Two Guys from Barnum, Iowa and How They Helped Save Basketball: a History of U.S. Patent 4,534,556 : Paul D. Estlund and Kenneth F. Estlund, Inventors

This is the true story of the making and marketing of an invention by two American brothers who grew up on a farm in Iowa, about two miles from where the author grew up. They are credited by many with helping to save the great game of basketball in the last decades of the 20th century, by making an invention for a break-away basketball goal and working to get it into widespread use. Francis B. Francois began his professional career in the U.S. Patent Office in 1956 as a Patent Examiner after graduating from Iowa State University with a degree in engineering. Shortly after moving to Washington, D.C., Frank began attending night law school at The George Washington University. He was the inventors' patent attorney, and in this book he reveals the fascinating story of how his friends the Estlunds helped save basketball.