The Evolution of Modern Ballpoint Pen: A Patent History

Bíró was not the first inventor to conceive the use of a rolling ball in socket mechanism for an ink writing utensil. By the latter part of the 19th century, a few designs for this type of utensil would be developed and even patent-protected by their inventors. Although none of these became truly commercially successful... It’s probably not an exaggeration to say that the invention of the ballpoint pen likely saved the lives of Bíró and his family... When anti-Jewish laws went into effect in Hungary in 1938, Bíró fled to Paris and eventually wound up in Argentina with his brother and other members of his family.