The moern telephone is the result of work done by many people, all worthy of recognition of their contributions to the field. Alexander Graham Bell was the first to patent the telephone, an "apparatus for transmitting vocal or other sounds telegraphically" after experimenting with many primitive sound transmitters and receivers. However, the history of the invention of the telephone is a confusing mass of claims and counterclaims, further worsened by lawsuits which attempted to resolve the patent claims of several individuals.