Heinrich Göbel

Heinrich Göbel, or Henry Goebel (April 20, 1818 – December 4, 1893) was a German-born American precision mechanic and inventor. In 1848 he immigrated to New York City, where he resided until his death. He received American citizenship in 1865.

In 1893, magazines and newspapers reported 25 years earlier, Göbel had developed incandescent light bulbs comparable to those invented in 1879 by Thomas Alva Edison. Göbel did not apply for a patent.

In 1893, the Edison Electric Light Company sued three manufacturers of incandescent lamps for infringing Edison's patent. The defense of these companies claimed the Edison patent was void because of the same invention by Göbel 25 years earlier, which came to be known as the "Göbel defense".

Judges of four courts raised doubts; there was no clear and convincing proof for the claimed invention. A research work published in 2007 concluded that the ''Goebel-Defense'' was fraudulent.

After Göbel's death, in some countries, the legend arose he was the true inventor of the practical incandescent light bulb.

Göbel acquired patents for an improvement of sewing machines (1865), for an improvement of the Geissler pump (1882) and for a technique to connect carbon threads to metal wires in incandescent lamps (1882). These three patents had no influence on further technical developments. Provided by Wikipedia