Introduction

According to Mark Roemer, inventors are the pilots of progress and innovation. They have a huge role in the advancement of our civilization. Through a complicated recipe of hard work, ingenuity, and a bit of luck, they can cook out a great product. However, few of them aren’t lucky enough to cash in on their inventions but leave a legacy that changes the planet forever.

 

The Unlucky

Here are some unlucky inventors that didn’t get to cash in on their creations:

 

1. Ron Klein - Ron Klien’s invention is a daily essential and indispensable resource for our modern society and economy. There are hundreds of millions of copies of his invention in the United States and the number grows to an unimaginable string of digits when the whole world is taken into account. Reach into your wallet and you will find his invention, the magnetic stripe on all of your debit or credit cards.

 

Klein used the technology on reel-to-reel tape and slapped it on the back of the card. He also made a scanner that could compare the cards with a regularly updated database. Unfortunately, he didn’t patent the idea.

 

2. Nick Holonyak, Jr. - LEDs are everywhere. From the screen on your television and phone to the source of light in your room and on the streets. However, Nick Holonyak Jr. was way ahead of his time when he suggested the idea that gave birth to the Light Emitting Diode.

 

Holonyak used to work at General Electric as an engineer and was mocked on his suggestion of mixing gallium phosphide and gallium arsenide. However, no one mocked him when the idea worked and in an interview in 1963, he told Reader’s Digest that incandescent bulbs would give way to LED bulbs in the future. His prediction did come true, but he has no claim over the royalty.

 

3. Tim Berners-Lee - Tim Berners-Lee’s invention is so quintessential that you won’t be able to read this article without it and the existence of the world wide web would be no more. In the 80s, he proposed a way to share documents, hypertext documents to be exact, on the internet. Instead of patenting his idea, Lee proliferated the protocol until it was widely used and gave birth to the World Wide Web.

 

4. Mikhail Kalashnikov - Mikhail Kalashnikov created one of the most renowned assault rifles in history, the AK-47. What’s even more impressive is that he invented the rifle while recuperating from his injuries in World War II. Since its invention, over 100 million units of the rifle has been manufactured. Kalashnikov never patented the design for his patriotism towards Soviet Russia. At least, the rifle was named after him - Avtomat Kalashnikova - AK-47.

 

Conclusion

While some inventors leave their invention unpatented for a greater cause, some were swindled out of their rightful claim. Mark Roemer believes that we should take inspiration from those who left their invention unpatented for a greater cause and give recognition to the marvelous geniuses who have left a significant mark on our modern world.