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- Selden Road-Engine Specifications, U. S. Patent Number 549,160, November 5, 1895 - George Selden conceived -- but didn't build -- a gasoline-powered self-propelled vehicle in 1877. Selden, a patent attorney, shrewdly waited until 1895 to receive a patent on the idea -- long enough for the automobile industry to emerge and his patent to become valuable. After an eight-year legal fight led by Henry Ford, Selden's broad patent claim was severely restricted in 1911.
- 1895
- Collections - Artifact
Selden Road-Engine Specifications, U. S. Patent Number 549,160, November 5, 1895
George Selden conceived -- but didn't build -- a gasoline-powered self-propelled vehicle in 1877. Selden, a patent attorney, shrewdly waited until 1895 to receive a patent on the idea -- long enough for the automobile industry to emerge and his patent to become valuable. After an eight-year legal fight led by Henry Ford, Selden's broad patent claim was severely restricted in 1911.