a
trademark for a
type of
ballpoint pen created by Hungarian inventor Lazlo Biro (1899-1985). A
ballpoint pen has a writing
tip made from a metal
ball housed in a
socket. The
ball is constantly bathed in ink from a reservoir and freely rotates and rolls quick-drying ink onto the paper. Lazlo Biro's
pen was the first satisfactory
ballpoint pen yet
developed and it became very popular in Great Britain in the 1930s. Within 10 years, pens of this
type were widely used throughout much of the
world. The
brand name Biro subsequently came to be used as a common name for any
ballpoint pen.