Trials & Errors #82 - Marius LaTour and the Effects of Quiet Competence

Hello, thanks for being a T&E reader on QRZ.com. In this forum discussion, please add your comments about the piece on Marius LaTour, or add your own figures you think we should be writing about. Have you another famous person you're surprised to find is not listed in Wikipedia? Do you have other ideas for us to write about in the column? Offer them up here and all are welcome -- thanks again. Dave, W7DGJ

 

Without being sarcastic... one great advantage of being not found online is the information is pristine, undamaged by AI!

Kinda like how valuable pre August 1945 steel is. Uncontaminated by radionuclides, clean.

His story is pertinent to the modern day machinations about "intellectual property." As engineers, hams, artists, etc. we thrive on sharing and collaboration and building better together.

Personally, I considered very early in my career the advantages of patents are far outweighed by the abuses. Others disagree and that's ok.

 

Thanks Cliff. Interesting comment, bound for more discussion here I'm sure, Dave W7DGJ

 

Thanks for the story, Dave. I hadn't heard of LaTour either. What the article lacks, though, is more information on just what he invented. Was it neutralization? You mention that he beat Hazeltine in a patent case. Hazeltine was no slouch to claiming patents, of course; my 1960 Hallicrafters radio, IIRC, had a little notice on it that it used Hazeltine patents.

Quite the contrast, as you note, with Edison! He was a self-promoter. Edison may well have invented the early wax-cylinder phonograph, which got him started. But his most important invention was probably the research lab business, wherein a large group of people working together in a well-stocked facility does invention in the company's or owner's name. His light bulb was a work for hire; Batchelor and Moore did the actual work. And many of his other inventions were not really original, but he got credit.

Patents do have their place, but the system is broken and corrupt. I participated in some inter partes reviews (challenges) of patents that patent trolls (Edison may have been one, but some credit Jerry Lemelson for really making a business out of it) were claiming. This included some basic Wi-Fi features that were really prior art that hams did in packet radio back in the 1980s and that ARPA PRnet may have done in the 1970s. But those weren't patented, and the patent office typically ignores public domain prior art.

 

Hi Fred, thanks for the suggestion. I think I will add a sidebar to the article today with a list of some of his 70+ inventions. But, the Hazeltine patents you refer to on the old Hallicrafters were actually his work, as Hazeltine bought them right as radio was gearing up after WWI and from then on, the infringements were pursued by Hazeltine. LaTour sold them for a fraction of what he could have had by individually pursuing his infringers. He wasn't ready for the aggressive stance that would take. Dave, W7DGJ

 

Thanks for another excellent article. I really enjoy your Trials & Errors. Thank you for non YouTube content!

 

Thanks for the comment Mike! Dave, W7DGJ