Editing Samuel Morse (section)

==Later years==
===Litigation over telegraph patent===
In the United States, Morse held his telegraph patent for many years, but it was both ignored and contested. In 1853, ''[[O'Reilly v. Morse|The Telegraph Patent case – O'Reilly v. Morse]]'' came before the [[U.S. Supreme Court]] where, after very lengthy investigation, Chief Justice [[Roger B. Taney]] ruled that Morse had been the first to combine the [[electric battery|battery]], [[electromagnetism]], the [[electromagnet]], and the correct battery configuration into a workable practical telegraph.{{sfn|Standage|1998|pp=172–173}} However, in spite of this clear ruling, Morse still received no official recognition from the United States government.

The Supreme Court did not accept all of Morse's claims. The ''O'Reilly v. Morse'' case has become widely known among patent lawyers because the Supreme Court explicitly denied Morse's claim 8<ref>Morse's actual language in his claim 8 was: "Eighth. I do not propose to limit myself to the specific machinery or parts of machinery described in the foregoing specification and claims, the essence of my invention being the use of the motive power of the electric or galvanic current, which I call electro-magnetism, however developed, for marking or printing intelligible characters, signs, or letters, at any distances, being a new application of that power of which I claim to be the first inventor or discoverer."</ref>  for any and all use of the electromagnetic force for purposes of transmitting intelligible signals to any distance.<ref>The Supreme Court said: "Professor Morse has not discovered that the electric or galvanic current will always print at a distance, no matter what may be the form of the machinery or mechanical contrivances through which it passes. You may use electro-magnetism as a motive power, and yet not produce the described effect, that is, print at a distance intelligible marks or signs. To produce that effect, it must be combined with, and passed through, and operate upon, certain complicated and delicate machinery, adjusted and arranged upon philosophical principles, and prepared by the highest mechanical skill. And it is the high praise of Professor Morse, that he has been able, by a new combination of known powers, of which electro-magnetism is one, to discover a method by which intelligible marks or signs may be printed at a distance. And for the method or process thus discovered, he is entitled to a patent. But he has not discovered that the electro-magnetic current, used as motive power, in any other method, and with any other combination, will do as well."</ref>

The Supreme Court sustained, however, Morse's claim to such telecommunication when effectuated by means of Morse's inventive "repeater" apparatus. This was an electrical circuit in which a cascade of many sets comprising a relay and a battery were connected in series, so that when each relay closed, it closed a circuit to cause the next battery to power the succeeding relay, as suggested in the accompanying figure. This caused Morse's signal to pass along the cascade without degrading into noise as its amplitude decreased with the distance traveled. (Each time the amplitude of the signal approaches the noise level, the repeater [in effect, a nonlinear amplifier] boosts the signal amplitude well above the noise level.) This use of "repeaters" permitted a message to be sent to great distances, which was previously not feasible.

The Supreme Court thus held that Morse could properly claim a patent monopoly on the system or process of transmitting signals at any distance by means of the repeater circuitry indicated above, but he could not properly claim a monopoly over any and all uses of electromagnetic force to transmit signals. The apparatus limitation in the former type of claim limited the patent monopoly to what Morse taught and gave the world. The lack of that limitation in the latter type of claim (i.e., claim 8) both gave Morse more than was commensurate with what he had contributed to society and discouraged the inventive efforts of others who might come up with different and/or better ways to send signals at a distance using the electromagnetic force.<ref>See ''O'Reilly v. Morse'', 56 U.S. 62, 113, 120 (1853).</ref>

The problem that Morse faced (the deterioration of the signal with distance)<ref>The Supreme Court said, "The great difficulty in their way was the fact that the galvanic current, however strong in the beginning, became gradually weaker as it advanced on the wire; and was not strong enough to produce a mechanical effect, after a certain distance had been traversed." 56 U.S. at 107.</ref> and how he solved it is discussed in more detail in the article ''[[O'Reilly v. Morse]]''. In summary, the solution, as the Supreme Court stated, was the repeater apparatus described in the preceding paragraphs.

The importance of this legal precedent in patent law cannot be overstated, as it became the foundation of the law governing the eligibility of computer program-implemented inventions (as well as inventions implementing natural laws) to be granted patents.<ref>See, for example, ''Alice Corporation Pty. Ltd v CLS Bank International'', 573 U.S. __, 134 S. Ct. 2347 (2014); ''Mayo Collaborative Services v. Prometheus Labs., Inc.'', 566 U.S. __, 132 S. Ct. 1289 (2012); ''Bilski v. Kappos'', 561 U.S. 593, 130 S. Ct. 3218 (2010); ''Gottschalk v. Benson'', 409 U.S. 63 (1972) – all building on the ''Morse'' case as the seminal case in the field.</ref>

<gallery widths="250px" heights="105px">
TelRelays.gif|Morse's "repeater" circuit for telegraphy was the basis for the Supreme Court's holding some claims of Morse's patent valid.
SigDecays.jpg|Effect of repeaters
</gallery>

===Foreign recognition===
[[File:Samuel Morse.jpg|thumb|upright|Portrait of Samuel F. B. Morse taken by Mathew Brady, in 1866. Medals worn (from wearer's right to left, top row): [[Order of Glory (Ottoman Empire)|Nichan Iftikhar]] (Ottoman); [[Order of the Tower and Sword]] (Portugal); [[Order of the Dannebrog]] (Denmark); cross of the [[Order of Isabella the Catholic]] (Spain); [[Legion of Honour]] (France); [[Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus]] (Italy). Bottom row: Grand cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic (Spain)]]

Assisted by the [[U.S. Ambassador to France|American ambassador]] in Paris, the governments of Europe were approached about their long neglect of Morse while their countries were using his invention. There was a widespread recognition that something must be done, and in 1858 Morse was awarded the sum of 400,000 [[French franc]]s (equivalent to about $80,000 at the time) by the governments of France, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, [[Piedmont]], Russia, Sweden, [[Tuscany]], and the [[Ottoman Empire]], each of which contributed a share according to the number of Morse instruments in use in each country.{{sfn|Standage|1998|p=174}} In 1858, he was also elected a foreign member of the [[Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences]].

===Transatlantic cable===
Morse lent his support to [[Cyrus West Field]]'s ambitious plan to construct the first transoceanic telegraph line. Morse had experimented with underwater telegraph circuits since 1842. He invested $10,000 in Field's [[Atlantic Telegraph Company]], took a seat on its board of directors, and was appointed honorary "Electrician".{{sfn|Carter|1968|p=104}} In 1856, Morse traveled to London to help [[Charles Tilston Bright]] and [[Edward Whitehouse]] test a 2,000-mile-length of spooled cable.{{sfn|Carter|1968|p=123}}

After the first two cable-laying attempts failed, Field reorganized the project, removing Morse from direct involvement.{{sfn|Carter|1968|p=149}} Though the cable broke three times during the third attempt, it was successfully repaired, and the first transatlantic telegraph messages were sent in 1858. The cable failed after just three months of use. Though Field had to wait out the Civil War, the cable laid in 1866 proved more durable, and the era of reliable transatlantic telegraph service had begun.

In addition to the telegraph, Morse invented a marble-cutting machine that could carve [[three-dimensional]] sculptures in marble or stone. He could not patent it, however, because of an existing 1820 [[Thomas Blanchard (inventor)|Thomas Blanchard]] design.

===Last years and death===
[[File:New York University Samuel F. B. Morse Medal ND (1910) Art Nouveau, obverse.jpg|thumb|left|New York University Samuel F. B. Morse [[Art Nouveau]] medal by [[Paul Wissaert]], obverse]]
[[File:New York University Samuel F. B. Morse Medal ND (1910) Art Nouveau, reverse.jpg|thumb|The reverse of this annual university award for physics students, provided by Morse in his will]]
Samuel Morse gave large sums to charity. He also became interested in the relationship of science and religion and provided the funds to establish a lectureship on "the relation of the Bible to the Sciences".{{sfn|Standage|1998|p=189}} Though he was rarely awarded any royalties for the later uses and implementations of his inventions, he was able to live comfortably.

[[Morsemere, New Jersey|Morsemere]] in Ridgefield, New Jersey, takes its name from Morse, who had bought property there to build a home, but died before its completion.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ridgefieldnj.gov/?SEC=9842071E-0EBB-4CC1-A535-56CF6832C4A8|title=History of Ridgefield – Ridgefield, New Jersey|website=www.ridgefieldnj.gov|quote=Among the noted people who owned property in the new borough was Samuel F. B. Morse. He owned property running from Morse Avenue east to Dallytown Road (Bergen Boulevard). Morse bought the property with the intention of building a home here. A barn was the only structure completed when the inventor died in 1872.|access-date=November 29, 2019|archive-date=August 6, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806234340/https://www.ridgefieldnj.gov/?SEC=9842071E-0EBB-4CC1-A535-56CF6832C4A8|url-status=live}}</ref>

He died of [[pneumonia]] in New York City on April 2, 1872,<ref>{{cite web |title=Samuel Morse |url=https://lemelson.mit.edu/resources/samuel-morse |website=lemelson.mit.edu |access-date=16 December 2024}}</ref> and was interred at [[Green-Wood Cemetery]] in Brooklyn.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.green-wood.com/scans/Volume%2020/Volume%2020_099.jpg |title=Green-wood Cemetery burial records |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=April 3, 1872 |publisher=Green-wood Cemetery |access-date=June 8, 2024 |quote=April 3, 1872 burial records}}</ref> By the time of his death, his estate was valued at some $500,000 (${{Formatprice|{{Inflation|US|500000|1872|r=0}}}} today).{{Inflation-fn|US}}

In his will he provided an award medal that is presented annually by New York University to one undergraduate student who shows special ability in physics.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Samuel F. B. Morse Medal |publisher=New York University |work=Department of Physics Prizes and Awards |access-date=February 5, 2024 |url=https://as.nyu.edu/departments/physics/programs/undergraduate/prizes-and-awards.html}}</ref>