A unique design originally patented in 1884, the Lambert typewriter was sold to be a less expensive, smaller, and lighter typewriting machine. The manufacturing company, UK-based Gramophone Co., purchased the rights to produce this machine from the US-based, French-immigrant founded, Lambert Typewriter Co. in 1900, and changed the name to Gramophone & Typewriter Ltd. This diversification into the typewriter business occurred as Edison Bell was filing lawsuits against Gramophone Co. It is interesting to note that not only did a sound-machine company purchase the rights to manufacture this typewriter, but the inventor who sold the rights, Frank Lambert, is also known for patenting a phonograph machine, which he used to record his own voice (now known to be the oldest playable recording with the original sound), for an experimental talking clock, on display at the National Watch and Clock Museum in Columbia, PA.