On the History of Telecommunication: Patents, Disputes and Rivalries that Shaped the Modern Telecommunication Industry

From the smoke signals of Africa to the futuristic thought based mode of communication, the present research surveys an era covering hundreds of years of development that assisted mankind to overcome barriers of long distance communication. The research is conducted through the eyes of patents highlighting landmark inventions that shaped the modern telecommunication industry. Clearly, the later day inventors stood on the shoulders of their predecessors to develop their innovations. Patent laws that denied Samuel Morse a patent for his telegraph in the European market and the benevolence of Nikola Tesla to allow Guglielmo Marconi to use his radio patents thus costing Tesla to die in abject poverty are only some of the findings of the current research.