History of the Car • Part I: Steam Cars • Part 2: Electric Cars • Part 3: Gas Cars • Part 4: Assembly Line

Related George Selden and Henry Ford   Resources • More Car History • The George Selden Patent • George Selden Automobile • More on the George Selden and Henry Ford Patent Battle • "Road Engine" George Selden • Henry Ford • Car Invention Trivia

George Selden (1846-1922) was a patent attorney from Rochester, New York. In 1879, Selden filed a patent what he called a "road engine". Due to the patent laws of the era, the George Selden patent was pre-dated to 1877. Over the years, Selden expanded the claims of his patent and when it was finally granted in 1895, Selden had a patent for a three cylinder motor vehicle that allowed George Selden to collect royalties from all American car manufacturers. The car manufacturers were paying Selden's holding company (Association of Licensed Automotive Manufacturers or ALAM)  for the patent licensing rights to build cars.

The patent was questionable, George Selden had never built a car. One car manufacturer refused to pay any licensing fees to George Selden. Henry Ford refused to pay George Selden and Selden took Henry Ford to a long court battle. 

In 1904, the judge of the Selden vs Ford court case ordered an automobile built according to the George Selden patent. The Selden car was a failure and the Selden patent was overturned in 1911 that stopped Selden from collecting any more royalties and American car manufacturers were free to build cars at a lower cost.

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