Michael Ann Dobbs, Writer 

Sloan Grant(s) Received: 2022, Athena Film Festival, Development Award

Project Type: Feature 

Genre: Biopic

Length: 120 pages 

Field of Science: Engineering

Stage: Development 

Synopsis:

The Inventrix is based on the true story of Margaret Knight’s landmark 1870 patent interference case.

When Margaret arrives in Washington, D.C., in the spring of 1870, she faces more than just the legal challenge of proving her patent was stolen—she’s met with condescension, even from her own attorney. Edward Fisk, struggling to keep his late father’s failing patent firm afloat, is unsettled by his unconventional new client, who defies every expectation of how a “respectable” woman should behave.

Her opponent, Charles Annan—a laborer at the iron foundry where Margaret built her prototype—has stolen her design for an automatic, flat-bottomed paper bag machine and filed for the patent under his own name. He’s backed by the powerful and successful attorney Anthony Wolcott, whose firm is growing as Edward’s struggles to gain new clients.

As the trial unfolds, testimony from Margaret’s friends, family, and employers reveals her journey from a poverty-stricken child laborer to a determined inventor, navigating Victorian era sexism, family struggles, and harsh working conditions of the Industrial Revolution.

But in an era when women have only recently gained the right to control their own property—and still cannot vote or open a bank account without a man’s permission—will Margaret’s ingenuity and the truth be enough to convince the judges that a woman can be an inventor?