Marketing Methods in the International Steam Engine Market: The Case of Boulton and Watt

James Watt patented his improved steam engine in 1769 but, as is well known, lacked the capital and other facilities to exploit the patent. It was not until the commencement of his partnership with Matthew Boulton in 1775, after Boulton had successfully obtained an Act of Parliament extending the patent to 1800, that the technical development and commercial exploitation of his engine could be effected. The first engines were all reciprocating ones operating pumping and, later, blowing machinery.

But, partly in response to Boulton's insistence that demand for factory engines would escalate, Watt developed and in 1782 patented his rotative engine.