The Sewing Machine Combination was the first patent pool in US history. It was formed by the "Albany Agreement" of 24 October 1856 and lasted until its last patent expired in 1877[1]. It existed for the purpose of reducing the licensing and litigation overhead being imposed by the patent thicket known as the Sewing machine war.
Its four member companies were:
In addition to its four member companies, dozens of other companies licensed its patents, for which they paid royalties and submitted annual production reports[2].
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