See this week's breakthrough USPTO patent grants!

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• Weekly Statistics

• Main Article

• Trivia (question)

• Featured Inventor

• Today in Patent History

• Our Features

• Centurion Patentors

• Trivia (answer)

Before McLeans breakthrough, international shipping was a labor-intensive and costly affair. Goods had to be manually loaded and unloaded at each point, often taking days and involving extensive handling. McLean envisioned a solution that would eliminate this inefficiency: a container that could be easily moved from trucks to ships to trains without the need to unload and reload its contents. This simple yet powerful idea culminated in developing the Ideal X, McLeans first container ship, which set sail from Newark, New Jersey, to Houston, Texas, carrying 58 containers. It was a quiet beginning to a shipping revolution.

The genius of McLeans invention lay in standardization. By creating a uniform size, later known as the TEU (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Unit), McLean laid the foundation for the entire logistics network we rely on today. Shipping companies, ports, and freight systems around the world adapted to this standard, dramatically reducing shipping times and costs. The time once spent loading and unloading goods at ports was slashed, and containers could now move seamlessly between ships, trucks, and trains. This efficiency cut shipping costs by as much as 90%, making it affordable to move goods globally.

Today, over 90% of global trade relies on containerized shipping, a testament to McLeans legacy. Ports worldwide now handle millions of TEUs annually, and the container has become an icon of modern commerce. More than just a logistical advancement, McLeans innovation democratized global trade, enabling economies worldwide to participate in international markets and facilitating the flow of consumer goods, technology, and resources across borders.

Malcolm McLeans shipping container was not merely a box but a vehicle for globalization. His invention reshaped trade dynamics, bridged economies, and brought the world closer together. His legacy endures in every container ship that crosses the oceans, carrying goods to and from every corner of the globe.

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He founded Immersion Corporation, which developed VR and haptic technologies, and Outland Research, which focused on mobile and AR innovations. Rosenberg is the CEO and Chief Scientist of Unanimous AI, where he has developed Artificial Swarm Intelligence (ASI) and Conversational Swarm Intelligence (CSI) to amplify collective human intelligence. His career highlights include inventing haptic devices like the first haptic mouse and pioneering AI technologies for large-scale problem-solving across networked human groups.

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Congratulations to last week's Centurion Patentors!
We are excited to welcome the following inventors into these prestigious patent clubs:

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The answer is:

Joseph Strange and Elias Strange of Taunton, Massachusetts, were the co-inventors. They received patent number 34 for an improvement in vertical cylindrical steam boilers.