31:
299:
210:
350:
375:, which meant that a security clearance was required to work on it. Because of his former participation in communist activities, Gould was unable to obtain a clearance. He continued to work at TRG, but was unable to contribute directly to the project to realize his ideas. Due to technical difficulties and perhaps Gould's inability to participate, TRG was beaten in the race to build the first working laser by
459:
leeway to reject patent applications that conflicted with Gould's pending patents. Meanwhile, the patent hearings, court cases, and appeals on the most significant patent applications continued, with many other inventors attempting to claim precedence for various laser technologies. The question of just how to assign credit for inventing the laser remains unresolved by historians.
448:. Questions were also raised about whether Gould's notebook provided sufficient information to allow a laser to be constructed, given that Gould's team at TRG was unable to do so. Gould was able to obtain patents on the laser in several other countries, however, and he continued fighting for U.S. patents on specific laser technologies for many years afterward.
444:, and others. Gould ultimately lost the battle for the U.S. patent on the laser itself, primarily on the grounds that his notebook did not explicitly say that the sidewalls of the laser medium were to be transparent, even though he planned to optically pump the gain medium through them, and considered loss of light through the sidewalls by
428:. Schawlow and Townes had already applied for a patent on the laser, in July 1958. Their patent was granted on March 22, 1960. Gould and TRG launched a legal challenge based on his 1957 notebook as evidence that Gould had invented the laser prior to Schawlow and Townes's patent application. (At the time, the United States used a
458:
Gould's first laser patent was awarded in 1968, covering an obscure application—generating X-rays using a laser. The technology was of little value, but the patent contained all the disclosures of his original 1959 application, which had previously been secret. This allowed the patent office greater
544:
The end of the Patent Office action freed Gould's enforcement lawsuits to proceed. Finally, in 1987, Patlex won its first decisive enforcement victory, against
Control Laser corporation, a manufacturer of lasers. Rather than be bankrupted by the damages and the lack of a license to the technology,
524:
The legal battles continued, as the laser industry sought to not only prevent the Patent Office from issuing Gould's remaining patents, but also to have the already-issued ones revoked. Gould and his company were forced to fight both in court, and in Patent Office review proceedings. According to
366:
Eager to achieve a patent on his invention, and believing incorrectly that he needed to build a working laser to do this, Gould left
Columbia without completing his doctoral degree and joined a private research company, TRG (Technical Research Group). He convinced his new employer to support his
556:
that it took for Gould to win the rights to his inventions became known as one of the most important patent battles in history. In the end, Gould was issued forty-eight patents, with the optical pumping, collisional pumping, and applications patents being the most important. Between them, these
362:
and
Charles Townes independently discovered the importance of the Fabry–Pérot cavity—about three months later—and called the resulting proposed device an "optical maser". Gould's name for the device was first introduced to the public in a conference presentation in 1959, and was adopted despite
595:
Gould died of natural causes on
September 16, 2005. At the time of his death, Gould's role in the actual invention continued to be disputed in scientific circles. Apart from the dispute, Gould had realized his hope to "be around" when the Brewster's angle window patent expired in May 2005.
391:
During this time, Gould and TRG began applying for patents on the technologies Gould had developed. The first pair of applications, filed together in April 1959, covered lasers based on Fabry–Pérot optical resonators, as well as optical pumping, pumping by collisions in a gas discharge (as in
572:
The delay—and the subsequent spread of lasers into many areas of technology—meant that the patents were much more valuable than if Gould had won initially. Even though Gould had signed away eighty percent of the proceeds in order to finance his court costs, he made several million dollars.
357:
Gould recorded his analysis and suggested applications in a laboratory notebook under the heading "Some rough calculations on the feasibility of a LASER: Light
Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation"—the first recorded use of this acronym. Gould's notebook was the first written
485:
Shortly after starting
Optelecom, Gould and his lawyers changed the focus of their patent battle. Having lost many court cases on the laser itself, and running out of appeal options, they realized that many of the difficulties could be avoided by focusing instead on the
528:
Things finally began to change in 1985. After years of legal process, the
Federal Court in Washington, D.C. ordered the Patent Office to issue Gould's patent on collisionally pumped laser amplifiers. The Patent Office appealed, but was ultimately forced to issue
496:, covering optically pumped laser amplifiers. The laser industry, by then grown to annual sales of around $ 400 million, rebelled at paying royalties to license the technology they had been using for years, and fought in court to avoid paying.
521:. The industry responded with lawsuits seeking to avoid paying to license this patent as well. Also in 1979, Gould and his financial backers founded the company Patlex, to hold the patent rights and handle licensing and enforcement.
281:, who was also a professor at Columbia and later won the 1964 Nobel prize for his work on the maser and the laser. Townes gave Gould advice on how to obtain a patent on his innovation, and agreed to act as a witness.
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Born in New York City, Gould was the oldest of three sons. His father was the founding editor of
Scholastic Magazine Publications in New York City. He grew up in Scarsdale, a small suburb of New York, and attended
466:, which had little interest in lasers and was disposing of that part of the business. Gould was able to buy back his patent rights for a thousand dollars, plus a small fraction of any future profits.
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The industry outcry caused the patent office to stall on releasing Gould's other pending patents, leading to more appeals and amendments to the pending patents. Despite this, Gould was issued
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580:, who was a member of the team that built the first laser that could fire continuously. "He was able to collect royalties from other people making lasers, including me."
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system for patents.) While this challenge was being fought in the Patent Office and the courts, further applications were filed on specific laser technologies by
201:
for the laser and related technologies. He also fought with laser manufacturers in court battles to enforce the patents he subsequently did obtain.
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Gould and his lawyers, the Office seemed determined to prevent Gould from obtaining any more patents, and to rescind the two that had been granted.
452:
1004:
1214:
455:, as a professor. While there, he proposed many new laser applications, and arranged government funding for laser research at the institute.
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prescription for making a viable laser and, realizing what he had in hand, he took it to a neighborhood store to have his work notarized.
194:
855:
Gould, R. Gordon (1959). "The LASER, Light
Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation". In Franken, P.A.; Sands R.H. (eds.).
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deal. Other laser manufacturers and users quickly agreed to settle their cases and take out licenses from Patlex on Patlex's terms.
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535:, and to abandon its attempts to rescind Gould's previously issued patents. The Brewster's angle window patent was later issued as
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The first page of the notebook in which Gould coined the acronym LASER and described the essential elements for constructing one.
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Even though his role in the actual invention of the laser was disputed over decades, Gould was elected to the
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By 1957, many scientists including Townes were looking for a way to achieve maser-like amplification of
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of the medium by atomic-level collisions, and anticipated many of the potential uses of such a device.
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The Ann Arbor
Conference on Optical Pumping, the University of Michigan, June 15 through June 18, 1959
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was the first to build a working laser). Gould is best known for his thirty-year fight with the
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in 1979, covering a variety of laser applications including heating and vaporizing materials,
490:, an essential component of any laser. The new strategy worked, and in 1977 Gould was awarded
576:"I thought that he legitimately had a right to the notion to making a laser amplifier", said
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technologies covered most lasers used at the time. For example, the first operating laser, a
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the board of Control Laser turned ownership of the company over to Patlex in a
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In 1967, Gould left TRG and joined the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, now
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881:; Townes, Charles (2003). "Arthur Schawlow". In Edward P. Lazear (ed.).
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In 1973, Gould left the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn to help found
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628:
LASER: The inventor, the Nobel laureate, and the thirty-year patent war
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269:, who guided Gould to develop expertise in the then-new technique of
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608:, another inventor who fought a long battle to enforce his patents.
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Inventors at Work: Interviews with 16 Notable American Inventors
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control, and applications including manufacturing, triggering
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research, and they obtained funding for the project from the
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273:. In 1956, Gould proposed using optical pumping to excite a
181:. (Credit for the invention of the laser is disputed, since
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but was dismissed due to his activities as a member of the
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338:
could easily be optically pumped to achieve the necessary
169:(July 17, 1920 – September 16, 2005) was an American
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Further patent battles, and enforcement of issued patents
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equipment. He later left his successful company in 1985.
661:. Redmond, Washington: Tempus Books of Microsoft Press.
242:. Between March 1944 and January 1945 he worked on the
222:. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in physics at
885:. vol. 83. National Academy of Sciences. p. 202.
1003:
Spencer Weart, Center for History of Physics (2010).
583:
1245:
Polytechnic Institute of New York University faculty
1135:"Gordon Gould, 85, Figure In Invention of the Laser"
277:, and discussed this idea with the maser's inventor
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who is sometimes credited with the invention of the
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473:, a company in Gaithersburg, Maryland that makes
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453:New York University Tandon School of Engineering
1011:. American Institute of Physics. Archived from
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694:"Laser Pioneer Gordon Gould Dies at 85"
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814:; Townes, Charles H. (December 1958).
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326:by using two mirrors in the form of a
1215:Discovery and invention controversies
1133:Chang, Kenneth (September 20, 2005).
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230:fraternity, and a master's degree at
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630:. New York: Simon & Schuster.
584:Election to Hall of Fame and death
226:, where he became a member of the
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369:Advanced Research Projects Agency
462:By 1970, TRG had been bought by
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1230:People from Scarsdale, New York
1220:Union College (New York) alumni
1205:20th-century American inventors
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775:. The Nobel Prize Organisation
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692:Bernstein, Adam (2005-09-20).
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303:"The Man, the Myth, the Laser"
262:. His doctoral supervisor was
16:American physicist (1920–2005)
1:
1173:Bright Idea: The First Lasers
1009:Bright Idea: The First Lasers
816:"Infrared and optical masers"
773:"Nobel Prize in Physics 1964"
1240:Scarsdale High School alumni
972:Bromberg, Joan Lisa (1991).
932:Taylor (2000), pp. 159, 173.
561:, was optically pumped; the
438:Hughes Research Laboratories
406:optical heterodyne detection
381:Hughes Research Laboratories
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1087:Taylor (2000), pp. 237–247.
1051:Taylor (2000), pp. 199–212.
1042:Taylor (2000), pp. 197–201.
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328:Fabry–Pérot interferometer
254:to work on a doctorate in
1105:Taylor (2000), pp. 280–5.
1096:Taylor (2000), pp. 280–3.
1033:Taylor (2000), pp. 190–3.
1005:"Who Invented the Laser?"
953:Taylor (2000), pp. 172–5.
914:Taylor (2000), pp. 74–90.
801:Taylor (2000), pp. 66–70.
762:Taylor (2000), p. 45, 56.
475:fiberoptic communications
311:Science History Institute
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1250:Manhattan Project people
1078:Taylor (2000), p. 221–3.
1069:Taylor (2000), p. 220–2.
923:Taylor (2000), pp. 92–6.
905:Taylor (2000), pp. 72–3.
841:10.1103/PhysRev.112.1940
753:Taylor (2000), p. 37–40.
744:Taylor (2000), p. 19–25.
735:Taylor (2000), p. 16–20.
619:References and citations
464:Control Data Corporation
342:. Gould also considered
250:. In 1949 Gould went to
205:Early life and education
653:Brown, Kenneth (1987).
91:Union College, New York
1225:Yale University alumni
1159:Taylor (2000), p. 285.
1114:Taylor (2000), p. 284.
1060:Taylor (2000), p. 218.
962:Taylor (2000), p. 180.
420:, measuring distance,
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285:Invention of the laser
260:microwave spectroscopy
214:
792:Taylor (2000), p. 62.
726:Taylor (2000), p. 14.
626:Taylor, Nick (2000).
538:U.S. patent 4,746,201
532:U.S. patent 4,704,583
502:U.S. patent 4,161,436
493:U.S. patent 4,053,845
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220:Scarsdale High School
212:
883:Biographical Memoirs
340:population inversion
167:Richard Gordon Gould
42:Richard Gordon Gould
832:1958PhRv..112.1940S
826:(6–15): 1940–1949.
812:Schawlow, Arthur L.
699:The Washington Post
387:Battles for patents
252:Columbia University
109:Columbia University
1178:2014-04-24 at the
612:Edwin H. Armstrong
578:William R. Bennett
517:applications, and
418:chemical reactions
398:optical amplifiers
394:helium–neon lasers
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234:, specializing in
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66:September 16, 2005
1235:Laser researchers
989:978-0-262-02318-4
563:helium–neon laser
488:optical amplifier
324:optical resonator
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412:windows for
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151:Institutions
134:
68:(2005-09-16)
23:Gordon Gould
1200:2005 deaths
1195:1920 births
879:Chu, Steven
446:diffraction
402:Q-switching
336:gain medium
79:Nationality
1189:Categories
1146:2008-10-07
779:2010-01-16
713:2023-02-02
559:ruby laser
554:patent war
547:settlement
513:and other
373:classified
197:to obtain
128:patent law
48:1920-07-17
1019:April 29,
708:0190-8286
646:122973716
592:in 1991.
471:Optelecom
434:Bell Labs
309:Podcast,
228:Sigma Chi
171:physicist
1176:Archived
865:02460155
677:16714685
600:See also
332:coherent
177:and the
155:NYU Poly
82:American
828:Bibcode
507:welding
344:pumping
256:optical
199:patents
145:Physics
986:
889:
863:
706:
675:
665:
644:
634:
424:, and
236:optics
141:Fields
980:74–77
426:lidar
275:maser
175:laser
124:Laser
1021:2010
984:ISBN
887:ISBN
861:OCLC
704:ISSN
673:OCLC
663:ISBN
642:OCLC
632:ISBN
258:and
238:and
185:and
63:Died
38:Born
836:doi
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396:),
379:at
113:PhD
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1119:^
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440:,
436:,
404:,
400:,
383:.
305:,
126:,
104:MS
95:BS
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844:.
838::
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782:.
716:.
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