 Despite a 20-year battle with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Gould is now widely associated as the original inventor of laser.In addition, Charles H. Townes and Arthur L. Schawlow, scientists at Bell Laboratories, wrote a paper, "Infrared and Optical Masers" in 1958 that was enormously influential on the theory of lasers.Ironically, Gould, Townes, or Schawlow never built the first working laser.