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[ Introduction | Summary | Details]
© Martin Francis, 2003
This document was inspired by a table published at http://www.tri.net/radio/patent.html showing the last US patent number granted in each year, as a guide to set earliest possible age calculations. I have produced an equivalent list for the UK which you can see here
The document you are now reading attempts to test the valididy of this dating technique for UK sets by listing patents claimed by radio manufacturers in association with their sets. If you are connected to the Internet you can actually read the online archives of the patents filed all those years ago by clicking on the patent numbers.
This tool gives somewhat variable results - note that the 342 Music Maid has a span of 14 years between the last patent and the release of the set. My explanation for the fact that the 206A/15 seems to have been released a month before the issue of an associated patent was that my set was produced after the initial release date - its serial number is M59793, if that helps.
Anyone who can provide other examples of UK sets and their patent numbers is very much encouraged to contact me with details and I will add these to this document. Since (with the sole exception of Philips) most UK manufacturers did not prominently display patent numbers for sets, any information for other manufacturers would be especially welcomed!