This folder contains correspondence to and from Edison's patent attorneys and agents, along with other letters relating to domestic and foreign patent applications, patent litigation, and other patent matters. Included are letters pertaining to patents for the electric lamp, the kinetograph, the phonograph, the talking doll, the sextuplex telegraph, and ore milling. There is also correspondence about the International Union for the Protection of Industrial Property and about efforts to reform the U.S. patent system. Among the correspondents are Edison's agent, George E. Gouraud, and his patent attorneys, Richard N. Dyer, Henry W. Seely, and Lemuel W. Serrell.
Approximately 70 percent of the documents have been selected. The following categories of documents have not been selected: letters of transmittal; routine correspondence from patent attorneys regarding interference cases, application fees, and routine patent matters; unsolicited correspondence from individuals wanting to act as Edison's patent attorney or solicitor. Courtesy of Thomas Edison National Historical Park.