The paper clip is something of a fetish object in design circles. Its spare, machined aesthetic and its inexpensive ubiquity landed it a spot in MoMA’s 2004 show Humble Masterpieces. This was a ...

In the patent literature, the term "prior art" is virtually synonymous with "state of the art," the standard against which any claimed improvement is necessarily judged. Normally, "state of the art" ...

But by that time, a few other paper-clip patents were on the books. In 1900 Cornelius Brosnan of Springfield, Mass., patented a similar device called the Konaclip. A year earlier a patent had been ...

All products featured here are independently selected by our editors and writers. If you buy something through links on our site, Gizmodo may earn an affiliate commission. Reading time 6 minutes When ...