Invent, Protect, EnforceTM
Images of Original Historical Memorabilia at Hallihan IP Partners, LLC In 1940, William Shockley and a colleague developed early plans for a nuclear reactor. Their report on the subject was classified by the government and not made available to the scientists working on reactor research as part of the Manhattan Project. In 1945, the government asked him to prepare a report concerning the number of casualties from an invasion of the Japan. Shockley allegedly concluded: If the study shows that the behavior of nations in all historical cases comparable to Japan's has in fact been invariably consistent with the behavior of the troops in battle, then it means that the Japanese dead and ineffectives at the time of the defeat will exceed the corresponding number for the Germans. In other words, we shall probably have to kill at least 5 to 10 million Japanese. This might cost us between 1.7 and 4 million casualties including 400,000 to 800,000 killed. This prediction influenced the decision for the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Shockley fiercely opposed the dropping of the the bomb on populated areas. Instead, Shockley urged them to drop the Bomb on Mt. Fuji, instead.
Hallihan IP Partners, LLC has obtained a number of historical documents and items relating to famous inventors, supreme court justices, the founding fathers, the revolutionary war, the civil war, presidents, patents and assorted other things. We encourage our clients and colleagues to make appointments to see any of the originals in which they have an interest, so that we can make sure that they will be on hand when you visit. Many are securely stored off-site.
We will be slowly adding items from the collection and encourage you to come back to see what has been added.
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PRESIDENT THOMAS JEFFERSON
Prior to serving as the third President of the United States, Jefferson was the first Secretary of State and also the first head of the U.S. Patent Office under President George Washington. During his presidency, he advised his cousin, Richard Randolph, about the importance of protecting an invention by patenting it. Hallihan IP Partners, LLC has obtained the original letter that Thomas Jefferson wrote to Richard Randolph on January 15, 1809. An individual at Princeton who works with Jefferson items advised us that this is the way that Jefferson wrote the number 5 the way it is depicted in the day of the month. We have reproduced the text directly below the image, so that you need not strain your eyes deciphering Jefferson's handwriting.
As president, signed “Th. Jefferson,” one page, 8 x 9.75, January 15, 1809. Letter to his young cousin Richard Randolph, with the following text:
“I have duly received your letter of the 10th mentioning the invention of a bridle having the advantage of not going into the horse’s mouth. You know of course you can have a patent for the use of it on the terms mentioned in the patent law. In the event of the Secretary of War’s approving it, & wishing to make use of it, it would become a question whether he could give a price for permission to use it. I rather believe it would be lawful, but that he would venture to use it very moderately. If you should wish to try this latter experiment & would forward the bridle by the stage to me, I would submit it to his examination & take care that no use should be made of it injurious to your views. It would not at all be necessary for you to come here. Should the corps of volunteers proposed be raised, the appointment of the officers from field officers downwards will pretty certainly be referred by the President to the state executives. That is the quarter therefore to which your application will be to be made. I salute you with esteem & respect.”
The Randolph family is a prominent Virginia political family whose members contributed to the politics of Colonial Virginia and Virginia after it gained its statehood. The family married with members of the Lee, Washington, and Harrison families, and included notable members such as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, John Marshall, Peyton Randolph, Alexander Stephens, and Robert E. Lee. Pocahontas was also directly related to the Randolph family, and some evidence suggests that so too was Davy Crockett. There was a member of the Randolph family, also named Richard Randolph, that was rumored to have been involved in a strange scandal. Perhaps even more interesting is that during this scandal, he resided on his estate named Bizarre. Based upon our research, we believe the recipient of this letter is related, but not the same person that was involved in the scandal.
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INVENTOR THOMAS A. EDISON (Telephone, Light bulb, Phonograph, Etc.)
Thomas Edison was the most prolific inventor in the United States, and quite possibly the world. He had 1093 U.S. patents, the most for any individual. His numerous inventions, including ones involving the telephone, the light bulb, the phonograph, and the motion picture camera. Below you will find some notes that Edison wrote to a colleague and some meeting minutes, for one of his companies, signed by Edison.
A handwritten note, in pencil, signed “Edison,” one page, lightly-lined, 5 x 8, 1921. Edison writes to [Jaffrey P.] Buchanan, manager of his record disc division. In full: “I find we have an air compressor in power station that supplies #24 building with air - Why do we have to run this when, we already have our compressors in 24 bldg.”
Document signed “T. A. Edison,” one page both sides, 9 x 11, March 14, 1927. Minutes of a Meeting of the Board of Directors of the Edison Storage Battery Company, held Monday, March 14, 1927. Minutes contain three resolutions executing two separate purchase orders for curved nickel anodes and Lithium Hydrate, and one lease for a building in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Signed at the conclusion by Edison, with his typical “umbrella” signature, and also signed by seven other board members including his son Charles Edison.
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INVENTORS WILLIAM SHOCKLEY, JOHN BARDEEN, & WALTER BRATTAIN
(NOBEL LAUREATES & CO-INVENTORS OF THE TRANSISTER)
This is a first day of issue cover of a stamp honoring progress in electronics. It includes a cachet honoring Progress in Electronics, signed in ballpoint by William Shockley, John Bardeen, and Walter Brattain. They are the co-inventors of the transistor, for which all three were awarded the 1956 Nobel Prize in Physics.
Many believe that California's Silicon Valley becoming a hotbed of electronics innovation was a direct result of Shockley's attempts to commercialize a new transistor design in the 1950s and 1960s.
When John Bardeen won his first Nobel prize, he was scolded by King Gustav for bringing only one of his three children to the ceremony. Exhibiting a bit of premonition, Bardeen promised that next time he would bring all of them. He then received a second Nobel prize in Physics in 1972 (this time with Leon Neil Cooper and John Robert Schrieffer) for a fundamental theory of conventional superconductivity. He is the third individual to have received two Nobel prizes and the first to recieve two in the same field. Bardeen also appeared in LIFE Magazines's list of "100 Most Influential Americans of the Century" in 1990 and received other awards, including from IEEE.
Walter Brattain devoted a great portion of his life to research on surface states. He was born in China, but raised in the US. During World War II, he worked on submarine detection methods.
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INVENTOR LEE DE FOREST (Radio, Talking Pictures, Triode, Etc.)
Lee De Forest was an American inventor who had over 180 patents to his name. He is known as being the father of radio for his pioneering work in wireless telegraphy. He invented the Audion, a vacuum tube that amplifies weak electrical signals (the first triode) and broadcast the first ship to shore message. De Forest disliked the term "wireless" and, instead, chose to use a new term "radio." De Forest can also be thanked for inventing commercials (he brought us the very first commercial, a radio commercial for his own products). He also had one of the basic inventions that brought sound to motion pictures and received an Academy Award (an Oscar) for "his pioneering inventions which brought sound to the motion picture." Lee was a charter member of the Institute of Radio Engineers, one of the predecessors of the IEEE.
This has a vintage fountain pen signature and inscription, “To David B. Hart, With best wishes, Yours in Radio— Lee de Forest, June 5, 1934,” on an off-white 8.5 x 11 sheet. We also have the original mailing envelope, addressed in de Forest’s hand.
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INVENTOR GUGLIELMO MARCONI (Radiotelegraph, Radio)
Marconi is best known for his development of a radiotelegraph system. He wond Nobel Prize in Physics with Karl Ferdinand Braun in 1909 in recognition of their contributions to the development of wireless telegraphy.
Fountain pen signature, “Yours truly, G. Marconi,” on an off-white 4.5 x 3.5 card.
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INVENTOR DAVID BUSHNELL (first submarine used in combat)
David Bushnell was an American inventor (1742 - 1824) during the Revolutionary War. He is credited with creating the first submarine ever used in combat (during the Revolutionary war), while studying at Yale University in 1775. He called it the Turtle because of its look in the water. Although it did not prove sucessful during the Revolutionary War, his idea of using water as ballast for submerging and raising his submarine is still in use today, as is the screw propeller, which was first used in the Turtle.
This document was completely written and signed by Bushnell, one page, 9 x 4, February 15, 1783. Signing as a witness for a document allowing the bearer to collect payment owed, in part: “Signed in my presence, D. Bushnell, Capt. Tappen and Mssrs.”
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INVENTOR DR. LEONARD REIFFEL (Telestrator [John Madden TV chalkboard thing], etc.)
Len is a personal friend of ours and people are always highly interested when we tell them that that he invented the Telestrator. Although they might not know its name, when you start saying "that thing John Madden would use on the football games to draw on your tv screen", you usually don't even have to complete the explanation. Our understanding is that Len originally used it to draw illustrations on a series of science shows he did for public television.
Len has over 20 patents in his name concerning a wide variety of technologies. Len is an interesting person, we suggest you use a search engine to look him up. We are often surprised by things he mentions during conversation, and then says "didn't I ever tell you this." Like Steven Colbert (who is fond of mentioning it on his show), Len won a Peabody award for his work on The World Tomorrow at WEEI Radio, Boston, Massachusetts. We knew that Len had received an EMMY award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for his invention in the of the now globally-used Telestrator TV ”chalkboard”, but were surprised about the Peabody which we learned about from an Internet search. With the anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing, we also found out that Len was the Deputy Director of NASA's Apollo Program Office AND a science consultant and on-air Science Commentator for the CBS Network during that same time period.
When Len was recently in the office, we asked him for an autograph and obtained one which we shall post shortly. We may first ask him to draw a little tv on it with some squiggly lines and circles when he comes back in.
