ABSTRACT
Charles Hard Townes wanted some information on the very bright thallium lamps that Gordon Gould was employing for his thesis. On 6 April 1959 Gould and Technical Research Group filed a patent application for the laser in the United States, after which followed a series of requests for British patents which were granted. One of the arguments that the laser companies brought to the courts in trying to resist Gould’s patent was that the information he gave was insufficient to build a laser. So Gould at Optelecom Inc, in 1981, together with some other researchers and with the financial support of Patlex, built a laser using only the design information disclosed in his 1959 patent application and other data readily available at that time. This result obviously dealt a blow for the companies that opposed the patent. Revenue from laser patents was about $7.5 million in the year ending 30 June 1992, and roughly $7 million for the following year.
