10 million US patents since 1790... and counting (Part 2)

This is part 2 of a series of 3 posts containing Andrew Waugh QC's review of US patents since 1790 - part 1 can be found by clicking here.

Patent No. 2,000,000 - 1935

Patent No. 2,000,000 (2,009,957th) - April 30, 1935

1,000,000 in 24 years (41,667 a year)

Patent number 2,000,000 was also related to tires and was granted to Joseph Ledwinka of Philadelphia for the Edward G. Budd Manufacturing Company. The focus for Ledwinka's patent was for rail cars and consisted of a pneumatic tire, used in combination with a rail wheel provided with a retaining flange. Light in weight, Ledwinka claimed that a rail car provided with wheels and tires of this type could attain exceptional high rates of speed, be braked as severely as desired, and do so safely.


Patent no. 3,000,000 - September 12, 1961

1,000,000 in 26 years – 38,462 a year

Kenneth Eldredge's Automatic Reading System allowed conversion of human language into machine language. The invention, which was assigned to General Electric, was a means to improve the efficiency and use of automatic data-processing machines.

Patent No. 3,000,000 - 1961

Patent no. 4,000,000 - December 28, 1976
1,000,000 in 15 years - 66,667 a year

Patent No. 4,000,000 - 1976

Robert Mendenhall's Process for Recycling Asphalt-Aggregate Compositions mixed used roadway surfaces with chemicals: “Recycled asphalt-aggregate compositions prepared by adding a suitable amount of make-up asphalt to pieces of the used composition and heating the mixture in a rotating cylindrical drum by tumbling the composition over heated pipes as it is gradually directed towards an output end of the drum, the improvement comprising adding an amount of petroleum hydrocarbon to achieve a laid down asphalt penetration of between 25 and 300 dmn at 77° F.”

Patent no. 5,000,000 - March 19, 1991

Another 1,000,000 in 15 years, 66,667 a year

Lonnie O. Ingram, Tyrrell Conway, and Flavio Alterthum, created a means of using E. coli bacteria to produce ethanol. The patent was assigned to the University of Florida. Per claim 1 - An Escherichia coli, which has been transformed with Zymomonas mobilis genes coding for alcohol dehydrogenase and pyruvate decarboxylase wherein said genes are expressed at sufficient levels to confer upon said Escherichia coli transformant the ability to produce ethanol as a fermentation product.




Patent No. 5,000,000 - 1991

Part 3 to follow.