John Jacob Loud (November 2, 1844 – August 10, 1916) was an American inventor known for designing the first ballpoint pen.
Trained as a lawyer at Harvard College, Loud worked at the Union National Bank in Weymouth, Massachusetts as a cashier. He was also active in his community as a member of his church, a trustee of many local organizations, and a member of local historical societies. Loud invented and obtained a patent for what is considered to be the first ballpoint pen in 1888; however, his invention was not commercialized and the patent would eventually lapse. The modern ballpoint pen would be patented later in 1938 by László Bíró, 22 years after Loud's death.
Loud was born in Weymouth, Massachusetts in 1844,[1] the son of John White Loud and Sarah Humphrey Blanchard.[2][3] He attended school in Weymouth, graduating from Weymouth High School, and later attended Harvard College, graduating from the latter in law in the class of 1866.[4] Appointed to the Suffolk County Bar on February 2, 1872,[5] he later furthered his studies in law in the office of Jewell, Gaston & Field, but later opted to join his father in the banking profession.[1] In 1871 he joined his father in working for the Union National Bank as an assistant cashier. Upon his father's death in 1874, Loud assumed his position as a cashier and remained in that post until his resignation in 1895 for health reasons.[2][3]
Keenly interested in inventing, on October 30, 1888, Loud obtained the first patent (US #392,046) for a ballpoint pen[n1][6] when attempting to make a writing instrument that would be able to write on leather products, which then-common fountain pens could not. Loud's pen had a small rotating steel ball, held in place by a socket. In the patent, he noted:
My invention consists of an improved reservoir or fountain pen, especially useful, among other purposes, for marking on rough surfaces such as wood, coarse wrapping paper, and other articles where an ordinary pen could not be used.[7]
Although his invention could be used to mark rough surfaces such as leather, as he had originally intended, it proved to be too coarse for letter-writing. With no commercial viability, its potential went unexploited[8][9] and the patent eventually lapsed.[10]