Hugo Alexander Koch

Hugo Alexander Koch (born March 9, 1870 in Delft , † March 3, 1928 in Düsseldorf ) was a Dutch inventor .

Invention of the secret typewriter

On October 7, 1919, Koch submitted his application No. 10,700 secret writing machine ( German "secret typewriter" ) as an invention for a patent in the Netherlands . It was a description of a rotor cipher machine . On September 18, 1920, this key machine was also registered for a patent in the USA , which was granted there on April 14, 1925.

In 1915, the two Dutch naval officers Theo A. van Hengel and RPC Spengler invented a rotor key machine in Batavia (then the capital of the Dutch East Indies ). However, they were not allowed to apply for a patent for their invention. Shortly before Koch's patent applications, Edward Hugh Hebern came up with the idea for a rotor cipher machine in the United States in 1917 , but did not apply for a patent until 1921. Arthur Scherbius in Germany had already applied for a patent for a rotor machine in 1918. Three days after Hugo Koch, also independently of the others, the Swede Arvid Gerhard Damm followed with his patent application.

Hugo Koch never used the invention commercially to carry out a functional prototype or even a series production . A connection between the "NV Ingenieursbureau Securitas" in Amsterdam, the "Union Securitas" and the "Chiffriermaschinen AG" in Berlin can be assumed; the numerous matches between the patents are no coincidence. Scherbius' patent from 1918 describes an incandescent lamp machine, Koch's patent from 1919 for a "writing" machine describes v. a. the rotor principle, whether electromechanical or pneumatic, and corresponds to the machine, registered by Scherbius on June 2, 1918, and the one who wrote, registered on June 13, 1920.

Transfer of patent rights to NV Securitas in Amsterdam

On April 29, 1922, Hugo Alexander Koch transferred his patent rights to the Naamlooze Vennootschap engineering office Securitas in Amsterdam, in which he held 3/10, the other shares were held by Joan Thomas and Henri Richard Dietrich zur Mühlen. In the period that followed, she applied for a number of other patents that were very similar to those applied for in Berlin by the Securitas union there. It is believed that this was intended to circumvent the provisions of the Versailles Peace Treaty.

Wording of the transfer deed in Dutch:

Acte van overdracht. Ondergetekende Hugo Alexander Koch gevestigd te 's-Gravenhage Verklaart over te dragen aan Naamlooze Vennootschap Ingenieursbureau Securitas, gevestigd te Amsterdam Heerengracht 401/403, which is cleared aan te nemen de right voortvloeiende uit de Nederlandse Octrooiaanvrage. Class 15g, relevant "Machine dead het omzetten van gewoon script in secret writing en omgekeerd" dat het bedrag, waarvoor the overdracht divorced, is geschat op vijf honderd gold. 's-Gravenhage, April 29, 1922 (wg) HA Koch *. Amsterdam, 2 May 1922, NV engineering office "Securitas" (shared by Frans de Boer). Volgt de lastgevening fiat inschrijving. Name de Centrale afdeling van den Octrooiraad (wg) Dijckmeester, Secretaris. Voor eensluidend inscription. De Ambtenaar, holder of the registers

The aforementioned deed of transfer (the value of the machine was estimated at 500 guilders) relates to patent application 13046 of October 7, 1919. Patent NL 10700 was granted with reservation.

In the patent application of the NV engineering office "Securitas" of Amsterdam on December 18, 1920 in the USA it is confirmed once again that HA Koch has assigned his patent.

literature

Friedrich L. Bauer : Deciphered Secrets. Methods and maxims of cryptology. 3rd, revised and expanded edition. Springer, Berlin et al. 2000, ISBN 3-540-67931-6 .
David Kahn : The Code Breakers - The Story of Secret Writing . Macmillan USA, Reissue 1974. ISBN 0-0256-0460-0
Rudolf Kippenhahn: Encrypted messages, secret writing, Enigma and chip card . Rowohlt, Reinbek near Hamburg 1999. ISBN 3-499-60807-3

Web links

Individual evidence

↑ U.S. Patent No. 1,533,252 . Retrieved July 28, 2008
^ Karl de Leeuw and Jan Bergstra (eds.): The History of Information Security - A Comprehensive Handbook . Elsevier BV, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 2007, p. 389. ISBN 978-0-444-51608-4
^ Karl de Leeuw: The Dutch Invention of the Rotor Machine, 1915-1923 . Cryptologia. Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. Taylor & Francis, Philadelphia PA 27.2003,1 (January), pp. 73-94. ISSN 0161-1194 .
^ Friedrich L. Bauer: An error in the history of rotor encryption devices . Cryptologia, July 1999. Accessed July 28, 2008
↑ Commercial register of the company
^ Karl Leeuw: Dutch invention of the rotor machine 1915-1923 . Cryptologia, January 2003
↑ Acte van overdracht 5th Mar 1922 Ingekomen 5 Mei 1922, at 2 and 46 minutes na middag Nr.886 (@ 14:46 PM) (PDF; 35 kB)
↑ NL10700 Auteursrecht voorbehouden. Naamlooze Vennootschap engineering office "Securitas", te Amsterdam. Secret key machine. (PDF; 825 kB) Aanvrage 13046 Ned., Ingediend 7 October 1919, 2 u 55 mnm, openbaar according to 15 June 1922; dagtekeningt 14 December 1923. Uitgegeven 15 Maart 1924.
↑ US1533252 Coding and Decoding Machine. Application on September 18, 1920 (PDF; 1.0 MB), granted April 14, 1925; Applicant: Hugo Alexander Koch of The Hague, Netherlands, assignor (= assignor) to the Naamlooze Vennootschap engineering office "Securitas" of Amsterdam, Netherlands;

personal data
SURNAME	Koch, Hugo Alexander
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Dutch inventor and cryptologist
DATE OF BIRTH	March 9, 1870
PLACE OF BIRTH	Delft
DATE OF DEATH	March 3, 1928
Place of death	Dusseldorf

[1] U.S. Patent No. 1,533,252 . Retrieved July 28, 2008

[2] Karl de Leeuw and Jan Bergstra (eds.): The History of Information Security - A Comprehensive Handbook . Elsevier BV, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 2007, p. 389. ISBN 978-0-444-51608-4

[3] Karl de Leeuw: The Dutch Invention of the Rotor Machine, 1915-1923 . Cryptologia. Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. Taylor & Francis, Philadelphia PA 27.2003,1 (January), pp. 73-94. ISSN 0161-1194 .

[4] Friedrich L. Bauer: An error in the history of rotor encryption devices . Cryptologia, July 1999. Accessed July 28, 2008

[5] Commercial register of the company

[6] Karl Leeuw: Dutch invention of the rotor machine 1915-1923 . Cryptologia, January 2003

[7] Acte van overdracht 5th Mar 1922 Ingekomen 5 Mei 1922, at 2 and 46 minutes na middag Nr.886 (@ 14:46 PM) (PDF; 35 kB)

[8] NL10700 Auteursrecht voorbehouden. Naamlooze Vennootschap engineering office "Securitas", te Amsterdam. Secret key machine. (PDF; 825 kB) Aanvrage 13046 Ned., Ingediend 7 October 1919, 2 u 55 mnm, openbaar according to 15 June 1922; dagtekeningt 14 December 1923. Uitgegeven 15 Maart 1924.

[9] US1533252 Coding and Decoding Machine. Application on September 18, 1920 (PDF; 1.0 MB), granted April 14, 1925; Applicant: Hugo Alexander Koch of The Hague, Netherlands, assignor (= assignor) to the Naamlooze Vennootschap engineering office "Securitas" of Amsterdam, Netherlands;