Xerography--Where It All Began

That celebration, however, was a bit premature. Carlson spent years searching for a company to help develop his invention into a useful product. He was turned down repeatedly by companies that felt carbon paper worked just fine.

It wasn't until 1944 that the Battelle Memorial Institute in Columbus, Ohio, contracted with Carlson to develop his process. Three years later, Battelle entered into an agreement with a photo-paper company named Haloid, giving Haloid the right to build a machine.