In 1930 – seven years after applying for his patent – Vladimir Zworykin visited Farnsworth's laboratory in San Francisco. At the time, he was still employed by Westinghouse, and was given a three-day tour of Farnsworth's operations with the understanding that Westinghouse was considering taking a license for Farnsworth's patents.
When he was handed a freshly-fabricated Image Dissector tube, everybody present heard him say
This is a beautiful instrument.
I wish that I had invented it.
Four years later, RCA tried to make the case that he had.
