Posts Tagged: "kid inventors"

How patent laws are harming children and America’s innovative future

The Young Inventor’s Showcase is nothing short of an amazing academic program in 56 Houston area grade schools. The program teaches grade school kids the entire innovation system from problem identification to the store shelves. The class wraps up with an inventor competition judged by members of the Houston Inventors Association… All of these inventions were disclosed without even a provisional patent application being filed. This isn’t just a concern for the Houston Young Inventors Showcase, but is a problem for all science fairs and similar events. It has always been a bit of a concern because once you disclose an invention it is no longer patentable in many countries, but up until March of 2013 disclosure in the U.S. prior to filing a patent application did not create a patent problem here.

Inventing for Kids: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

Yesterday an interesting animated film opened in theaters across the United States. The film by Columbia Pictures’ and Sony Pictures is titled Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, and is billed as “the most delicious event since macaroni met cheese.” This film is based on a children’s book of the same title published in 1978.  Bill Hader, star of “Saturday…