They’re Singing About Patents?
One of the most fascinating and controversial legal decisions in the field of intellectual property is coming to a computer near you! Charles Moster, the firm’s Senior Partner and writer/composer of several radio musicals on NPR, is releasing his latest on August 31st. It is about the life of the brilliant Serbian inventor, Nikola Tesla, who invented radio and had a landmark Supreme Court case!
Entitled Tesla vs. The United States, it tells the story of how political and economic pressure unfairly influenced a major decision by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO).
Tesla invented radio, filed his application for the device with the PTO in 1897 and was granted a patent in 1903. Subsequent to the filing, Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi incorporated one of Tesla’s inventions – the “Tesla Oscillator” – to transmit the first radio signal across the Atlantic. Marconi received enormous press attention and praise and erroneously promoted himself as the inventor of radio. Marconi then tried to patent his radio device in 1900 but was declined by the Patent Office as it was based on the Tesla Oscillator.
Unfortunately, the rising value of Marconi’s financial interests in his wireless company and the support of such luminaries as Thomas Edison and Andrew Carnegie gave Marconi the political muscle to reverse the decision of the PTO in 1904. The decision was inexplicable and contrary to its prior decisions and patent holdings. To add insult to injury, Marconi was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1911 for the invention of radio!
It was not until 1943, shortly after the death of Tesla, that the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the unfair decision of the Patent Office. Charlie’s radio play presents a musical accounting of this pivotal legal decision.
You can access the play online at www.noirdame.com during the premier on August 31st. Charlie’s collaborator of many years, Adam Donmoyer, arranged the music, directed the play, and wrote the title song. Charlie wrote the book, music, and lyrics.
Don’t miss it!
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