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Has anyone had any experience in researching the patents issued to the Packard Motor Car Company in the late 1940s and early 1950s by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office? I am planning to visit their offices in the coming months and would appreciate any advice and guidance from someone who has done similar patent research.

I had an article on this topic published by PAC some years back (Spring 2000 issue, The Packard Cormorant); it was really an effort to whet the appetite of a more professional researcher which, alas, never happened to my knowledge. Its basis were the patents (most but not all assigned to Packard) listed on the 1947 vehicle patent plate.

As I've noted before, it's an untapped treasure trove of history, go for it! Send me a PM with your email for a copy if you don't have the original publication.

Actually o-d, my good friend jeff from m.a.p. who posted the branson national topic has! it was a presentation that he made at one of our first two regional meets we held. he dose not spend much time on here, and i don't seem to have a good # for him at the moment. are either of you going to be at branson? i don't remember the other posts well. if so, i'll try to get you together with him so you can ask questions.

Where was Jeff's work published? Or was it just a presentation and no record of it kept? I'd very much enjoy seeing it. Sorry, I'll not be at Branson.

it was just a presentation he gave at the time. lots of realy cool stuff. it was not long after that that he moove out to the east coast, and i lost track of him. i didn't even know he was back here in mo untill i saw his post on the branson national. when i see him i'll see if i can find out how much his research progressed.

Hi guys, to respond to GreenDragon's post, I have done much USPTO research, but let's face it - with Packard you are looking at an enormous task. They had sooo many patents issued. I do remember your article, Russell, and enjoyed it very much. I figued more would be uncovered, but I haven't heard any rumbling out there.

I did do a program for our club, but it morphed into a complete overview of Packard's SAE papers. Some years later I was urged to go ahead and write it up for The Packard Cormorant, which I did. It was published a couple of years ago. What's funny, not one comment was heard either good or bad. <crickets chirping>

There is indeed a wealth of information out there, if one is ready for the work. I think I will have to wait on this one till I am retired, but I am planning to narrow the focus for upcoming research: the patents of Bill Allison, the inventor of Torsion-Level. He was a very prolific engineer before, during and after Packard, filing with the USPTO as late as the 90s just prior to his passing. I would like to interview his surviving family, and try to get the essence of the man on paper, but I am not sure who to turn to for that.

Jeff

(see y'all in Branson in 2 weeks!)

Thanks for updating the thread Jeff! after our chat the other night, i'm seriously considering the patent chase. i'm thinking however about going after the v/8 years first. since the id plates on these cars have no pto #'s on them like the older cars. any imput on this line of thought from the rest of p'info?

Not complicated, conduct a search on all U.S.patents assigned to Packard Motor Car Company and Studebaker-Packard Corporation, and then just cull those whose filing date fits the period you're interested in. You won't catch those patents however that were used in Packard cars that were licensed or cross-licensed from others, as was pretty common in the industry.