Bic

Société Bic S.A., commonly referred to as Bic (stylized as BiC or BIC), is a French manufacturing corporation based in Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine. Founded in 1945 by French aristocrat Marcel Bich and Édouard Buffard, the company produces disposable items, specifically pens, stationery, lighters, and shaving razors.

== History == In 1945, Marcel Bich and his partner, Édouard Buffard, established a business creating writing instrument parts in a factory in the Paris suburb of Clichy, where they began production of pen holders and pencil cases. Bich bought the patent for the ballpoint pen from Hungarian-Argentine inventor László Bíró and, using Swiss watchmaking tools, devised a manufacturing process that produced stainless-steel balls for the tip of the pen. Bich soon perfected the design of the ballpoint pen, and the Bic Cristal ballpoint pen became the company's first product (under the "BIC" name) in 1950. As of 2005, the Bic Cristal had sold over one hundred billion units since its launch.