Ford made a bold move that broke a patent which controlled America's entire auto industry

Over 100 years ago, Ford fought a quiet battle over a patent that would’ve potentially changed the course of automotive history.

Back then, a man most people have never heard of filed a patent that was so broad it potentially applied to any and every car built.

Translated, this meant that anyone who built a car would have had to seek permission and pay royalties.

Ford fought a lengthy legal battle and ultimately won only on a technicality.

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The reason why this patent potentially applied to all cars

In 1879, patent attorney George B. Selden filed an application for a ‘road engine’ – a concept so broad that, if you squint, it could cover nearly any automobile.

Selden never built a working car, but the patent described a motorized carriage powered by an internal combustion engine: i.e., a car.

In the late 1880s, cars were as rare as hen’s teeth.

No major manufacturer other than Mercedes had built a working car, and no one was really building cars in America at the time, so no one paid any attention for a while.

But then Ford stepped into the arena.

And when the American automaker began building cars, Selden decided it was time to cash in.

Ford argued that Selden had only filed a patent for an idea, not a product, and you can’t ‘own’ an idea.

So he ignored the patent and he kept building cars.

Selden sued him, backed by the Association of Licensed Automobile Manufacturers (ALAM).

Ford never stopped production, even as the legal battle dragged on for years.

How Ford eventually won

Ford initially lost in court, but he appealed immediately, gathering experts to see if there were technical details he could exploit.

As it turns out, they did find something.

Selden’s patent described a compression engine invented by one George Brayton, a type of engine that was already outdated at the time, and had very little to do with four-stroke engines that Ford was using for the Model T, the Model A and so on.

Ford eventually won.

Had he not decided to fight, maybe today we’d have Selden cars everywhere, and the Selden family would be the richest family in the world.

Or maybe automakers would’ve given up on cars altogether.

Fortunately, automotive history took a different turn.