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Word Mark Patent

E-mail Robert Garner to George Ahearn - Jan 13, 2010

attached file of patent filed Dec 31, 1958 - 451 KiloBytes .pdf
George,

Here's Ed Grenchus' patent (filed Dec 31st, 1958) for a mechanism for determining variable-width fields in core memory:

Fran Underwood has said that Ed's invention (they both worked in Endicott's ASDD group) was the inspiration for SPACE/1401's word mark.

Maurice,

When I had asked last, you mentioned that you don't recall how the VWLAM (the stored-program, pre-WWAM design) had encoded its variable-length fields? Could it have been via a special character, 705'esque?

- Robert

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