Without Bakelite, there would be no telephone apparatus; without bent wood or steel tubing, there would be no modern seating furniture. Often, new materials or technologies inspired new designs, and their availability through business models and distribution channels was fundamental to this. However, the design of the objects also drove innovation. This book focuses on the design patents, a previously overlooked source for the history of art, design, and science. Initially, patents were filed by engineers and businesspeople, but from the 1920s onwards, designers and architects began to intervene in the complex relationship between objects and technology with their own patents. The patents cover areas such as: materials and technology, wooden furniture, metal furniture, steel tube furniture, lighting, household items, media, games, aesthetic education, as well as textiles, wall and picture design. Notable figures include: Alvar Aalto, Max Bill, Marianne Brandt, Marcel Breuer, Charles Eames, Thomas A. Edison, Sigfried Giedion, Le Corbusier, Anton Lorenz, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Mart Stam, the Thonet brothers, Wilhelm Wagenfeld, Conrad Roentgen, among others.