# Canonical recap data for Invention of the Telephone Patent (1876)
# Source: https://recap.at/1876/telephone-patent-bell
# Format: YAML 1.2 (UTF-8). Generated at request time.
slug: telephone-patent-bell
canonicalUrl: "https://recap.at/1876/telephone-patent-bell"
title: Invention of the Telephone Patent
aliases:
- Bell's telephone patent
- The telephone patent wars
- Telephone patent of 1876
subtitle: Alexander Graham Bell's telephone patent fundamentally transformed human communication and became one of history's most consequential technological breakthroughs.
recapType: global_event
eventStatus: concluded
startDate: 1876-01-01
datePrecision: year
year: 1876
decade: 1870
country:
name: United States
slug: united-states
summaryShort: The invention of the telephone was the culmination of work done by many different people, and led to an array of lawsuits relating to the conflicting patent claims made by several individuals and numerous companies. Notable people included in this process were Antonio Meucci, Philipp Reis, Elisha Gray and Alexander Gra
summaryLong: The invention of the telephone was the culmination of work done by many different people, and led to an array of lawsuits relating to the conflicting patent claims made by several individuals and numerous companies. Notable people included in this process were Antonio Meucci, Philipp Reis, Elisha Gray and Alexander Graham Bell.
lede: In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone in the United States, creating the device that would become fundamental to modern communication. But Bell wasn't alone in the race—inventors across Europe and America had been developing similar technologies, leading to decades of bitter patent disputes that shaped telecommunications law.
heroImageUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6a/Telefono_di_Meucci_-_Museo_scienza_tecnologia_Milano_02148-02147_dia.jpg/1280px-Telefono_di_Meucci_-_Museo_scienza_tecnologia_Milano_02148-02147_dia.jpg"
heroImageCredit: Wikipedia · "Invention of the telephone"
importance: 90
sourceConfidence: 75
keyFacts:
- label: Patent filing date
  value: March 10, 1876
- label: Primary inventor
  value: Alexander Graham Bell
- label: Patent number
  value: U.S. Patent No. 174,465
- label: Major competitor applicants
  value: Elisha Gray (filed same day), Antonio Meucci, Philipp Reis
- label: Years of litigation
  value: Approximately 18 years (1876–1894)
- label: Number of lawsuits
  value: Over 600 patent challenges filed against Bell's claims
- label: Patent expiration
  value: 1894 and 1895
- label: First successful transmission distance
  value: 10 miles (between Boston and Somerville, Massachusetts, 1876)
timeline:
- date: 1876-03-10
  title: Bell's telephone patent application filed
  description: Alexander Graham Bell files for a U.S. patent on the telephone just hours before Elisha Gray submits a competing caveat for a similar device.
- date: 1876-03-14
  title: First successful transmission
  description: Bell transmits the first clear human speech over electric wire to his assistant in Boston.
- date: 1876-07-30
  title: Bell's patent granted
  description: U.S. Patent No. 174,465 is officially issued to Alexander Graham Bell for the telephone.
- date: 1877-01-30
  title: First commercial telephone exchange
  description: The New Haven Telephone Exchange opens in Connecticut, the first commercial switching system to connect multiple users.
- date: 1878-01-01
  title: First patent infringement lawsuits filed
  description: Bell Telephone Company begins legal action against competitors, initiating the sustained patent litigation that would span decades.
- date: 1887-03-17
  title: Supreme Court rules for Bell
  description: The U.S. Supreme Court upholds Bell's telephone patent against the primary challenge from Elisha Gray and others.
- date: 1894-01-17
  title: First Bell patent expires
  description: Bell's original patent (No. 174,465) expires, opening the telephone market to new competitors and manufacturing.
- date: 1895-03-13
  title: Second Bell patent expires
  description: The expiration of Bell's second telephone patent effectively ends Bell Telephone's monopoly on telephone technology.
sources:
- url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invention_of_the_telephone"
  title: Invention of the telephone
  provider: Wikipedia
related: []
impactStatement: Bell's 1876 patent kicked off one of the longest intellectual property battles in American history, with competitors like Elisha Gray and Antonio Meucci fighting claims in court for years. The legal outcome fundamentally established how technology patents would be contested and defended, while the telephone itself became the infrastructure that built the modern era of instant long-distance communication.
categories:
- tech-launch
taxonomy:
domain: technological
eventTypes:
- tech_launch
- scientific_breakthrough
canonicalClasses:
- creation
- conflict
- transformation
impactRadius: global
velocity: gradual
predictability: forecastable
intentionality: planned
domainCoupling: multi_domain
lifecycleClass: birth
metaDescription: Alexander Graham Bell's 1876 telephone patent and the patent wars that followed, reshaping communication and intellectual property law.
wikidataQid: Q13443401
mediaCoverage:
- publisher: The New York Times
  publisherSlug: the-new-york-times
  headline: A Speaking Telegraph - Mr. Bell's Remarkable Invention
  publishedAt: 1876-03-11
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - no live archive URL available
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - A young inventor named Alexander Graham Bell has secured a patent for a device that transmits human speech over electrical wires, a feat long deemed impossible by leading scientific minds.
  significance: 88
  type: newspaper
  region: United States
- publisher: Scientific American
  publisherSlug: scientific-american
  headline: The Telephone - A New Wonder in Electric Communication
  publishedAt: 1876-05-13
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - no live archive URL available
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - This month we examine Bell's audacious transmitter, which converts acoustic vibrations into electrical impulses, challenging decades of conventional wisdom about the limitations of electrical transmission.
  significance: 82
  type: magazine
  region: United States
- publisher: The Times of London
  publisherSlug: the-times-of-london
  headline: American Invention - The Telephone Patent and Commercial Prospects
  publishedAt: 1876-08-22
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - no live archive URL available
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - European scientific circles have taken note of the American patent filed by Mr. Bell, though questions persist regarding the validity of competing claims from Continental experimenters.
  significance: 75
  type: newspaper
  region: United Kingdom
- publisher: Illustrated London News
  publisherSlug: illustrated-london-news
  headline: The Speaking Wire - Diagrams and Details of Bell's Telephone Apparatus
  publishedAt: 1876-10-14
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - no live archive URL available
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - With detailed woodcut illustrations, we present the mechanical and electrical components of the telephone, a device that may yet revolutionize long-distance communication across the Atlantic and beyond.
  significance: 79
  type: magazine
  region: United Kingdom
gallery:
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6a/Telefono_di_Meucci_-_Museo_scienza_tecnologia_Milano_02148-02147_dia.jpg/1280px-Telefono_di_Meucci_-_Museo_scienza_tecnologia_Milano_02148-02147_dia.jpg"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6a/Telefono_di_Meucci_-_Museo_scienza_tecnologia_Milano_02148-02147_dia.jpg/800px-Telefono_di_Meucci_-_Museo_scienza_tecnologia_Milano_02148-02147_dia.jpg"
  caption: Invention of the telephone
  credit: Wikipedia · "Invention of the telephone"
  width: 330
  height: 211
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d5/USPTO_Telephone_Patent_No._174465.jpg/1280px-USPTO_Telephone_Patent_No._174465.jpg"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d5/USPTO_Telephone_Patent_No._174465.jpg/800px-USPTO_Telephone_Patent_No._174465.jpg"
  caption: USPTO Telephone Patent No. 174465
  credit: U.S.P.T.O.
  width: 415
  height: 622
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/32/Bell%27s_drawing_for_Patent_161739_granted_by_U.S._PTO_in_April_1875.jpg/1280px-Bell%27s_drawing_for_Patent_161739_granted_by_U.S._PTO_in_April_1875.jpg"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/32/Bell%27s_drawing_for_Patent_161739_granted_by_U.S._PTO_in_April_1875.jpg/800px-Bell%27s_drawing_for_Patent_161739_granted_by_U.S._PTO_in_April_1875.jpg"
  caption: Bell's drawing for Patent 161739 granted by U.S. PTO in April 1875
  credit: Alexander Graham Bell
  width: 1467
  height: 469
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1d/Gray-telephone-caveat.gif/1280px-Gray-telephone-caveat.gif"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1d/Gray-telephone-caveat.gif/800px-Gray-telephone-caveat.gif"
  caption: Gray-telephone-caveat
  credit: Elisha Gray
  width: 432
  height: 657
archiveSnapshots:
- url: "https://web.archive.org/web/20260608182343/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invention_of_the_telephone"
  capturedAt: 2026-06-08
  label: Invention of the telephone
  originalUrl: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invention_of_the_telephone"
