http://www.ipwatchdog.com Patents, Patent Applications, Patent Law Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:40:28 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 en hourly 1 http://www.ipwatchdog.com/2009/10/31/happy-halloween-halloween-patents/id=7027/ http://www.ipwatchdog.com/2009/10/31/happy-halloween-halloween-patents/id=7027/#comments Sat, 31 Oct 2009 19:26:32 +0000 Gene Quinn http://www.ipwatchdog.com/?p=7027

Crazy Patents in an Era of Alleged Patent Quality Over the last several years the patent allowance rate has fallen from about 70% of applications becoming patents to a low of 42% of patent applications becoming issued patents.  During this same time the Patent Office has continued to proclaim that quality has risen, which everyone in the industry knows to be false.  The real [...]...

Obscure Patents: Chastity Belts for DogsPerhaps I am missing something, but I do not see a huge market for animal chastity belts. We have a dog, and we are dog lovers. We enjoy walking through pet stores and spoil her rotten. I cannot say that I have seen an animal chastity belt in any of my trips [...]...

Obscure Patent: Mouse TrapTrap for a mouse US Patent No. 6,655,077 Issued December 2, 2003 Build a better mouse trap and the world will beat a path to your door!  Here is a better mouse trap, at least according to the disclosure contained in the patent.  It would be easy enough to poke fun at the Patent Office by saying that [...]...

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Obscure Patent: Testicular Implants for a DogUS Patent No. 5,868,140 Issued February 9, 1999 This patent covers a method and apparatus for implantation of a testicular prosthetic device, [...]...

Obscure Patent: Adjustable elevated serving tray for petsAdjustable elevated serving tray for pets US Patent No. 7,207,290 Issued April 24, 2007 Now I think I have officially seen everything!  An adjustable serving tray for pets?  What is even more surprising is that according to the Background of the Invention this is a fairly crowded field of technology, with elevated pet feeders being well known.  Who [...]...

Obscure Patents: KSR Does Not Mean MuchSo much has been made about the United States Supreme Court's decision in KSR v. Teleflex, which happened just over 2 years ago. Occasionally I like to take a look at how the Patent Office is handling KSR. Admittedly, this is not a scientific study, and is more aimed at having fun and perhaps also explaining so we never forget just how absurd the Supreme Court's decision in KSR actually was. Those familiar with the KSR decision and history will recall that the non-patent experts on the Supreme Court, including Justice Antonin Scalia who openly admitted he didn't understand patent...

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Obscure Patent: Termite Flatulence DetectionSubterranean termite detection US Patent No. 6,526,692 Issued March 4, 2003 Here is an interesting obscure patent from IPWatchdog past, but one too good to miss.  This originally caught my eye while reading the New York Times. The article in the Times is titled: Using Termite Flatulence Against Them. This all seemed like a joke, but it must [...]...

Obscure Patent: Adjustable elevated serving tray for petsAdjustable elevated serving tray for pets US Patent No. 7,207,290 Issued April 24, 2007 Now I think I have officially seen everything!  An adjustable serving tray for pets?  What is even more surprising is that according to the Background of the Invention this is a fairly crowded field of technology, with elevated pet feeders being well known.  Who [...]...

Obscure Patent: Pillow with breastsPillow with breasts US Patent No. 7,386,902 Issued June 17, 2008  This is an interesting invention indeed.  I am not posting this to poke fun of the invention, but rather because it is certainly unique.  Sometimes we lose sight of the fact that inventions are intended to provide exclusive rights for inventors to insulate themselves from competition.  So [...]...

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Finger Mounted Stealth Fly Swatter PatentFinger mounted insect dissuasion device and method of use US Patent No. 7,484,328 Issued: February 3, 2009 Just this week, on Tuesday, February 3, 2009, the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued a patent on what can best be described as a stealth fly swatter. I am not about to make fun of this [...]...

Obscure Patents: Chastity Belts for DogsPerhaps I am missing something, but I do not see a huge market for animal chastity belts. We have a dog, and we are dog lovers. We enjoy walking through pet stores and spoil her rotten. I cannot say that I have seen an animal chastity belt in any of my trips [...]...

Obscure Patent: Bathing Poncho Bathing Poncho US Patent No. 7,509,689 Issued: March 31, 2009 I am almost speechless, which does not happen often.  I came across this patent over the weekend.  It was NFL Draft weekend, which means that I was parked in front of the TV all weekend.  Between picks, and while waiting for a pick from the Dallas Cowboys that [...]...

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Obscure Patent: Testicular Implants for a DogUS Patent No. 5,868,140 Issued February 9, 1999 This patent covers a method and apparatus for implantation of a testicular prosthetic device, [...]...

Michael Jackson: Inventor of Anti-Gravity IllusionBy now it is certain that anyone living in any civilization around the world knows that Michael Jackson, the acclaimed entertainer and eccentric cultural icon, passed away late yesterday afternoon reportedly from an as yet unexplained cardiac arrest.  Many will no doubt be focusing on Jackson’s contribution to the entertainment industry, and perhaps even his [...]...

Obscure Patents: Chastity Belts for DogsPerhaps I am missing something, but I do not see a huge market for animal chastity belts. We have a dog, and we are dog lovers. We enjoy walking through pet stores and spoil her rotten. I cannot say that I have seen an animal chastity belt in any of my trips [...]...

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Obviously Non-obvious and Patentable Inventions Part IOnce again I find myself traveling for PLI, this time I am in an airplane heading for Oakland, California, with the final destination of San Francisco, California via taxi. This will be the last live location for the PLI Patent Bar Review Course for 2009. John White and I will be in San [...]...

KSR Day at the NAPP Conference in San DiegoI am still in San Diego, California at the Annual Conference of the National Association of Patent Practitioners, which is being held at the Embassy Suites Hotel, which is roughly across the street from the U.S.S. Midway.  The conference has been a good one with some excellent presentations.  This morning there was a Bilski presentation, [...]...

Obscure Patents: KSR Does Not Mean MuchSo much has been made about the United States Supreme Court's decision in KSR v. Teleflex, which happened just over 2 years ago. Occasionally I like to take a look at how the Patent Office is handling KSR. Admittedly, this is not a scientific study, and is more aimed at having fun and perhaps also explaining so we never forget just how absurd the Supreme Court's decision in KSR actually was. Those familiar with the KSR decision and history will recall that the non-patent experts on the Supreme Court, including Justice Antonin Scalia who openly admitted he didn't understand patent...

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Obscure Patent: Adjustable elevated serving tray for petsAdjustable elevated serving tray for pets US Patent No. 7,207,290 Issued April 24, 2007 Now I think I have officially seen everything!  An adjustable serving tray for pets?  What is even more surprising is that according to the Background of the Invention this is a fairly crowded field of technology, with elevated pet feeders being well known.  Who [...]...

Obscure Patent: Homeopathic X-rayBi-digital O-ring test for imaging and diagnosis of internal organs US Patent No. 5,188,107 [ PDF ] [ HTML ]  Issued February 23, 1993 This is an oldie, but a goodie!  When I first profiled this patent back in 2003 I wrote this: “I am almost at a complete loss as to how to describe this patent. This one absolutely must [...]...

Obscure Patent: Doggy Colostomy BagEnvironmental friendly animal excrement collector US Patent No. 7,461,616 Issued December 9, 2008 Every once in a while I come across a patent that I know is going to become one of my all-time favorites, and this is certainly one of those patents.  This may be the most ingenious of all inventions and I would still want to [...]...

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Obscure Patents: KSR Does Not Mean MuchSo much has been made about the United States Supreme Court's decision in KSR v. Teleflex, which happened just over 2 years ago. Occasionally I like to take a look at how the Patent Office is handling KSR. Admittedly, this is not a scientific study, and is more aimed at having fun and perhaps also explaining so we never forget just how absurd the Supreme Court's decision in KSR actually was. Those familiar with the KSR decision and history will recall that the non-patent experts on the Supreme Court, including Justice Antonin Scalia who openly admitted he didn't understand patent...

The First Design PatentDid you know that the first design patent issued in the United States was issued on November 9, 1842, to George Bruce of New York? The USPTO searchable online database does not have a text copy of this patent available, undoubtedly because the design patent was handwritten. It is, however, possible to obtain an image [...]...

Obscure Patents: Chastity Belts for DogsPerhaps I am missing something, but I do not see a huge market for animal chastity belts. We have a dog, and we are dog lovers. We enjoy walking through pet stores and spoil her rotten. I cannot say that I have seen an animal chastity belt in any of my trips [...]...

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Another KSR RetrospectiveOn that fateful day some 27 months ago, April 30, 2007 to be precise, the United States Supreme Court decided that the well established and functional bright line rule for obviousness was too rigid.  No longer must there be a teaching, motiviation or suggestion to render an invention unpatentable for obviousness reasons.  No in this [...]...

Obscure Patent: Inside Out Clothing Garments having inside out appearance US Patent No. 7,350,242 Issued April 1, 2008 The issuance of this patent on April Fools Day shows that someone at the Patent Office has a sense of humor.  This patent also reminds me of one of my all-time favorite obscure patents - Disposable boxer shorts – which was patented also on April Fools Day, just 5 [...]...

A Bird’s Eye View of the Bilski Oral ArgumentUnlike Gene I did not really plan very well. I did not have credentials and am not (yet) a member of the Court. So, I was in line with the public. A patent centric public, but the public none-the-less. My fellow line standers included: Law students headed to taking the patent bar; a Finnegan partner [...]...

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Obscure Patents: Chastity Belts for DogsPerhaps I am missing something, but I do not see a huge market for animal chastity belts. We have a dog, and we are dog lovers. We enjoy walking through pet stores and spoil her rotten. I cannot say that I have seen an animal chastity belt in any of my trips [...]...

Obscure Patent: The Dog Umbrella & Leash Pet umbrella and combined pet leash US Patent No. 6,871,616 Issued October 28, 2003 Before I start getting to deep, allow me to point out that I am a animal lover and a dog person. That being said, I think this takes things just a little bit too far. Dog lovers always spoil their pets, but an umbrella [...]...

Obscure Patent: Testicular Implants for a DogUS Patent No. 5,868,140 Issued February 9, 1999 This patent covers a method and apparatus for implantation of a testicular prosthetic device, [...]...

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Obscure Patent: System for Walking a SnakeCollar apparatus enabling secure handling of a snake by tether US Patent No. 6,490,999 Issued December 10, 2002 This invention is one of the all-time greats in the Obscure Patent category, and is back by popular demand (or at least the request of a longtime IPWatchdog.com reader).  As in practically all patents, there are multiple claims. The first [...]...

Obscure Patent: Adjustable elevated serving tray for petsAdjustable elevated serving tray for pets US Patent No. 7,207,290 Issued April 24, 2007 Now I think I have officially seen everything!  An adjustable serving tray for pets?  What is even more surprising is that according to the Background of the Invention this is a fairly crowded field of technology, with elevated pet feeders being well known.  Who [...]...

Obscure Patent: The Love BoxLove Box US Patent No. 4,194,629 [ PDF ] [ HTML ] Issued March 25, 1980 While this patent is perhaps not wacky, I think it certainly qualifies as obscure. And in honor of Valentine’s Day an appropriate addition here.  Given that tomorrow is Valentine’s Day I thought it would be interesting to see what if any patents have issued with [...]...

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Obscure Patent: Adjustable elevated serving tray for petsAdjustable elevated serving tray for pets US Patent No. 7,207,290 Issued April 24, 2007 Now I think I have officially seen everything!  An adjustable serving tray for pets?  What is even more surprising is that according to the Background of the Invention this is a fairly crowded field of technology, with elevated pet feeders being well known.  Who [...]...

Obscure Patent: Termite Flatulence DetectionSubterranean termite detection US Patent No. 6,526,692 Issued March 4, 2003 Here is an interesting obscure patent from IPWatchdog past, but one too good to miss.  This originally caught my eye while reading the New York Times. The article in the Times is titled: Using Termite Flatulence Against Them. This all seemed like a joke, but it must [...]...

Obscure Patent: LasagnaFree-standing lasagna product US Patent No. 5,939,113 [ PDF ] [ HTML ] Issued August 17, 1999 This obscure patent is a recipe for lasagna. Yes, lasagna was patented on August 17, 1999. Truthfully, that over exaggerates the situation somewhat, but really only slightly. It is more accurate to say that this particular lasagna recipe was patented less [...]...

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