Posts Tagged: "christmas"

More Iconic (and Patented) Toys and Games: A 2020 Update

It’s Christmastime yet again and we return to a holiday feature made popular in recent years by IPWatchdog Founder Gene Quinn: a roundup of patents covering the most iconic toys and games ever created. Past lists have featured such classics as Mr. Potato Head, Monopoly, Legos, Simon, the Game Boy and much more. This year, we provide an addendum to this list with a series of 10 additions. Many a child around the world has woken up on Christmas morning to tear the wrapping paper off of a box containing one of the following toys or games, regardless if parents were worried about kids shooting their eyes out or the unusual, sometimes creepy, mood swings of small animatronic owls.

The Most Iconic (and Patented) Toys and Games of All Time

Since America’s earliest days, many creative and innovative toys have come through the consumer marketplace. Many have become so iconic they are now household names and synonymous with a moment in time for America’s youth. Some of the most popular of these toys continue to show up year after year under Christmas trees and – you guessed it – were…

The Most Iconic (and Patented) Toys and Games of All Time

Since America’s earliest days, a lot of creative and innovative toys have come through the consumer marketplace. Many becoming so iconic they have become household names and synonymous with a moment in time for America’s youth. Some of the most popular of these toys that continue to show up year after year under Christmas trees were patented… It wouldn’t be a traditional Christmas at IPWatchdog unless we spent some time profiling some cool innovations that relate to the holiday season. So today, I return to one of our all time favorite articles. Five years ago we published The Top 10 Most Iconic (and Patented) Toys and last year we published The Most Iconic (and Patented) Games. With Christmas firmly in mind, it is time to revisit and expand these lists. When initially published some truly iconic classic toys and games were inexplicably left missing. So, with the hours winding down before Santa Claus makes his way down chimneys across the world, join us as we look back at some of the most popular toys and games of all time, as well as the patents behind them.

Dangerous Counterfeits Becoming More Difficult to Avoid

While many holiday shoppers may think that they’re getting a bargain by purchasing goods displaying a particular brand without having to pay brand prices, these shoppers are unwittingly gifting low-quality items or worse, products that pose health hazards, to their friends or loved ones. Thanks in large part to the Internet, counterfeiting operations have reached epidemic levels in recent years. Nearly half of all brand owners are losing revenues because of the sale of counterfeits and, in 2017, U.S. customs agencies seized a total of 34,143 shipments carrying counterfeited goods being imported into the U.S. But counterfeiting is a victimless crime, the common refrain goes. Nothing could be further from the truth. Terrorist organizations and organized crime families are turning to counterfeiting as a meaningful source of income given the exceptionally low penalties even if they are caught and extraordinarily high profit margins — profit margins that are even higher than selling drugs on the street. 

Christmas Gifts for Patent Attorneys and Inventors

It is hard to believe, but Christmas is just around the corner — only two weeks away. For those looking for the perfect gifts for the nerd in your life — perhaps a beloved patent attorney or maybe an engineer, scientist or inventor — here are a few can’t miss gifts for your consideration. As of the time of publication all are still available to be received before Christmas.