Engineering Achievement Award''] Design News. March 6, 1995 </ref><ref> Myrna Oliver, [http://www.inventionconvention.com/americasinventor/dec97issue/section16.html#Friday ''Jerome Lemelson; Inventor Held 500 Patents''], Los Angeles Times Obituary, October 3, 1997. </ref> Lemelson was also honored with, among other awards, the induction into the New Jersey Inventors Hall of Fame and the recipient of the New Jersey Pride Award for science and technology; the Odyssey of the Mind Creativity Award, the Automation Hall of Fame Prometheus Award, and on Thomas Edison's birthday in 1998, the John Templeton Foundation, which recognizes "the incalculable power of the human mind," made a posthumous award. ==The Lemelson Foundation== The '''Lemelson Foundation''' is a private [[philanthropy]] founded by the late American inventor Jerome Lemelson and his wife Dorothy in 1993. Lemelson believed invention and innovation were key to American economic success and dynamism, but also was deeply concerned that American businesses and society were ignoring where this innovation came from, which he believed were the minds and achievements of American inventors. <ref>http://www.americanscientist.org/template/AssetDetail/assetid/28473/page/4;jsessionid=baa9...</ref> Lemelson conceived of the idea of a foundation that would support and promote independent inventors when he himself was a struggling young inventor. <ref>http://lemelson.org/pdf/LifestylesMagazineMindsoverMatter.pdf </ref>He believed the goal of the foundation should be to promote the idea that young people should have scientists and inventors as their role models, and provide support for these budding inventors through grants that would give college inventors without seed capitol the ability to develop and refine their inventions, and bring them to market. <ref>http://nciia.org/who.html</ref> In a memorial video produced after Lemelson's death, he states (in 1996) that " I have had a substantial amount of success in the last 5 years licensing my patents, and I feel I have an obligation to plow back a portion of the income I made to improve the lot of the inventor in America, and to improve the future economy of this country". <ref> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xye8GJLyQFU&feature=PlayList&p=D28D1A4F0DA474F7&index=0 </ref> Jerome Lemelson created the Lemelson Foundation to promote these ideas and values. Based in Portland, Oregon, the foundation has donated or committed more than $140 million in support of its mission to inspire, encourage and recognize inventors, innovators and entrepreneurs to support invention-led economic, social and environmentally sustainable development in the U.S. and developing countries. From 1993 to 2002, the foundation focused almost exclusively on inventors, innovation and invention in the United States. Initiatives supported by the Lemelson Foundation in the United States include: [http://invention.smithsonian.org/home '''Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation'''] within the [[Smithsonian]]'s [[National Museum of American History]], which produces educational programs, popular and academic publications, exhibitions, podcasts and symposia about invention. The mission of the Smithsonian's Lemelson Center is to document, interpret, and disseminate information about invention and innovation; encourage inventive creativity in young people and; foster an appreciation for the central role of invention and innovation in the history of the United States<ref> http://invention.smithsonian.org/home/</ref>. The Center frequently provides a multi-year focus on some aspect of how invention has influenced American society, such as its 2002 "Invention and the Environment" theme. Programs include a yearly symposium, presentations and guest speakers within and outside the National Museum of American History, and often the publication of a book detailing aspects of the topical focus. The Center also provides curricular material to classrooms throughout the United States; organizes traveling museum exhibitions (such as "Invention at Play"); provides research opportunities and fellowships for scholars <ref>http://invention.smithsonian.org/resources/</ref>; and finds, obtains, and processes archival collections related to invention on behalf of the museum's Archives Center. These collections consist of the papers and materials documenting the work of past and current American inventors. The [http://web.mit.edu/invent/ [[Lemelson-MIT Program|'''Lemelson-MIT Program''']]], another emphasis of the Lemelson Foundation's work in the United States, promotes inventors as exemplars and role models for young people. To this end the Lemelson- M.I.T. program each year recognizes outstanding inventors with awards: the $500,000 Lemelson-MIT Prize, the $100,000 Award for Sustainability, and the $30,000 Student Prize. This program also provides grants to high school teams of young inventors through the InvenTeams <ref> http://web.mit.edu/inventeams/</ref> initiative. The program also helps MIT students and faculty work on inventions for the developing world through International Development Initiatives and the IDEAS competition. <ref>http://web.mit.edu/invent/o-main.html </ref> It also publishes handbooks for helping inventors develop and market their work <ref> http://web.mit.edu/invent/h-main.html</ref>, and a yearly survey about American's perceptions and beliefs about invention and innovation. Introduced in 2007 were two additional $30,000 student prizes to be awarded at [[Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute]] and the [[University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign]].{{Fact|date=June 2008}} [http://www.nciia.org '''The National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA)'''], another program the Lemelson Foundation has supported since its inception, fosters invention and entrepreneurship in higher education to catalyze innovative, commercially viable businesses. Over 300 universities and colleges are members of the NCIIA. As members, their students can apply for grants to form multi-disciplinary "E-Teams" ("E" for "excellence" and "entrepreneurship"), that develop product ideas, build prototypes and research marketing strategies. The program also provides faculty with grants that allow them to create new ways to teach invention, innovation and entrepreneurship. An example of an E-Team is “GROW,” a hybrid solar/wind energy-producing device that resembles vines of ivy; their innovation was displayed at the Museum of Modern Art in New York as part of its “Design and the Elastic Mind” exhibition. <ref>http://smitny.blogspot.com/2006/11/nciia-prototyping-patent-nyu-and-lesgc.html</ref> Another example is a new type of crutch that utilizes different types of shock absorbers to reduce long term muscular-skeletal injuries in the disabled. <ref> http://apps.nciia.org/WebObjects/NciiaResources.woa/wa/View/GrantProfile?n=1000051 </ref>. Over 100 business have been launched as a result of students taking inventions that they developed with the NCIIA grants to commercialization. <ref> http://www.youngmoney.com/entrepreneur/student_entrepreneurs/020605_01 </ref> Since 2002, the foundation has used invention and innovation to address issues of sustainable development and basic human needs in the developing world. This focus follows the United Nations "WEHAB" (water, energy, health, agriculture and biodiversity) priorities in bringing new and innovative technologies and solutions to the world's poorest people. Eric Lemelson, Jerome Lemelson's eldest son and currently a director of the Foundation, notes that ''Raising living standards to levels where people can think about things beyond keeping themselves and their children alive from day to day is a critical part of how to solve the sustainable development puzzle,''<ref> http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9501E6D6133AF935A15757C0A9629C8B63&sec=technology&spon=&pagewanted=all</ref> Some examples of the invention for sustainable development and basic human needs focus include: [http://other90.cooperhewitt.org/ '''Design for the Other 90%'''], an exhibition produced by the [[Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum]], Smithsonian Institution in New York, NY, which focuses on the growing movement among designers to develop cost-effective ways to increase access to food and water, energy, education, healthcare, transportation and revenue-generating activities for the nearly 1.8 billion people living in poverty around the globe.<ref>{{cite news | last = McNeil | first =Donald G., Jr. | coauthors = | title = Design That Solves Problems for the World’s Poor | work = | pages = | language = | publisher = The New York Times | date = [[May 29]] [[2007]] | url = http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/29/science/29cheap.html?ex=1189310400&en=1fc02ffe4968a1c5&ei=5070 | accessdate = }}</ref> [http://www.lemelson.org/news/current_detail.php?id=735 '''Ashoka-Lemelson Fellows'''], a three-year pilot effort to build a critical mass of 100 inventor-entrepreneurs. The program identifies and supports individuals, primarily in Latin America, Asia and Africa, who are working to solve the world’s intractable problems. The Foundation also funds a series of Technology Dissemination projects in Africa, Asia and Latin America that develop life-improving products and deliver them into the hands of those living on less than $2-4 dollars a day. Funded organizations include: *KickStart, a Kenya-based organization that develops agricultural technologies for very poor entrepreneurs. It has helped over 61,000 families start or transform their farming enterprises in Kenya, Tanzania and Mali — collectively, these businesses generate over $66 million a year in new profits and wages.<ref> http://www.kickstart.org/</ref> *SEWA (Self-Employed Women’s Association) and SELCO (Solar Electric Light Company) adapt and improve energy technologies to meet the needs of poor people, and help women entrepreneurs launch businesses to sell the products.<ref> http://www.sewa.org/ </ref> *IDEAAS (Instituto para o Desenvolvimento de Energias Alternativas e da Auto Sustentabilidade) leases—rather than sells—its customized solar energy kits to poor rural people, linking monthly charges to a household’s existing budget for lighting. Pricing includes installation, maintenance, and replacement of the battery after three years.<ref> http://www.ideaas.org.br/ </ref> In addition the Lemelson Foundation funds Recognition & Mentoring Programs (RAMPS) - in India, Indonesia, and Peru - that provide student and grassroots inventors with assistance in prototype development, marketing, and commercialization. These are nationwide programs that help struggling inventors with needed resources to develop and bring to market inventions that address basic human needs, improve the quality of life among the world's poor, and support innovations in sustainable development. Innovators supported include: *Dr. Sathya Jaganathan (India): Her innovation—a low-cost baby warmer— dramatically reduced the rates of newborn and pre-term mortality at the rural hospital where she works. Jaganathan plans to manufacture the warmers and get them to more hospitals. <ref> http://www.lramp.org/ </ref> *Ari Purbayanto (Indonesia): Prof. Purbayanto has developed a machine that separates the bones and meat of small by-catch fish, making it profitable for fishermen to sell the by-catch, rather than throw dead or dying fish back into the sea.<ref> http://www.ramp-indonesia.org/news.php?do=detail&id=9 </ref> *Luis Coronado Lira (Peru): Lira has devised a ventilation system that keeps perishable products fresh for longer periods of time.<ref> http://www.nesst.org/</ref> == Quotes == :''Company managers know that the odds of an inventor being able to afford the costly litigation are less than one in ten; and even if the suit is brought, four times out of five the courts will hold the patent invalid. When the royalties are expected to exceed the legal expense, it makes good business sense to attack the patent... we don't recognize that the consequence of the legal destruction of patents is a decline in innovation...'' ::-Lemelson, 1975, in a Senate hearing investigating the innovation crisis.<ref>Wolfe, Tom. 1986. "Land of wizards." ''Popular Mechanics'' (July) pp. 127–137. An essay about the life work and struggles of Jerome Lemelson. Reprinted in ''The Best American Essays 1987,'' Gay Talese, ed. New York: Ticknor and Fields, 1987.</ref> :'' The American dream is that if the average American invents something novel and worthy of patenting, he'll find someone to license it. However, for most contemporary inventors , it hasn't worked out that way. The independent inventor today still has an extremely difficult time convincing corporations that he has a product which deserves to be on the market. Most companies have a tremendous resistance to ideas and technology developed on the outside. <ref> Harris, L. ed. Biography Today: scientists and Inventors Series, Volume 3. Detroit, Omnigraphics, Inc.</ref> :'' You cannot develop a reputation for somebody who gives up. You have to be known as a fighter for your rights. Otherwise, you'll never license anything...Even Thomas Edison had a tough time supporting and protecting his patents. He spent about $1.4 million [to defend his inventions], and this was around the turn of the century, when beer was a nickel. <ref> Harris, L. ed. Biography Today: scientists and Inventors Series, Volume 3. Detroit, Omnigraphics, Inc.</ref> ==See also== * [[Gerald D. Hosier]], who served as the main attorney for Jerome Lemelson * [[Independent inventor]] == References == * Teresa Riordan, ''[http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0B17F7385E0C758EDDAD0894DC404482&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fPeople%2fR%2fRiordan%2c%20Teresa Patents; The Lemelson Foundation, named for a prolific inventor, aims to reward inventions that help poor countries develop.]'', New York Times, April 26, 2004 * Lawrence D. Maloney, ''[http://www.designnews.com/article/CA151329.html Lone Wolf of the Sierras]'', Design News, March 1995 * Henry Petroski, ''[http://www.americanscientist.org/template/AssetDetail/assetid/28473;jsessionid=aaa5LVF0 An Independent Inventor]'', American Scientist, May 1998 * Susan Hansen, ''[http://www.ropesgray.com/files/tbl_s20News%5CFileUpload116%5C575%5CBreaking_the_Bar_Code.pdf Breaking the (Bar) Code. The fabled Lemelson patents won't scan anymore. How Jesse Jenner brought down a billion dollar licensing empire.]'' (PDF), IP Law & Business/March 2004 * William F. Heinze, Thomas, Kayden, Horstemeyer, and Risley, ''[http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/careers/careerstemplate.jsp?ArticleId=i050202 Dead Patents Walking Loopholes in the patent process exploited by Jerome Lemelson, one of the most prolific inventors of all time, may be finally closing in on him]'', [[IEEE Spectrum]], May 2002 * Nicholas Varchaver, ''[http://www.cognex.com/corporate/lemelson/patent_king.asp The Patent King]'', Fortune Magazine, May 14, 2001 * ''[http://web.mit.edu/voodoo/www/is_v85no1.pdf Lemelson-MIT winner stripped of prize]'', MIT VooDoo, Spring 2002, page 10 (satire) *Robert P Siegel "http://www.strategy-business.com/press/article/05414?pg=0" Winter 2005 "As Patent Laws Weaken Innovation Suffers" == Notes == <!--This article uses the Cite.php citation mechanism. If you would like more information on how to add references to this article, please see http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Cite/Cite.php --> {{reflist|2}} == External links == *[http://www.lemelson.org/ The Lemelson Foundation web site] ** [http://www.lemelson.org/about/bio_jerry.php Jerome Lemelson biography on The Lemelson Foundation official web site] *[http://web.mit.edu/invent/ Lemelson-MIT Program] *[http://invention.smithsonian.org/ Smithsonian's Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation] {{DEFAULTSORT:Lemelson, Jerome H.}} [[Category:1923 births]] [[Category:1997 deaths]] [[Category:American inventors]] [[Category:New York University alumni]] [[Category:People from Staten Island]] [[es:Jerome H. Lemelson]]