Edison and Swan Electric Light Company Edison and Swan Electric Light Company The Edison and Swan Electric Light Company Limited was a manufacturer of incandescent lamp bulbs and other electrical goods. It was formed in 1883 with the name Edison & Swan United Electric Light Company with the merger of the Swan United Electric Company and the Edison Electric Light Company. Thomas Edison established the Edison Electric Light Company in 1878. Joseph Swan established the Swan United Electric Light Company in 1881. In 1882 the American Edison Company of Thomas Edison sued Swan, claiming infringement of Edison's U.S. patent of 1879; however, they never made it
War of the currents judge rolled back part of Westinghouse's original Gaulard Gibbs patent, stating it only covered transformers linked in series. With the help of the financier Henry Villard the Edison group of companies also went through a series of mergers: "Edison Lamp Company", a lamp manufacturer in East Newark, New Jersey; "Edison Machine Works", a manufacturer of dynamos and large electric motors in Schenectady, New York; "Bergmann & Company", a manufacturer of electric lighting fixtures, sockets, and other electric lighting devices; and "Edison Electric Light Company", the patent-holding company and the financial arm backed by J.P. Morgan and the Vanderbilt family for