Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America
After the war government officials balked at returning the American Marconi stations to the original owners, distrusting British control of radio communication due to national security concerns.
[4] This unwillingness to communicate with other systems would eventually be prohibited by international treaties, beginning with the Preliminary Conference on Wireless Telegraphy held in Berlin in 1903.
American Marconi's refusal to communicate with non-Marconi stations soon led to an international incident when, in early 1902, the Nantucket operators were unwilling to acknowledge a transmission from the German vessel Deutschland.
[8] Naval officials also wanted to purchase radio equipment outright, instead of leasing it, something American Marconi would not agree to prior to the 1912 policy change.
[10][11] Faced with these barriers, American Marconi initially concentrated on establishing a small number of high-powered land stations, which provided transatlantic communication in competition with the existing undersea telegraph cables, in addition to serving passenger vessels making the Atlantic crossing.
[12] John Bottomley, a New York attorney, had primary responsibility for setting up American Marconi, and after a 1902 reorganization served as the new company's general manager, secretary and treasurer.
[13] Perhaps the most famous American Marconi employee was David Sarnoff, who was hired as an office boy in September 1906, and by 1917 had become the company's commercial manager.
One of the more ambitious projects involved tests installing radio communication equipment aboard Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad trains, conducted in 1913.
The U.S. courts eventually ruled that both Fleming's and de Forest's patents were valid, which led to an impasse, as it meant neither could legally manufacture three-element vacuum tubes.
American Marconi decided to launch a test case, claiming that the Navy could not legally grant immunity to infringing firms, and in September 1915 the company sought a court injunction against Emil J. Simon.
However, the victory would be short-lived, because on July 1, 1918 legislation passed by the U.S Congress restored the Navy's ability to shield contracting manufacturers by assuming the legal risks.
[23] The crippled firm attempted to reorganize, but the Marconi interests saw this as an opportunity to attack the weakened company by launching a patent infringement suit.
United's receivers found that their position was hopeless, and in early 1912 entered into negotiations to have their company, which operated 500 ship and 70 land stations, taken over by American Marconi.
"[25] Recently passed laws required U.S. passenger ships to carry radio equipment, and American Marconi's near monopoly allowed it to set its own prices for the service.
Due to concerns that radio stations could be covertly used to aid a belligerent, on August 5, 1914 President Woodrow Wilson issued an executive order imposing monitoring and censorship of their transmissions.
While this was taking place, the U.S. Navy became concerned that a September 2 message relayed by the American Marconi station at Siasconset, Massachusetts might have violated neutrality, but when asked for an explanation company officials refused to cooperate.
[30] At the American Marconi site in New Brunswick, New Jersey, the Navy had installed a high-powered Alexanderson alternator transmitter built by General Electric (GE).
Marconi officials were so impressed by the capabilities of the Alexanderson alternators that they began making preparations to adopt them as their standard transmitters for international communication.
A tentative plan made with General Electric proposed that over a two-year period the Marconi companies would purchase most of GE's alternator production.
However, this proposal was met with dismay on national security grounds by the U.S. Navy, which was concerned that this would guarantee British domination of international radio communication.
The Navy, claiming the support of President Wilson, began to develop an alternative that would result in an "all-American" company taking over the American Marconi assets.
In April 1919 two naval officers, Admiral H. G. Bullard and Commander S. C. Hooper, met with GE's president, Owen D. Young, asking that he suspend the pending alternator sales to the Marconi companies.
This would leave General Electric without a buyer for its alternators, so the officers proposed that GE purchase American Marconi, and use the assets to form its own radio communications subsidiary.
On May 31, 1921, the board issued a report to the U.S. Congress recommending award amounts for the affected parties, including $1,253,389.02 for four patents controlled by American Marconi.
The verdict stated that “Marconi's reputation as the man who first achieved successful radio transmission ... is not here in question”, and that the adoption of adjustable transformers in the transmitting and receiving circuits, which was an improvement of the initial invention, was anticipated by patents issued to Oliver Lodge and John Stone.
