The history of the world’s most ubiquitous writing instrument is a rocky chronicle of manufacturing and design skips, smears and blotches.

The great-granddaddy of the ballpoint pen was John Loud, a Harvard-trained attorney and inventor seeking an instrument for writing on leather products. The only available technology, the fountain pen, was inadequate for the task, so Loud made a pen which applied ink with a socketed rotating steel ball.

He received the first patent for the ballpoint pen on Oct. 30, 1888. The pen, however, was not viable and the patent lapsed without commercial production.

The ballpoint pen languished in oblivion for 55 years until two Hungarian brothers, journalist Laszlo Biro and his brother Georg, a chemist, resurrected the technology and received a European patent on June 10, 1943. The press lauded the success of the Birome, which could write for one year without refilling.

The British licensed the design and produced the pens for the Royal Air Force during World War II. Crews used the pens rather than fountain pens, which leaked or exploded at high altitudes.

At the same time, Chicago entrepreneur Milton Reynolds purchased several Biromes during a trip to Argentina and, ignoring the Biros’ patent, manufactured the pens, selling 10,000 for $12.50 each the first day of distribution in October 1945.

Thus ensued what the media dubbed “Pen Wars.” Eversharp Company had the Biro license for the U.S. market and sued Reynolds for patent infringement. Reynolds counterpunched with a complaint for illegal restraint of trade.

The lawsuits generated publicity, but the truth was that neither pen lived up to its hype. Prices dropped precipitously and sales peaked and plummeted within a year.

But the blue ribbon of marketing went to Marcel Bich, an ink maker from Paris, who purchased the Biro patent and launched the wildly successful “Writes the first time, every time” ad campaign for his BIC pen. Today BIC is the world’s leading ballpoint pen manufacturer.

Throughout its history, the ballpoint pen’s persistent flaw was the inconsistent performance of the ink. Advancements born of tireless laboratory experimentation have resolved this issue, while adding features such as the “space pen,” which can write upside or in a vacuum, and erasable ink.

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