Minutes of 1947 Patent Conference, Moore School of Electrical Engineering, University of Pennsylvania

A conference was held at the Moore School of Electrical Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania on April 8, 1947, to discuss patent matters with regard to priority issues surrounding the development of electronic digital computers. The conference was initiated by government officials eager to resolve some of the pending patent issues concerning the EDVAC. Among those present were J. Presper Eckert, John W. Mauchly, John von Neumann, and Herman H. Goldstine. The minutes of the meeting, published with an introductory note, help clarify our vision of these four protagonists in the continuing controversy over priority. They also show some of the dramatic aspects of patent questions. Perhaps most important, the minutes provide insight into how some of the patent issues were finally resolved.