This 1996 Nortel Wallet Phone prototype was received from former Bell-Northern Research (BNR) Industrial Designer Cliff Read. It came from his personal portfolio collection and represents one of the many innovative concepts developed at BNR during the 1990s.
The accompanying photograph shows Cliff Read signing the Wallet Phone prototype.
November 04th 2025
USA Patent Award Plaque dated March 30th 1999 added to Collection.
Application For United States Patent April 1st 1996
Cover page for a internal 1996 Northern Telecom (Nortel) and Bell-Northern Research (BNR)
“Patent Application Entitled PORTABLE WIRELESS TELEPHONE STRUCTURES”.
Document Overview
- Date: December 16, 1996
- Companies: Nortel & BNR (Bell-Northern Research)
- Listed Inventors: Clifford D. Read, Jeffrey L. Fairless, Desmond J. Ryan, Colin D. Smith, and Brian F. Beaton.
Relevance to the “Wallet Phone”
This application is directly tied to the development of the Nortel 1996 Prototype Wallet Phone (historically connected to industrial designer Cliff Read). The technology laid out here eventually culminated in United States Patent No. 5,890,052, granted on March 30, 1999, (Below) for portable, highly compact folding wireless communication structures. It represents an incredibly rare piece of early smartphone/PDA design history from Nortel’s peak R&D era.
United States Patent 5,890,052 March 30th 1999.
