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April 22, 2005
Henry Ford -vs- The Selden Auto Patent
While reading a post on the pharmaceuticals market over at Marginal Revolution, I noted a link to the story of Henry Ford's fight against the Selden Auto Patent. In a nutshell, George Selden conceptualized a poorly designed vehicle that ran on a gasoline engine. No part of it was terribly feasible, and no automobile was ever built to its specifications. Early auto manufacturers, however, banded together to form an industry association and control the patent. Automakers that they liked would be charged royalties, and everybody else would be kept out of the market.
Henry Ford didn't see it that way. He designed a car that was in no way related to or derived from the Selden Patent. When the controllers of the patent came after him, he fought back. The story is a good read, and is a nice lesson in patent law and economics. It also gives a new take on the Henry Ford story that I had been unaware of.
Posted by Lockjaw at April 22, 2005 12:55 PM
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