10 Facts About Johan Vaaler

Johan Vaaler was a Norwegian inventor and patent clerk.

Johan Vaaler has often erroneously been identified as the inventor of the common paper clip.

Around 1899, Vaaler designed a kind of binding to hold paper together, consisting of a thread of steel wire.

Johan Vaaler applied for a German patent on November 12,1900 and it was granted on June 6,1901.

Johan Vaaler filed an application for a United States patent on January 9,1901.

Johan Vaaler's design was inferior because it lacked the two full loops of the wire.

Johan Vaaler probably succeeded in having his design patented abroad, despite the existence of a better product, because patent authorities at that time were quite liberal and rewarded any marginal modification of earlier inventions.

Johan Vaaler is not known to have tried to contact potential manufacturers in Norway or abroad, and this lack of initiative seems to confirm that he soon learned that a superior clip already existed.

Johan Vaaler's alleged invention of the paper clip became known in Norway after World War II and found its way into some encyclopedias.

Proofs of the national pride in Johan Vaaler's alleged invention are the postage stamp issued in 1999 and the giant paper clip erected in front of the BI commercial college in 1989.