22 | 04 | 2026

120 years since the invention of the “Pen”

 

In the year of celebrating 35 years of the SIPO, we remember innovators whose inventions left an indelible mark, like Eduard Slavoljub Penkala.

Penkala was born in 1871 in the Slovak city of Lipovski Sv. Mikulaš, and in 1900 he moves to Zagreb with his family. Soon, he became one of its most famous residents, and having accepted Croatia as its homeland, he added also ‘Slavoljub’ to its name.

During his life, he created and patented more than eighty inventions from various fields of human activity. His first protected invention was a mechanical toothbrush, and in his own laboratory Elevator he tirelessly researched and developed new solutions. He invented the first effective laundry detergent, bleach, Krepax insecticide, a medicine for treating rheumatism, a hot water bottle, a thermos bottle, a fountain pen, brakes for wagons, a mass for making gramophone records, ebonite, he perfected the gramophone needle and the microphone on the gramophone, and he also invented and patented a type of gramophone. The listening devices he invented were used by the Austro-Hungarian army during World War I.

His most famous invention, the mechanical pencil, was created in 1906, which, in collaboration with the Moster & Co. factory, soon became a product available on the European and world markets. His name is still used in everyday speech as the name for a ballpoint pen, a "penkala"!

✅ Penkala was an example of an innovator who changes the established rules. Every innovation starts with an idea, and the intellectual property system helps it become part of our everyday lives.

Which of Penkala’s inventions do you consider the most significant one?
 
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