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198 stories matching patent
- Defending the Aberdeen Steam Skidder
A local inventor faces patent-infringement threats from industry giants in the competitive world of logging machinery.
- City Settled Charley Allen's Flume Patent Claim
Mayor Hunt faces accusations of conflict of interest and patent infringement after his own foundry manufactured parts for a municipal project.
- Seattle Calls a Patent Bluff and Wins
A federal judge rules that John Klein's insulation-pin patent was no invention at all—saving Seattle a payout that Portland and San Francisco had already made.
- The Patent War Over the Electric Bath Robe
A public spat between a Spokane physician and an local 'professor' reveals the cutthroat market for pseudo-scientific wellness devices.
- Blandford Takes the Blame in City Flume Patent Suit
The Statesman accuses the city administration of forcing a contractor to take the fall for a costly legal infringement on a flume project.
- Puyallup Reservation Lands Distributed
After a long period of waiting, Puyallup families have finally received land patents as the reservation is divided into 167 tracts.
- The Electric Robe Wars: A Spokane Doctor’s Patent Battle in Walla Walla
Two physicians engage in a public spat over who invented the 'electric bath robe,' turning a local newspaper's letters page into a courtroom for medical innovation.
- The Wooden Pipe Patent War
A Denver inventor takes a Snohomish County mining company to federal court over a dispute involving hooped wooden pipes.
- The Great Land Grant Tax Dodging Scheme
Railroad companies are holding onto millions of acres of public land without filing for patents to avoid taxes, placing the burden of government costs on local settlers.
- The Patent Steam Dryer at Yesler’s Wharf
A new industrial appliance for families arrives in late 19th-century Seattle, promising to modernize the household chore of food preservation.
- The Legal Battle Over Land Claims
Judge Hanford rules on a dispute between the Stimson Land Company and individual homesteaders, highlighting the complexities of federal land patent law.
- The Settlement of the Indemnity Strip
After years of uncertainty, the federal government confirms Northern Pacific railroad land grants, ending a volatile era for local settlers.
- The Yakima Inventor Who Struck It Rich
A local inventor's patent for a hay baler nets him a windfall of $16,000 after Portland investors realize the machine's true potential.
- The Patent-Leather Fugitive
A suspected post-office burglar was tracked from Seattle to the Grays Harbor woods, only to be found asleep in millworker's clothes—and incongruous footwear.
- The Coming of 'War Bread'
Federal authorities mandate a shift in milling standards as Washington residents are warned to prepare for lower-grade flour and higher prices.
- The Peril of the 'Patent Knocker'
A rancher's squirrel-extermination device explodes, nearly ending his life.
- The Electric Robe Wars: A Spokane Doctor’s Threat and a Walla Walla Professor’s Defense
In the early days of electrical therapy, two men clashed over patents and health claims in the pages of the Evening Statesman.
- The Railroad Reaches for Marshall Lake's Mines
Northern Pacific applies for a land patent covering worked mining claims near Marshall Lake, and claim owners prepare to fight.
- Miners Draw a Line Against the Railroad
Claim owners in the Marshall Lake mining district will fight Northern Pacific's patent application at a Nov. 8 hearing.
- Puyallup People Wait on Delayed Land Patents
A century-old battle for property rights reveals how corporate interests and federal delays threatened to dispossess the Puyallup people of their ancestral home.
- The Unlikely Hero of the Fire Escape
When a local doctor patented a new fire escape in 1878, he had to prove it could survive the ultimate test: a 'timid' gentleman from the New England Hotel climbing down from a third-story window.
- The Fight Over Unpaid Rail Taxes
A new Congressional bill aims to force Pacific railroads to pay taxes on their vast land grants, closing a loophole that left farmers shouldering the civic burden.
- The Seidlitz-Powder Scheme to Raise a Sunken Ship
Confident investors bought a wreck off Grays Harbor and promised to lift it with secret chemicals, carbonic gas, and a patent they had not quite finished.
- Fifteen Years of Litigation for a Single Plot of Land
A landmark land dispute between Perry Lawrence and J. G. Potter near Garfield nears its end after a decade and a half of courtroom battles.
- Legal Battles Over the Puyallup Farm
Trustees and the government clash over the status of land patents and tribal property.