• Bíró filed a British Personalized Pens patent on June 15, 1938

• In 1940 the Bíró brothers and a friend, Juan Jorge Meyne, moved to Argentina fleeing Nazi Germany and on June 10, filed another patent, and formed Bíró Pens of Argentina
• By the riot time of 1943 the first exchange models were available
• Erasable ballpoint pens were different by Papermate in 1979 when the Erasermate was put on the market.

Statistics on longhand instruments (including pencils) from WIMA (the U.S. Book Thingamabob Manufacturers Association) show that in 2005, retractable ball point pens were by far the most popular in the United States (26%), followed by standard ball points (14%). Other categories represented bare small fractions (3% or less). There is however also a thriving trade in luxury pens, often fountain pens, sometimes priced at $1000 or more.