UNIVAC: ANNOUNCING THE FIRST PATENT FOR A COMPUTER.


MCTIERNAN, C.E. Typed Letter initialed ("CMT"), to developer J. Presper Eckert announcing the award of the first patent and thanking him for his "support," 1 p, January 7, 1964, on Univac letterhead, stamped "received / Jan. 8, 1964 / J.P. Eckert" on verso, light crease, removed staple.ECKERT RECEIVES THE OFFICIAL NOTICE THAT ENIAC IS FINALLY PATENTED. Univac Vice President of Patent & Licensing Services C. E. McTiernan sends this memo to J.P. Eckert, the co-inventor of the ENIAC, the first electronic general-purpose, Turing-complete and programmable computer, informing him that a patent was granted for the computer. The project, begun during the height of WWII, was funded by the U.S. Army, Ordnance Corps, Research and Development Command. Although the patent for the computer was filed in 1947, it was not granted until 1964. Also included is a carbon of Eckert's response to the memo. The Eckert-Mauchly Company, founded in 1946, was the very first computer company.