Patents In Brief

In 1836 John Ruggles of Thomaston, Maine, patented his invention of a system to assist locomotives in climbing steep grades. Thirty years later, during the 1860s, using technology based on, and perhaps derived directly from the Ruggles patent, the Mt. Washington Cog Railway was built to transport passengers and equipment to the summit of Mt. Washington in New Hampshire. Today, the Mt. Washington Railway is still in daily use.

Patents obtained through our firm.