From Patents to Industry. Paul Héroult and International Patent Strategies, 1886-1889

Paul Héroult became one of the aluminium industry’s founding fathers not only because he was a great inventor, but also because he had an entrepreneur’s vision of his discoveries. By drawing from hitherto unpublished archives, this article seeks to outline the first phase of the French inventor’s career, which took place between France and Switzerland from 1886 to 1889, with a focus on the way his patents were managed, exploited and exported. It shows that Paul Héroult was able to work his way into the international expansion strategy of the Swiss companies that supported him by designing not only processes but also industrial equipment that served the converging interests of metallurgists and electric equipment makers. The filing of patents and sale of licenses on an international scale were a decisive aspect of that strategy, led head-on by the inventor, his industrial backers and specialised agents. The article also specifies the role of the German company Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft in the founding of Alusuisse and of Paul Héroult in creating Société Électro-Métallurgique Française.