What is the standard length of a Bic ballpoint pen (including the cap)?

The Bic Cristal (known as the Bic pen) is an inexpensive disposable ballpoint pen mass-produced and sold by 'Société Bic' of Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine, France. It was introduced in December 1950 and is the best-selling pen in the world. The 100 billionth was sold in September 2006. It has become the archetypal ballpoint pen and is considered ubiquitous, to the extent that the Museum of Modern Art has made it a permanent part of its collection. Its hexagonal form and design mimics a classic lead pencil.

The Museum of Modern Art in New York City recognised the Bic Cristal's industrial design by introducing it into the museum's permanent collection. The pen's dimensions are 14.9 cm × 1.3 cm (5 7⁄8 by 1⁄2 inch) with the cap, or 14.5 by 0.7 cm without the cap.

In 1944 entrepreneur Marcel Bich bought a factory in Clichy, a suburb north of Paris, and with business partner Edouard Buffard founded 'Société PPA' (later 'Société Bic') in 1945. "PPA" stood for 'Porte-plume, Porte-mines et Accessoires' – pens, mechanical pencils and accessories.

Bich had seen a ballpoint pen manufactured in Argentina by László Bíró. Between 1949 and 1950 the Bic Cristal was designed by the Décolletage Plastique design team at Société PPA. Bich invested in Swiss technology capable of shaping stainless steel down to one-millimetre (0.039 in) sphere which allowed ink to flow freely. Bich developed a viscosity of ink which neither leaked nor clogged and launched the Cristal in December 1950.