Jerome H. Lemelson

Jerome Hal Lemelson (1923 to 1997) was an American engineer, inventor and patent holder whose 605 patents made him one of the most prolific inventors in American history. Born on Staten Island, he served in the Army Air Corps engineering department, then earned master's degrees in aeronautical and industrial engineering and worked on Project SQUID and at Republic Aviation before becoming an independent inventor in 1957. His inventions relate to automated warehouses, industrial robots, machine vision, fax machines, videocassette recorders, camcorders and the magnetic tape drive. A long series of patent litigations and licensing negotiations made him a controversial figure, admired as a champion of independent inventors and criticized by some patent attorneys. In 1993 he and his family established the Lemelson Foundation to support invention and innovation.