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In 1943 the US Supreme Court struck down key claims in one of Guglielmo Marconi's radio patents, because Nikola Tesla, John Stone Stone and others had described the same tuning ideas earlier. The court did not name Tesla the inventor of radio, and it said Marconi's original patent was not in question.

U.S. Supreme Court, Marconi Wireless Telegraph Co. v. United States (1943)

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The case began when the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America sued the US government in the Court of Claims, seeking damages for the government's use of wireless equipment covered by its patents. The main patent at issue, No. 763,772, covered tuning: setting a transmitter and a receiver to the same frequency so that many stations can work without drowning each other out. The court found that Stone and Tesla had shown such tuned circuits before Marconi applied, so his broad claims were invalid, and the government largely won. The opinion said that Marconi's fame as the first to achieve radio transmission rested on his original patent, which was not in question. The popular idea that the court 'gave radio to Tesla' is a later retelling.

Türkçe oku
ABD Yüksek Mahkemesi 1943'te Guglielmo Marconi'nin radyo patentlerinden birindeki temel hak taleplerini geçersiz saydı; çünkü Nikola Tesla, John Stone Stone ve başkaları aynı ayar fikirlerini daha önce ortaya koymuştu. Mahkeme Tesla'yı radyonun mucidi ilan etmedi; Marconi'nin ilk patentinin tartışma konusu olmadığını da belirtti.

Dava, Marconi'nin Amerika'daki şirketinin, hükümetin kendi patentleriyle korunan telsiz donanımını kullandığı gerekçesiyle ABD hükümetinden tazminat istemesiyle başladı. Tartışılan asıl patent, 763.772 numaralı patentti ve ayarla ilgiliydi: verici ile alıcıyı aynı frekansa getirmek. Böylece birçok istasyon birbirini bastırmadan aynı anda yayın yapabilir. Mahkeme, Stone ile Tesla'nın bu tür ayarlı devreleri Marconi'nin başvurusundan önce gösterdiğini tespit etti; Marconi'nin geniş kapsamlı hak talepleri geçersiz sayıldı ve dava büyük ölçüde hükümetin lehine sonuçlandı. Kararda, Marconi'nin radyo yayınını ilk başaran kişi olarak ününün ilk patentine dayandığı ve bu patentin tartışma konusu olmadığı yazıyordu. Mahkemenin “radyoyu Tesla'ya verdiği” fikri, olayın sonradan yapılmış bir yorumudur.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Invention of radio
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