© Mark Ollig
In 1871, Antonio Meucci, an Italian-American inventor, filed a patent caveat with the US Patent Office for his invention called the “telettrofono” (tel-eh-tro-fono), meaning “electrophone” in English.
Meucci used this name to convey the concept of transmitting sound electrically through wires.
Today, we call it a telephone or a phone.
Before 1909, inventors could file an inexpensive patent caveat with the patent office to prevent others from patenting the same or similar idea until the caveat holder filed a full patent later.
For the patent caveat to remain in effect, it was necessary to renew it yearly.
Meucci filed patent caveat renewals in 1872 and 1873, each containing an acknowledgment of improvements.
In December 1874, Antonio Meucci’s patent caveat expired.
“I had no more means to pay [the caveat], and I couldn’t find anybody willing to give me anything, because they did not believe in my invention. I asked other persons for the money, but they told me that it was not convenient to spend more money to renew the caveat,” Meucci said in future court testimony.
On March 7, 1876, Alexander Graham Bell was granted US Patent No. 174,465 for his invention of the telephone, to which Antonio Meucci reportedly reacted with anger and frustration.
On Oct. 5, 1885, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Judge William J. Wallace presided over the court case of “American Bell Telephone Company and others vs. the People’s Telephone Company and others.”
Wallace oversaw several lawsuits challenging Bell’s telephone patent.
Antonio Meucci, who testified as a witness for the People’s Telephone Company and the Globe Telephone Company, both of which were competitors of the American Bell Telephone Company, asserted his claim that he was the inventor of the electric-speaking telephone before Alexander Graham Bell obtained his patent.
Meucci’s hand drawings and sketches of his teletrofono and patent caveat showed his telephone could transmit voice signals over a distance.
He cited an 1861 article in the New York Italian newspaper, L’Eco d’Italia, which mentioned his invention; however, the newspaper’s and Meucci’s copy was lost in a fire, so he testified about the article from memory.
Meucci said that in 1872, he had asked Edward B. Grant, the American District Telegraph Company vice president in New York, to test his telephone instruments on their telegraph lines.
“I told Mr. Grant I had an invention for talking over a wire that I called a sound telegraph. He promised to furnish me with the wires and the lines to try my instruments,” Meucci testified in court.
If tested successfully, Meucci could obtain the money to pursue a full patent.
Grant requested Meucci’s patent caveat papers, drawings, and instrument [telephone] descriptions, which Meucci provided.
Meucci said that after nearly two years of delays, Grant told him “he had lost the papers and would have nothing to do with it.”
In court, Meucci presented several witness testimonials and affidavits to support his assertion that he invented the first telephone. However, the court dismissed their testimonies as unreliable and inconsistent.
In the court’s opinion, the testimonials and evidence presented were not convincing and did not prove Meucci invented the telephone before Bell.
The court ruled Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone patent was valid and enforceable.
It also cited Meucci’s contribution: “There is enough for us to say that no one denies him that credit for originality of conception.”
Antonio Meucci died at 81 Oct. 18, 1889.
“He died in the full belief of the priority of his claim as inventor of the telephone, which, during the lucid intervals of his sickness, he declared must be recognized sooner or later,” the New York Herald wrote Oct. 19, 1889.
On June 11, 2002, the US House of Representatives passed House Resolution 269, recognizing Antonio Meucci for developing a telephone to transmit speech electrically over wires.
“That it is the sense of the House of Representatives that the life and achievements of Antonio Meucci should be recognized, and his work in the invention of the telephone should be acknowledged,” states part of the resolution.
The full 2002 House Resolution 269 can be read at https://tinyurl.com/2002Meucci.
While writing these last two columns, I sifted through various sources, including Sandra Meucci’s book “Antonio and the Electric Scream: The Man Who Invented the Telephone.”
Imagine if Antonio Meucci had renewed his patent caveat in 1874, continued his research, and obtained a full patent.
We may have called it the Meucci Telephone System instead of the Bell Telephone System.
Was Antonio Meucci the inventor of the first telephone?
Elisha Gray, Charles Bourseul, and Johann Philipp Reis are also recognized for their contributions to the development of the telephone, but the controversy over who invented it persists.
Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone patent can be seen here: https://tinyurl.com/BytesBell.
Antonio Meucci’s home on Staten Island is now a museum featuring documentation and a showcase model of his invention, the telettrofono, which can be viewed at https://tinyurl.com/BytesMeucci.
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| Antonio Meucci's 1871 Caveat |
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| Artist Nestor Corradi's illustration of Meucci’s “telettrofono” telephone, depicting two people communicating over a wire. Each is holding a transmitter and a receiver. |
