U.S. Patent No. 10,000,000 was issued to Raytheon and principal engineering fellow Joseph Marron and was prepared and prosecuted by Texas-based law firm Munck Wilson Mandala. The firm has a Dallas office along with offices in Austin and Marshall, and Raytheon has a major presence in North Texas.
The 10 Millionth patent marks the debut of the new Patent Cover shown above that the USPTO unveiled in March.
The patent was for “Coherent Ladar Using Intra-Pixel Quadrature Detection,” a technology that improves laser detection and ranging (LADAR) with applications in autonomous vehicles, medical imaging devices, military defense systems, and space and undersea exploration. The technology was invented by Marron and is owned by Raytheon.
“Each patent represents countless hours of trial and error, persistence, and fortitude from the inventors to bring the idea to fruition.”
David Doyle
“This will be a fun fact about U.S. patent history that we are a part of and we get to share in with our client, Raytheon, a true national treasure,” the law firm’s Managing Partner William Munck said in a statement. “We are excited for Joe and the Raytheon team. This patent is a marker in U.S. history.”
Munck and MWM senior partners David Doyle and Dan Venglarik prepared and prosecuted the patent application for Raytheon.
“Each patent represents countless hours of trial and error, persistence, and fortitude from the inventors to bring the idea to fruition,” Doyle said. “The 10 millionth U.S. patent represents a tremendous milestone for both the USPTO and the history of American innovation.”
The U.S. Patent Office found the milestone significant enough to warrant a dedicated web microsite that tracks the history of its issued patents from number one to number 10 million.
Patent number one was issued July 31, 1790, and signed by President George Washington. While it took over 121 years to issue the first million patents — a timeline spanning 1790 to 1911 — the pace has picked up considerably taking only four years (2011-2015) between the eight and nine million patent milestones, and then another three years to hit 10 million with Marron and Raytheon’s patent.
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