Sticky lawsuit: $400M dispute lingers over Post-it inventor
(AP) — Alan Amron has invented a battery-powered squirt gun, a digital photo frame, even a laser system that may someday provide a visible first-down line for fans inside NFL stadiums.
The maker of Scotch tape, Ace bandages, sandpaper, films, office products, window insulation, paint remover and hundreds of other products earned more than $30 billion in revenue in 2015, according to the company's website.
"3M developed Post-it Notes without any input or inspiration from Mr. Amron and it is false and misleading for him to state or suggest that he created, invented, or had any role in the product's development," said company spokeswoman Donna L. Fleming Runyon in an email.
Fry and Silver came up with what 3M originally called the Press 'n' Peel memo pad in 1974, but it wasn't brought to the market until 1977 and didn't really take off until 1980, when it was renamed the Post-it Note.
Post-it Notes have become so iconic that in the 1997 movie "Romy and Michele's High School Reunion," the title characters, played by Lisa Kudrow and Mira Sorvino, claim credit for inventing them to impress their former classmates.
[...] that turned out to be a less-useful adhesive, not the entire sticky note, and Amron said he felt 3M used the Swiss tale to trick him into the settlement — and is now breaching that deal by claiming credit for the product.
According to the company's year-end 2015 statement, 565 U.S. patents were granted to 3M — bringing its total to more than 105,000.