PRESS RELEASE Contact: Kim Byars 703-305-8341 kim.byars@uspto.gov October 5, 2001 #01-41 Cardiac pacemaker patent issued October 9, 1962 Patent covered the first cardiac pacemaker implant On October 9, 1962, Wilson Greatbatch received patent #3,057,356 for the cardiac pacemaker. Born in Buffalo, New York, Greatbatch's innovation was selected in 1983 by the National Society of Professional Engineers as one of the two major engineering contributions to society during the previous 50 years. Greatbatch established a series of companies to manufacture or license his inventions, including Greatbach Enterprises, which produces most of the world's pacemaker batteries. In 1986, Greatbatch was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. This patent, as well as the more than six million patents issued since the first in 1790, can be seen on the Department of Commerce's U.S. Patent and Trademark Office web site at www.uspto.gov. Last year USPTO issued 182,223 patents and registered 127,794 trademarks. # # #