Posts Tagged: "Disney patents"

The theme park innovations do not stop at the rides themselves, however. Recently, the Orlando Business Journal picked up on a patent issued to Disney by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office which covers a scene projection technology which can turn a hotel room into a multimedia interactive experience. U.S. Patent No. 9405175, titled Image Projecting Light Bulb, protects a video projector having a lamp assembly with a harp to support lamp shades, a bulb adapter configured for electrical connection with a socket of the lamp assembly, a projector powered via the bulb adapter to project light including video imagery and a lens assembly with two lenses for focusing the projected light. The video projections turn a simple room into an immersive environment featuring fantasy worlds from popular Disney movies or television shows and could be coupled with in-room gaming vehicles to create an interactive gaming environment for children. Diagrams attached to the patent show how the technology can be incorporated into conventional table and ceiling lamps.

Innovation in the automotive sector was a huge story, both for the types of technologies being developed and the companies pursuing the R&D in that field. Drones and robotics also played a role in other top patent applications which we’re profiling today. Rounding out our list of top 2015 innovations includes an emotion analysis system for financial security, wireless charging schemes, low-power communications for wearable devices and a greenhouse window that can generate electricity while improving crop yield.

2015 was a truly remarkable year for innovation and we saw major trends in self-driving cars, wearable technologies, digital wallets and much more. I hope you will enjoy this top 10 listing, which includes innovations for providing water in arid regions, wireless charging systems for electronic devices and even the collection and retransmission of sunlight. Of course, as with all of these types of lists, the criteria used for inclusion on this list is subjective, based on my own personal preferences. Please feel free to let us know if you saw something particularly noteworthy in 2015.

Through most of 2015, the Walt Disney Company had earned a total of 206 U.S. patent grants from all of its subsidiaries, with significant development in the fields of display devices, media content, video streams and 2-D imaging… A pair of patents issued to Disney in recent weeks showcase some intriguing improvements to the user experience for various rides and attractions at amusement parks. U.S. Patent No. 9155971, titled “Selective Illumination of Physical Scenery in Amusement Park Rides,” protects a display system for use with amusement park rides and other attractions. A tool that can help water ride passengers escape without becoming soaked is featured within U.S. Patent No. 9174704, entitled “Interactive Water Shield for Rafts or Boats in Water Rides.” It discloses a passenger boat for interactively shielding passengers.

Disney holds 2,257 active patents as well as 2,287 trademarks, many of which protect design and character marks for beloved characters like Tinkerbell and Mickey Mouse. One recently acquired trademark protects the use of the standard character mark “ScoreCenter” when used with an electronic scoreboard service for athletic events which is distributed to computers and wireless devices by means of a global computer network. The owner of this trademark is ESPN Inc. but ESPN is a subsidiary of Disney so at the end of the day, this sports entertainment trademark is Disney property.

A strong sense of innovation runs through the entire operations of the Walt Disney Company and the many forms of entertainment media developed by the corporation. For decades, Disney has benefitted from the work of its Imagineering teams, groups of designers and engineers who develop rides and many other features for Disney’s 11 theme parks located worldwide as well as cruise ships, water parks and hotels. Disney’s amusement parks have long had a particular focus on the subject of innovation as can be seen in the many attractions of the Tomorrowland and Epcot theme lands over the years, from the Carousel of Progress to the high tech interactive facility known as Innoventions.
Surprising to some may be that the effects of the Supreme Court ruling in Alice v. CLS Bank has negatively impacted the patent holdings of Disney as a series of patents protecting lip-sync animation technologies were declared invalid in September by a U.S. district judge in California, which found that the patents only protected an abstract set of rules.