[SIGCIS-Members] A paper on Konrad Zuse and Percy Ludgate

Mon Apr 8 03:09:53 PDT 2024

Jim:

You are of course right.

The sort of expertise that would be needed for a worthwhile account of the role of patents of relevance to the very concept of programmable computers – which was the topic I was concerned with rather than later developments - would of course have to undertake a much more thorough and determined search than the straightforward Google searches I undertook.

In fact, my guess is that the most likely sources of relevant expertise, and of knowledge of information resources, are going to be among specialists in business and patent history. (And my experience in IBM many years ago was that patent specialists are a breed apart! :-)

Cheers

Brian

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On 05/04/2024, 17:24, "James Cortada" <jcortada at umn.edu> wrote:

Not finding materials does not mean they don't exist, just that they (1) have not been found or (2) are kept in the offices and files of corporate lawyers and the firms with which they outsourced patent work (a very common practice).

JimCortada

On Fri, Apr 5, 2024 at 11:06 AM Julie Cohn via Members <members at lists.sigcis.org<mailto:members at lists.sigcis.org> <mailto:members at lists.sigcis.org<mailto:members at lists.sigcis.org>>> wrote:

Brian - your finding - or lack thereof - is interesting in and of itself. Thoughts about why? -Julie
Julie Cohn, Ph.D.

Non-Resident Scholar, Center for Energy Studies
Baker Institute for Public Policy, Rice University, and
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University of Houston

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On Apr 5, 2024, at 5:59 AM, Brian Randell via Members <members at lists.sigcis.org<mailto:members at lists.sigcis.org> <_blank>> wrote:

Hi Evan:

Many thanks to you and the others who have sent us encouraging comments about our paper, either via SIGCIS or by direct email.

I strongly agree with your suggestion that “There could be a paper on the topic of failed patent defences in computer history”. However, this would need expertise in patent law and literature, so is not something I or my colleagues would attempt.

We did search for relevant online material about computer patents, but just about everything we found was either about software patenting, or just the ENIAC patent dispute – we failed to find anything useful about the overall roles that patents played during the development of the early computers and the beginnings of the computer industry, in any country.

Cheers

Brian

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EMAIL = Brian.Randell at ncl.ac.uk<mailto:Brian.Randell at ncl.ac.uk> <color:blue; text-decoration:underline> PHONE = +44 191 208 7923

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On 28/03/2024, 13:28, "Evan Koblentz" <evank at njit.edu<mailto:evank at njit.edu> <color:blue; text-decoration:underline>> wrote:

Hello Brian,

Excellent reading!

There could be a paper on the topic of failed patent defenses in computer history. Comparing Triumph vs. Zuse and Honeywell vs. Rand might be especially interesting.

--

Evan Koblentz

New Jersey Institute of Technology

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On 3/28/24 6:19 AM, Brian Randell via Members wrote:

Dear SIGCIS: I trust I might be permitted to publicise here the fact that the paper: "How Percy Ludgate’s 1909 paper (and IBM) helped thwart Konrad Zuse’s Computer Patent in 1960" by Brian Coghlan, Ralf Buelow and myself has been

Dear SIGCIS:

I trust I might be permitted to publicise here the fact that the paper:

"How Percy Ludgate’s 1909 paper (and IBM) helped thwart Konrad Zuse’s Computer Patent in 1960"

by Brian Coghlan, Ralf Buelow and myself has been accepted for publication in the IEEE Annals of the History of Computing. It is due to appear in Volume 46, Issue 3, July-September 2024.

Paper Abstract:

"This investigation outlines how Percy Ludgate’s 1909 paper describing his design for a mechanical computer, his “Analytical Machine”, was used in 1960 by a German patent attorney to thwart Konrad Zuse’s computer patent, just in time, as the patent (first applied for on 16th June 1941), was about to be granted. This narrative is then followed by analyses of, and discovery of proof of, the role of IBM in preventing Zuse from getting what would have been the premier patent on the concept of a programmable computer, and then by an exploration of how information about Ludgate’s 1909 paper was found by (or for) the opposing German patent attorney."

The accepted paper is available online at:

https://www.scss.tcd.ie/SCSSTreasuresCatalog/ludgate/lnk131.html <https://www.scss.tcd.ie/SCSSTreasuresCatalog/ludgate/lnk131.html><https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.scss.tcd.ie/SCSSTreasuresCatalog/ludgate/lnk131.html__;!!DLa72PTfQgg!Jhyad10DYlVOoIhqVZZA5iRZs8-2WgSHhPRrg1EetT9B2y2laW9tf_CxITrpdvuWUY91MVTBQ2-A0ySd2RE$<https://www.scss.tcd.ie/SCSSTreasuresCatalog/ludgate/lnk131.html%3e%3chttps:/urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.scss.tcd.ie/SCSSTreasuresCatalog/ludgate/lnk131.html__;!!DLa72PTfQgg!Jhyad10DYlVOoIhqVZZA5iRZs8-2WgSHhPRrg1EetT9B2y2laW9tf_CxITrpdvuWUY91MVTBQ2-A0ySd2RE$> <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.scss.tcd.ie/SCSSTreasuresCatalog/ludgate/lnk131.html__;!!DLa72PTfQgg!Jhyad10DYlVOoIhqVZZA5iRZs8-2WgSHhPRrg1EetT9B2y2laW9tf_CxITrpdvuWUY91MVTBQ2-A0ySd2RE$>>

In addition, English translations of all the relevant Zuse patent litigation documents are provided onlne (side-by-side with transcriptions of the German originals from the ZIB.de <http://zib.de/><https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://ZIB.de__;!!DLa72PTfQgg!Jhyad10DYlVOoIhqVZZA5iRZs8-2WgSHhPRrg1EetT9B2y2laW9tf_CxITrpdvuWUY91MVTBQ2-AVjGhNW8$<http://zib.de/%3e%3chttps:/urldefense.com/v3/__http:/ZIB.de__;!!DLa72PTfQgg!Jhyad10DYlVOoIhqVZZA5iRZs8-2WgSHhPRrg1EetT9B2y2laW9tf_CxITrpdvuWUY91MVTBQ2-AVjGhNW8$> <https://urldefense.com/v3/__http:/ZIB.de__;!!DLa72PTfQgg!Jhyad10DYlVOoIhqVZZA5iRZs8-2WgSHhPRrg1EetT9B2y2laW9tf_CxITrpdvuWUY91MVTBQ2-AVjGhNW8$>> Zuse Archive file as interleaved PDF documents), together with a large number of other supporting documents, at:

https://www.scss.tcd.ie/SCSSTreasuresCatalog/ludgate/lnk610.html <https://www.scss.tcd.ie/SCSSTreasuresCatalog/ludgate/lnk610.html><https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.scss.tcd.ie/SCSSTreasuresCatalog/ludgate/lnk610.html__;!!DLa72PTfQgg!Jhyad10DYlVOoIhqVZZA5iRZs8-2WgSHhPRrg1EetT9B2y2laW9tf_CxITrpdvuWUY91MVTBQ2-A1AL-4cc$<https://www.scss.tcd.ie/SCSSTreasuresCatalog/ludgate/lnk610.html%3e%3chttps:/urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.scss.tcd.ie/SCSSTreasuresCatalog/ludgate/lnk610.html__;!!DLa72PTfQgg!Jhyad10DYlVOoIhqVZZA5iRZs8-2WgSHhPRrg1EetT9B2y2laW9tf_CxITrpdvuWUY91MVTBQ2-A1AL-4cc$> <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.scss.tcd.ie/SCSSTreasuresCatalog/ludgate/lnk610.html__;!!DLa72PTfQgg!Jhyad10DYlVOoIhqVZZA5iRZs8-2WgSHhPRrg1EetT9B2y2laW9tf_CxITrpdvuWUY91MVTBQ2-A1AL-4cc$>>

Quoting from our paper's Concluding Remarks:

"The very fact that Ludgate’s 1909 paper on his Analytical Machine was employed to thwart Zuse’s attempt to patent the computer refutes the prevalent assumption that Ludgate had no influence on modern computing, and that his work is just of historical interest. Whatever the scale of their influence, patents can impact the commercial activities in the sector they apply to. Hence Ludgate’s paper clearly did have a potential influence on the commercial future of computers, even if his work was unknown to the developers of the early electronic computers. However, we have deliberately avoided speculating on the types or the extent of the possible commercial consequences, either to Zuse’s company, or to the rest of the computer industry, of the thwarting of Zuse’s attempts to obtain what would have been the first patent on a programmable computer."

We would however be interested to receive informed comments on this issue, and also suggestions as to any further avenues we might pursue in attempting to identify exactly how information on Ludgate's work reached the opposing patent attorney.

Cheers

Brian Randell

—

School of Computing, Newcastle University, 1 Science Square, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE4 5TG

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