We are now approaching the climax of our story of the sewing machine, as we’ve covered its invention, its patenting, and the rise of the first patent thicket — the Sewing Machine War. How did this patent thicket come to an end? The answer to this question is in the title to this post.
By the mid-1850s, sewing machine firms were spending all of their time, money and energy in patent litigation, and, as a result, the sewing machine was languishing as a commercial product. The situation demanded a solution, and this solution came from an unlikely source: an attorney, Orlando B. Potter, who was heavily involved in the Sewing Machine War representing a prominent sewing machine manufacturer, Grover & Baker, of which he was also President. Potter