World Patent Information 28 (2006) 159–165

www.elsevier.com/locate/worpatin

Albert Einstein’s patents

Matthew Trainer
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Glasgow, Kelvin Building, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK

Abstract

This paper presents a review and description of the patents of the 20th century scientist and philosopher Albert Einstein. The patents
produced in collaboration with very prolific inventors cover the period of 1928–1936. Einstein’s patents included refrigerators, electro-
magnetic pumps, sound reproduction apparatus and light intensity self-adjusting cameras. This paper illustrates that patents are a valu-
able source of information for constructing historical profiles of Einstein’s colleagues. The paper concludes that the 20th century theories
of Einstein continue to be an exceptionally valuable source of patentable ideas.
Ó 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Albert Einstein; Patent survey; Szilard; Goldschmidt; Bucky; Jakob Einstein; Refrigeration; Electromagnetic pumps; Sound reproduction;
Cameras; Historical review

1. Introduction torate dissertation ‘A new determination of molecular

All scientists and engineers are familiar with Albert Ein-
stein, particularly with his theories of relativity, the photo-
electric effect and energy equivalence. He was one of the
most well-known and successful scientists of the 20th cen-
tury with numerous scientific papers to his name. However,
it is not widely known that Einstein was an inventor and
produced a number of patents in at least seven countries.
Born in Ulm, Germany in 1879, Einstein went on to
become a student of mathematics in the Swiss Federal
Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich from 1896 to
1900. In June 1902 he took up the post of patent examiner
(third class) at the patent office in Bern, Switzerland and
held this post for seven years until 1909 [1]. Scientifically,
this was the most prolific period of his life and 1905 is
now known as his ‘miraculous year’. In 1905 Einstein pub-
lished four papers in the German journal Annalen der
Physik that would change the world of physics dramati-
cally. These papers covered the special theory of relativity,
the inertia of energy, the theory of Brownian motion and
the law of the photoelectric effect. He also submitted a doc-
E-mail address: m.trainer@physics.gla.ac.uk
dimensions’ to the University of Zurich [2].
In 1912 Einstein was appointed Professor of Theoretical
Physics at the ETH until 1914 when he was offered the post
of Professor of Physics in the Humboldt University of
Berlin and also full membership of the prestigious Prussian
Academy of Sciences. In 1915 he published his general
theory of relativity that gave physics its definitive theory
of gravitation [3]. As a measure of his phenomenal success,
Professor Einstein was awarded the 1921 Nobel Prize in
Physics for his work on photoelectricity.
Most certainly Einstein’s experience in the Bern Patent
Office gave him a great deal of expertise in this profession
and he must have been well aware of the potential benefits
of the patent system. From about 1926 he formed partner-
ships with various very enterprising persons in an attempt
to make full use of the patent system. Einstein was well
aware that his inventions needed legal protection not only
in Germany but also in other industrialized nations. He
also appeared as a technical expert in patent disputes [4].
However, the tumultuous politics of Germany in 1933
made life very difficult for Einstein and in that year he left
Germany and arrived in the UK. In October of that year he
took up a post in the Institute for Advanced Study, Prince-
ton, New Jersey, USA. Einstein lived in Princeton for the
remainder of his life.

0172-2190/$ - see front matter Ó 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.wpi.2005.10.012
160 M. Trainer / World Patent Information 28 (2006) 159–165

During his career he made significant contributions to

the science of photoelectricity, gravity, dynamics and rela-
tivity. He was particularly good at using his scientific skills
to create new theories. The aim of this paper is to survey
and assess Einstein’s patented inventions and to build
historical profiles of his partners in order to establish their
influence on his activity in this area.

2. Albert Einstein’s patents

Einstein and his partnerships produced a number of pat-

ents that were published during the period of 1928–1936.
For convenience these may be classified under two head-
ings: those published in non-German languages and those
in the German language. These are described in the follow-
ing sections.

2.1. Non-German language patents

Einstein obtained patents in France, Great Britain,

Hungary and the USA. Table 1 shows the year of publica-
tion, patent number and description of his inventions with
Leo Szilard and Gustav Bucky. From Table 1, the patents
were mainly in the area of domestic refrigeration. In the
USA, Kelvinator had launched the domestic mechanical
compressor-type refrigerator in 1918 and by 1935 manufac-
tured 1.7 million units [5]. However, in Europe in the 1930s
the situation was quite different for domestic refrigerators
were rare. Possibly, Einstein and Szilard visualized a prom-
ising market here.
The Einstein–Szilard refrigerator (US1781541,
GB282428) was an absorption refrigerator [6] and is shown
in Fig. 1. It was derived from the absorption refrigeration
system devised by the Swedes Baltazar Carl von Platen
and Carl George Munters (US1685764, GB250983) that
was manufactured by Electrolux from 1931. The important
innovations in their refrigerators were non-moving parts by
elimination of the pump, silent operation and reliability.
However, the Einstein–Szilard refrigerator used ammonia
as a medium in the refrigerating process. By 1933 chloroflu-
orocarbons (CFCs) refrigerants marketed as freons entered
Fig. 1. Einstein–Szilard refrigerator (refer to patent number GB282428).
the scene as non-toxic replacements for ammonia in
domestic refrigerators. The Kinetic Chemicals Inc., Dela-
ware originally developed these [5]. None of the Einstein–
Szilard refrigerator designs reached domestic consumers
despite the fact that the US patent was purchased by the
Electrolux Servel Corporation of New York (refer to
US1781541).
The most useful invention of the Einstein–Szilard col-
laboration was the Einstein–Szilard electromagnetic pump
[7]. This was designed for circulating liquid metals as cool-
ants (GB303065) and is shown in Fig. 2. In 1928, the AEG
(Allgemeine Elektrizitats-Gesellschaft) built a prototype
and exhibited it at the Leipzig trade fair but it was rather
noisy. Later in the 1950s the Einstein–Szilard pump was

Table 1
Patents of Einstein published in non-German language countries
Date Patent number Description
1/12/1928 FR647838a Refrigerating machine with pumping of liquid effected by intermittently increasing the vapour pressure
28/11/1929 FR670428a Refrigerating machine
15/11/1928 GB282428a Improvements relating to refrigerating apparatus
1929: not accepted GB282808a Refrigerating machine with pumping of liquid effected by intermittently increasing the vapour pressure
1929: not accepted GB284222a Refrigerating machine with organic solvent
26/5/1930 GB303065a Electrodynamic movement of fluid metals particularly for refrigerating machines
9/3/1931 GB344881a Pump especially for refrigerating machines
5/12/1929 HU102079a Refrigerator
11/11/1930 US1781541a Refrigeration
27/10/1936 US2058562b Light intensity self-adjusting camera
Patent country of origin: FR, France; GB, Great Britain; HU, Hungary; US, USA.
a
Patent with Leo Szilard.
b
Patent with Gustav Bucky.
 M. Trainer / World Patent Information 28 (2006) 159–165
Fig. 2. Einstein–Szilard electromagnetic pump (refer to patent number
GB303065).
utilised in the nuclear industry for cooling experimental
breeder reactors. However, fabrication problems hindered
the full development of this type of pump [8].
Surprisingly, Einstein seems to have produced only one
patent utilising the photoelectric effect, an area in which he
had developed the definitive theory and received a Nobel
Prize. This was the patent for a light intensity self-adjusting
camera with Gustav Bucky (US2058562) and is shown in
Fig. 3. The invention consisted of a camera with a photo-
cell (Weston photronic photoelectric cell) and a celluloid
161
Fig. 3. Einstein–Bucky self-adjusting camera (refer to patent number
US2058562).
screen of varying penetrability to light, activated by a
mechanism such as is found in photometers (Weston,
US2016469). It is not known if the joint invention was
actually manufactured but Bucky himself continued to pro-
duce a number of patents for automated camera devices,
no doubt of considerable use in his medical fields.
2.2. German language patents
Einstein lived in German language countries for the
greater part of his life and consequently, a significant pro-
portion of his patents were published in German. Patents
for his inventions were issued in Austria, Germany and
Switzerland. Table 2 shows the year of publication, patent
number and description of his inventions with Leo Szilard
and Rudolf Goldschmidt. The patents for refrigerators are
mainly the German language equivalent of those granted in
Table 1. For example, the patent design for an electromag-
netic pump for the pumping of fluid metals in refrigeration
systems was included in a number of patents (DE554959,
AT133386, CH140217, GB303065).
Einstein diversified his interests when he produced a pat-
ent for electromagnetic sound reproduction apparatus with
Rudolf Goldschmidt (DE590783) in 1934. The design is
shown in Fig. 4 and works on fairly basic electromagnetic
principles. Goldschmidt had already produced a number of
patents for developments in electromagnetic sound repro-
ducing devices and continued to do so for many years.
During the early years of the 1930s there was intense inter-
est in developing the mass media technologies of radio
broadcasting, telephony, sound motion picture, sound
recording, reproduction and amplification.
162 M. Trainer / World Patent Information 28 (2006) 159–165

Table 2
Patents of Einstein published in German language countries
Date Patent number Description
a
26/5/1933 AT133386 Condenser for refrigerator
16/8/1930 CH140217a Refrigerator
27/7/1933 DE554959a Apparatus for movements of fluid metals in refrigerators
28/7/1933 DE555413a Pumps especially for refrigerators
16/9/1933 DE556535a Pumps especially for refrigerators
13/4/1933 DE561904a Refrigerator
20/9/1933 DE562040a Electromagnetic appliance for generating oscillatory motion
8/4/1933 DE562300a Refrigerator
30/5/1933 DE563403a Refrigerator
4/7/1933 DE565614a Compressor
10/1/1934 DE590783b Electromagnetic sound reproduction apparatus
Patent country of origin: AT, Austria; CH, Switzerland; DE, Germany.
a
Patent with Leo Szilard.
b
Patent with Rudolf Goldschmidt.

sensitive cell and was published in Germany in 1924

(DE399056). His next patents, as assignor to Siemens, were
for improvements to electric discharge tubes, an area of
intense interest in Europe (DE504545, GB242997) and
the USA (US1715874, US1697210). Osram would define
the features of the modern electric discharge lamp in
1933 with the introduction of the OsiraTM lamp.
In 1926, Einstein formed a working partnership with
Szilard that lasted for about seven years. Szilard left Ger-
many in 1933 and arrived in London. This would initiate
a period of fruitful invention. For in 1933 he conceived
the idea of a nuclear chain reaction for the generation of
power and the production of radioactive isotopes [9]. In
1934 he filed his application for a patent on the nuclear
chain reaction. Szilard’s patent specification ‘Improvements
in or relating to the Transmutation of Chemical Elements’
(GB630726) was accepted in 1936 but was withheld from
publication under Section 30 of the Patents and Designs
Act 1907–1932 (see patent specification). It was finally
published in 1949 after being classified for 13 years. In this
patent Szilard defined the concept of the critical thickness,
which is analogous to critical mass. In the patent he
described a nuclear reactor that consisted of a sphere of a
chain-reacting element and cooling tubes containing water
or liquid metal for the extraction of heat to produce electric
power. In 1938 he moved to Columbia University, New
York. In 1955, Szilard and the Italian physicist Enrico
Fermi, as assignors to the US Atomic Energy Commission,
Fig. 4. Einstein–Goldschmidt sound reproduction device (refer to patent were awarded a patent for a nuclear reactor (US2708656).
number DE590783). Throughout his life Szilard published numerous patents.
The author located 69 patents within seven countries
(AT, CH, DE, FR, GB, HU, US) published between
3. Einstein’s partners in invention 1924 and 1961.

3.1. Leo Szilard 3.2. Rudolf Goldschmidt

In 1920, the Hungarian born Leo Szilard (1898–1964) The German born Dr. Ing Rudolf Goldschmidt was
registered as a physics student in the University of Berlin. a lifelong prolific inventor with a considerable number
He was an enthusiastic student and in 1922 received a doc- of patents to his name. He produced his first patents for
torate in physics. Szilard’s first patent was for an X-ray bicycle gears (GB189721405, CH15310) while still an
 M. Trainer / World Patent Information 28 (2006) 159–165
electrical engineering student in Darmstadt, Germany in
1898. After graduation it appears that he worked for
Crampton & Co. Ltd., Arc Works, Chelmsford, England
from about 1903 to 1905 and produced four patents for
alternating current machines (GB190415616). It is certain
that he worked as a lecturer in the Darmstadt Technical
High School (TH) and submitted a doctorate dissertation
on calculation of leakage currents in induction motors in
1906. In 1899 the TH Darmstadt was granted the right to
award doctorates. From 1910 he published patents on
improvements in wireless telegraphy and telephony and
eventually his work took him to Berlin in 1912. From
about 1921 to 1927 he was an assignor to a Danish com-
pany and worked on rotary motion systems for aircraft
resulting in a number of US patents (flying machine,
US1431111). He met Einstein in Berlin and their partner-
ship produced the patent for electromagnetic sound repro-
duction apparatus (DE590783). Goldschmidt was very
active in the early 1930s in producing patents for sound
reproduction apparatus, especially diaphragms for tele-
phones and loudspeakers (GB321395, GB366962).
Goldschmidt arrived in London, England in 1934 thus
avoiding the tumultuous politics of Germany. However,
this did not stop him from inventing. He became part of
the war effort and in 1939 published patents on deicing
equipment for aircraft (GB505433). He appears to have
moved to Sheffield around 1940 and from his patents,
worked on improvements in percussion tools. From about
1947 to 1952 he worked with the Birmingham Small Arms
Company (BSA) and produced patents on electric genera-
tors specifically for motorcycles. It is astonishing that this
historical profile of Rudolf Goldschmidt, a colleague of
Einstein, has been almost totally derived from patent infor-
mation. For Rudolf Goldschmidt, the author located 121
patents covering eight countries (AT, CH, DE, DK, FR,
GB, HU) from 1898 to 1952.
3.3. Gustav Bucky
When Einstein met Dr. Gustav Bucky he was a New
York physician and specialist in radiology, with consider-
able expertise in the construction of X-ray machines [10].
Gustav Peter Bucky (1880–1963) was born in Leipzig,
Table 3
Patents of Jakob Einstein (J. Einstein & Co.) published in German language countries
Date Patent number
a
30/8/1890 CH2131
31/12/1886 DE41824b
30/11/1889 DE53207
26/2/1890 DE53546a
21/11/1889 DE53846a
23/2/1890 DE60361a
10/10/1893 DE74429
Patent country of origin: CH, Switzerland; DE, Germany.
a
Patent with Sebastian Kornprobst.
b
Patent with J.A. Essberger.
163
Germany. He received his medical training in Leipzig Uni-
versity and in 1910 became a specialist in radiology in the
Rudolf Virchow hospital in Berlin. In projection radiogra-
phy, scattered X-rays impair the contrast in the radio-
graphic image. A reduction in the effects of scattered
radiation can be achieved by using absorbing grids. In
1913, Bucky published his findings describing a cross-
hatched lead grid, which reduced scatter significantly over
a large area [11]. As well as in Germany, he was granted
patents for his Bucky grid in Austria (AT69575B), the
UK (GB191407788) and the USA (US1164987). In 1923,
he immigrated to the USA and worked in the radiological
departments of various New York clinics. During 1928–
1929 he obtained patents for X-ray tubes (US1679332,
US1708494) capable of emitting low energy or soft X-rays.
These were used for the treatment of skin disorders and
were called grenz rays. In 1930, Bucky returned to Berlin
as director of radiology in the Rudolf Kirchow hospital.
Eventually, because of the political situation in
Germany in 1933, he returned to New York. During the
1930s and 40s he obtained patents for automatic camera
systems (US2239379, US2422077). Gustav Bucky pub-
lished many scientific papers and produced numerous pat-
ents. A patent search located 45 of his patents covering six
countries (AT, CH, DE, FR, GB, US) published from 1913
to 1953.
4. Early influences on Einstein
4.1. Jakob Einstein in Munich
Einstein’s uncle Jakob and father Hermann formed a
partnership, J. Einstein & Co. in Munich in 1885 for the
production of electrical equipment. In 1877 a general
patent system had been introduced in Germany and was
designed to encourage inventive activity amongst small to
medium sized companies [12]. Jakob Einstein saw the
possibilities of enterprise in the electrical industry and pro-
duced at least seven patents during the period 1886–1893.
Table 3 shows the date of publication, patent number
and description of the inventions. The main emphasis
was on improvements to electric arc lamps and develop-
ments in the metering of electricity. Their small factory
Description
New electrical measuring and registering apparatus
Improvements in electric arc lamps
Automatic circuit breaker for electric arc lamps
Apparatus for stabilising irregular indicator movement in electric meter displays
Improvements to electric measurement apparatus
Spring-loaded friction wheel
Control of carbonisation in electric arc lamps
164 M. Trainer / World Patent Information 28 (2006) 159–165
initially concentrated on the manufacture of dynamos and
later they set up an electrical distribution station [12]. How-
ever, the amount of capital required to finance electrical
power generation was considerable and the company failed
in 1894. They were unable to compete with the giants in the
German electrical industry, Siemans & Halske and the
AEG (General Electric Company) [13]. So here we clearly
see a definite connection between invention and patents
and their direct application to industry in the Einstein
family.
4.2. The Bern Patent Office, Switzerland
In Switzerland before 1888 there was no patent system
and a great deal of hostility by businessmen and industrial-
ists to such a system. Nevertheless, the Central Bureau of
the International Union for the Protection of Industrial
Property was entrusted to Bern and Switzerland being a
member was under obligation to get its own patent system
[14]. Finally, in 1888, Switzerland got its rather controver-
sial patent law. When applying for a patent for mechanical
inventions, models were mandatory and chemical processes
were totally excluded. Germany, a major competitor, felt
displeasure at the Swiss industrialists’ free use of foreign
chemical inventions.
By 1907 pressure from other industrialized nations,
specifically the Big Four (United States, Great Britain,
Germany and Austria—Hungary) compelled Switzerland
to amend its patent law. The model clause was removed
and patent protection was extended to chemical processes
but there were still whole classes of inventions that could
not be patented [14].
Such was the situation when Einstein worked in the
Bern Patent Office; a time of radical change in Swiss patent
law. His job was to make a preliminary assessment of the
submitted inventions and put the applications for patents
into a clearly defined form. In 1905, Einstein’s most pro-
ductive year as a creative physicist, about 1100 patents
were granted to Swiss nationals by the Bern Patent Office.
By the time he left the patent office in 1909 this had risen to
about 1500 [14].
5. Einstein’s theories in the 21st century
During the years that Einstein was producing patents he
kept this activity separate from his academic work for
unfortunately he did not publish any scientific papers on
the theory of refrigeration. His partners were very different
in this respect for many of their patents were closely
connected to their experimental work published in scientific
journals. Einstein’s value to the scientist, inventor and pat-
entee of the 21st century is in his scientific theories. For
example, an online search of patents issued by the US
Patent and Trademark Office [15] from 1976 to May 2005
using the keyword ‘‘photoelectric effect’’ yielded 890 pat-
ents. The patents included optoelectronic semiconductor
devices, image sensors, endoscopes, electron microscopes
and cameras utilising electro-active lens systems.
Also, there is considerable interest in the exciting devel-
opments of gravitational sciences in the 21st century. Ein-
stein had initiated the modern theory of gravity in 1915
with the publication of his general theory of relativity [3].
In the mid 20th century astronomical discoveries and
experiments driven by new technology pushed general rel-
ativity and gravity into the forefront. Towards the end of
the 20th century considerable capital was invested in the
technology for the detection of gravitational waves. In
the USA from 1994 to 2001, the National Science Founda-
tion contributed $292 million (construction costs) plus $79
million (commissioning) to the LIGO (Laser Interferome-
ter Gravitational Wave Observatory) project [16]. It is
conceivable that there will be a considerable number of
exciting inventions and patents derived from the spin-off
technologies in this area.
6. Conclusions
Most of Einstein’s patents are of historical interest as
early 20th century developments of absorption refrigera-
tion apparatus. Other more significant advances, specifi-
cally in the production of freons, superseded his
refrigerant system. Einstein and Szilard made very little
impact in the development of domestic refrigerators. How-
ever, the Einstein–Szilard electromagnetic pump was used
for the circulation of liquid metal coolants in the nuclear
industry.
Einstein’s scientific theories continue to be a consistent
source of patents with an expectation of exceptional fru-
ition particularly in the spin-off areas of gravitational
science in the early decades of the 21st century.
Search methodology
For online access to the patents of Albert Einstein and
his colleagues the author recommends the European Patent
Office (esp@cenetÒ) [17] and the German Patent Office
(DEPATISnet) [18]. Additional material may be obtained
from the US Patent and Trademark Office [15], the UK
Patent Office [19] and the Hungarian Patent Office
(PIPACS) [20].
Acknowledgements
The author gratefully acknowledges the University of
Glasgow library for access to publications related to
Einstein. The author acknowledges that the illustrations
were derived from patent information from the European,
British, German and US Patent Offices. The author redrew,
shaded and labelled the diagrams to clarify the component
parts of the inventions. This paper was written as participa-
tion in the centenary of Einstein’s miraculous year 1905.
 M. Trainer / World Patent Information 28 (2006) 159–165
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Matthew Trainer has a Master of Philosophy
degree in physical sciences from the University of
Edinburgh. He is presently involved in the physics
teaching laboratories of the Department of
Physics and Astronomy, Kelvin Building, Uni-
versity of Glasgow. Subjects covered in the
laboratories include nuclear physics, cryogenics,
modern optics and high frequency electronics.
The author has a keen interest in the life and
inventions of Kelvin and has published articles on
his scientific works.