The Boeing 747

Forty years ago last February, one of the world’s most recognisable aircraft made its maiden flight. It was the first wide-body airliner, the first with twin aisles and the first to have three decks. It was officially called the Boeing 747, but it became universally known as the ‘jumbo jet’.

Everything about the 747 was large. It was two-and-a-half times the size of the ‘standard’ 707 model and could accommodate more than 400 passengers. To assemble these monsters, Boeing built a plant in Everett just north of Seattle that remains the biggest enclosed space ever constructed. More than 1,400 747s have since been sold and the latest model costs in the region of $300m.

The IP ramifications of constructing machines with around six million components are enormous. Aircraft manufacturers have no choice but to make extensive use of each other’s technology. Fortunately, the players have tended to cooperate. There are signs, however, that this situation is beginning to change.

THE ONGOING ROW BETWEEN BOEING AND AIRBUS THREATENS TO BOIL OVER INTO OBSTRUCTIVE PATENT LITIGATION

In the early days of aeronautics, pioneers were able to charge a small fortune for the licensing of patents, including several absolutely fundamental to flight. In view of the restrictive effect this was having on competition and the imminent entry of the US into World War I, the US government decided to intervene. In 1917 the National Advisory Council for Aeronautics sat down with manufacturers and patent holders and drew up a cross-licence agreement which allowed signatories to use the majority of each other’s patents for a fl at fee of $200.

The cross-licensing agreement lubricated the industry for almost 60 years, but it was cancelled in 1975 after the US Justice Department filed an antitrust violation. Since then, aircraft manufacturers have made their own bilateral agreements. Now, there are only two manufacturers left and they don’t get on. The ongoing row between Boeing and Airbus over the support they have received from the US government and the European Commission respectively threatens to boil over into obstructive patent litigation. If this happens (and Boeing filed its first patent infringement suit against Airbus in 1994), it may be lawyers who decide the future of our airline experiences.


This article first appeared in IP Review, issue 26