Marker pen

[1] A marker pen consists of a container (glass, aluminum or plastic) and a core of an absorbent material that holds the ink.

[4] In 1926, Benjamin Paskach patented a "fountain paintbrush",[5] as he called it, which consisted of a sponge-tipped handle containing various paint colors.

[6] The year 1962 brought the development of the modern fiber-tipped pen (in contrast to the marker, which generally has a thicker point) by Yukio Horie of the Tokyo Stationery Company (which later became Pentel).

[8][9][10] Permanent markers are porous pens that can write on surfaces such as glass, plastic, wood, metal, and stone.

However, on certain plastics like Teflon, polypropylene etc., the marks made by such pens are not permanent and can be erased easily.

The erasable ink does not contain the toxic chemical compounds xylene and/or toluene as have been used in permanent markers, being less of a risk to being used as a recreational drug.

Special "security" markers, with fluorescent but otherwise invisible inks, are used for marking valuables in case of burglary.

The owner of a stolen, but recovered item can be determined by using ultraviolet light to make the writing visible.

Draftsman's pens usually have a ceramic tip since this wears well and does not broaden when pressure is applied while writing.

This is because most English dialects contain words for particular types of marker, often generic brand names, but there are no such terms in widespread international use.