who patented the first commercially successful ballpoint pen
Ballpoint pen During the same period, American entrepreneur Milton Reynolds came across a Birome ballpoint pen during a business trip to Buenos Aires, Argentina.[1][10] Recognizing commercial potential, he purchased several ballpoint samples, returned to the United States, and founded Reynolds International Pen Company. Reynolds bypassed the Birome patent with sufficient design alterations to obtain an American patent, beating Eversharp and other competitors to introduce the pen to the U.S. market.[1][10] Debuting at Gimbels department store in New York City on 29 October 1945,[10] for US$12.50 each (1945 US dollar value, about $166 in 2016 dollars),[10] Reynolds Rocket became the first commercially successful ballpoint pen.[1][4][21] Reynolds went to great extremes to market the pen, with great success; Gimbel's sold many thousands of pens within one week. In Britain, the Miles Martin pen company was producing the first commercially successful ballpoint pens there by the end of 1945.[1]