On August 31, 1897, Thomas Edison received a patent for the kinetoscope, the forerunner of the motion-picture film projector. Edison and his assistant W.K.L. Dickson had begun work on the project in hopes of boosting sales of the phonograph, which Edison had invented in1877, by enlivening sound recordings with moving pictures. Unable to synchronize the two media, he introduced the kinetoscope, a device for viewing moving pictures without sound. By the 1897 patent date, however, both the camera (kinetograph) and the method of viewing films (kinetoscope) were on their way out. The late date for this patent was the result of appeals Edison had put into action several years earlier when other patent applications had been denied. Edison pursued getting the patent at this late date mainly so he might bring legal suit against his competitors and drive them out of business. This patent decision was highly controversial (other film companies called it fraud) and Edison used this patent as a means to eliminate rival competition. The invention, which Edison initially considered an insignificant toy, had become an immediate success about a decade earlier. The kinetoscope was soon replaced, however, by screen projectors which made it possible for more than one person to view the novel silent movies at a time.