Karl Ferdinand Braun receives British patent for wireless telegraphy

Background. Karl Ferdinand Braun was a German applied physicist who had built the first cathode-ray tube in 1897 and the first semiconductor diode in 1874. Wireless telegraphy claimed his full attention in 1898, and for many years afterward he applied himself almost exclusively to solving its problems. In 1899 he applied for a patent on 'Wireless electro transmission of signals over surfaces'.

Patent Activity. In 1899, Braun applied for patents including 'Wireless electro transmission of signals over surfaces' and 'Electro telegraphy by means of condensers and induction coils'. The supplied passages do not confirm the specific British Patent number, exact grant date, or location of the grant, only the application year. His work on tuning was later used by Marconi.

Impact. Braun's British patent on tuning was used by Guglielmo Marconi in many of his own tuning patents. For their contributions to the development of radio, the 1909 Nobel Prize in Physics was shared between Braun and Marconi. This Nobel recognition lies outside the declared January 1899 patent scope and is included only as later context.