((RAIN)) Rainmakers-Island

[The Rainmaker]

First patent troll...Then came George Selden, a patent attorney from New York. In 1879, he patented something he called a “road machine” (which is slightly more agreeable than the Oruktor). He hadn’t actually, y’know, built anything yet, but he kept expanding the patent throughout the years as automotive technology advanced because it meant he could collect royalties from American car manufacturers.
Good ol’ Henry Ford was rightfully annoyed that this guy who hadn’t even made anything could reap the benefits of all the hard work automakers were putting in. He took Selden to court in 1904, where the judge decided that Selden would have to build a road machine from his own patent. Selden couldn’t do it. In 1911, the patent was overturned, giving manufacturers the freedom to build cars at a lower cost, since they didn’t have to shell out big bucks to a guy whose claim to fame was some words on a page, not an automobile