The Chronograph of Inventions

September 8

  • In 1930, Scotch tape was developed by Richard G. Drew at 3M, St. Paul Minn. Originally, 3M only made sandpaper, and during testing Drew observed at a local auto bodyshop that auto painters had difficulty making clean dividing lines on two-color paint jobs. After two years of effort in the company's labs, he invented masking tape (1925), a tan paper tape with a light, pressure sensitive adhesive backing. Five years later, he invented Scotch Brand Cellulose Tape, the first waterproof, see-through, pressure-sensitive tape. Once marketed, the public found the tape had a wide range popular applications in mending, sealing and joining. These financial successes stimulated the company to increase product research and development.

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News

  • 15.07.2010 - Harry Potter's US publisher hit by lawsuit

    The trustee of the estate of late English author Adrian Jacobs has filed a lawsuit against US publisher, Scholastic, for breach of copyright in the Harry Potter book series.

    The estate claims that J K Rowling copied a large part of Jacobs' 1987 book "The Adventures of Willy the Wizard - No 1 Livid Land" into "Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire", which was published in 2000.

    "The basis of the lawsuit is that the substantial content of the book 'Willy the Wizard' found its way into 'Harry Potter'," Paul Allen, who represents Adrian Jacobs' trustees, told a news conference in New York.

    Both books tell the tale of a boy who discovers wizardry powers and enters an international wizard contest.

    Allen told reporters that the list of similarities was quite "considerable".

    "In 'Willy the Wizard', Willy enters a year-long wizard contest. Harry enters a year-long contest. Willy subsequently wins the competition. Harry wins the competition. Willy has to work at the competition and he does it by taking a bath in a special bathroom. Harry works at the competition in a special bathroom. Willy gets advice from a tortoise with a jewel-encrusted shell. Harry gets advice from a tortoise with a jewel-encrusted shell," he explained.

    The trustees are also calling for Scholastic to recall all the copies of "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" in addition to paying all the profits made from that book to Jacob's estate. Allen said he believed the lawsuit would be successful.

    Jacobs' estate maintains that the author's agent was Christopher Little, the same literary agent who years later discovered J.K. Rowling. Little now oversees the Harry Potter brand worldwide.

    Jacobs reportedly approached his agent in 1987 to sell his book, but was unsuccessful. Jacobs died in 1997.

    ITN