Why is a Biro called a Biro?

Question:

Why is a Biro called a Biro?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Named after Ladislao (László) József Bíró, the inventor of the ball point pen! Its named after the man who invented it...I think he was Hungarian and his name was....Biro!! after its inventor,Biro The inventors name. Isn't biro the guy who invented the biro pen. its named after its inventor Biro is a trade name, like Hoover. It has just come to mean a ballpoint pen. Because it was invented by a man called Laszlo Biro József Bíró, the inventor of the modern ballpoint pen Laszlo Josef Biro was the inventor of it. Named after the Hungarian inventor - George Biro. Easy as that ! ! ! I'm pretty sure it's down to the bloke who invented it.
I think his name was Laszlo (but not sure) Biro.
All the best. somebody biro invented it so its named after them its the manufacturer of the ballpoint After its inventor, a Mr. Biro, a refugee from central Europe who finally sold his invention to an Argentine businessman. (He could not afford the research into a reliable, quick-drying ink.) Laszlo Josef Biro (Hungarian: Bíró László József) (September 29, 1899 — November 24, 1985) is the inventor of the modern ballpoint pen.

Bíró (pronounced: [?bi?ro?]), (approximate pronunciation, Beer-o), was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1899. In 1938, while working as a journalist, he noticed that the ink used in newspaper printing dried quickly, leaving the paper dry and smudge-free. He tried using the same ink in a fountain pen but found that it would not flow into the nib, as it was too viscous. Working with his brother Georg, a chemist, he developed a new tip consisting of a ball that was free to turn in a socket, and as it turned it would pick up ink from a cartridge and then roll to deposit it on the paper. Bíró patented the invention in Paris in 1938, after fleeing anti-Jewish laws in Hungary. The word "bíró" means "judge" in Hungarian.

In 1943 the brothers moved to Argentina and on June 10 filed another patent, and formed Biro Pens of Argentina (in fact, in Argentina the ball pen is known as birome). This new design was licensed by the British, who produced ballpoint pens for Royal Air Force aircrew, who found they worked much better than fountain pens at high altitude.

In 1950 Marcel Bich bought from Bíró the patent for the pen, which soon became the main product of his Bic company.

Ballpoint pens are still widely referred to as a biro in many European countries, including the UK, as well as Australia and New Zealand.

László Bíró died in Buenos Aires in 1985. Argentina's Inventor's Day is celebrated on Bíró's birthday, September 29. After Ladislas Biro who, along with his brother, patented the improved rollerball pen first invented by John Loud.
The brothers were paid half a million dollars for the rights to manufacture their pens. A Biro is called a Biro because it was the first of that type of pen made and sold. I do not know if that was the firms name or the inventors name. It is in the same class as a vacuum cleaner is more often than not called a Hoover because that too was the first made for mass sales. Obviously you come from a part of the planet that coins phrases.

It is the same reason as why your mother and grandmother hoover the floor, ever though they may well be using another brand vacuum cleaner.

When I first came to the US, and asked for a Biro, and like the answers, the people in the US still do not know what the term really means.

Good question mate!

Oh! a pen by any other name would be Biro, the manufacturer of that type of pen, that became common use as did the term in the land down under. It was invented by a man called Lazlo Biro I beleive. biro is called biro as its the inventors name. Because if it was called a 'Bozo', no one would know what you were talking about when you went to the shop to buy one!! Because in America everything is called by brand names. (Biro comes from the makers name). You use Biro's and I use pens, you use Xerox's and I use photocopy machines and you use Hovers where I use a vacuum cleaner. (I'm from Australia in case you're wondering, and we do sometimes call pens Biro's).