Posts Tagged: "merry christmas"

First and foremost we want to thank everyone for spending a part of your day with us and reading IPWatchdog.com. We appreciate your reading, support, comments, e-mails, webinar participation and joining us at IPWatchdog LIVE. Thank you! Whether you celebrate the holiday or not, I encourage everyone to take a look at The Most Iconic (and Patented) Toys and Games…

Christmas is in just a few days, but if you’re still looking for gifts for the patent attorneys, engineers, scientists or inventors in your life, here are a few can’t-miss gifts for your consideration.

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.

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.

Several years ago we profiled the Top 10 Iconic (and Patented) Toys in our Christmas Eve edition. This year we decided to profile the most iconic and patented games, many of which are still likely to be found waiting for good little girls and boys under the Christmas tree. Profiled are Monopoly®, Rubik’s Cube, Battleship, and Rock’em Sock’em Robots, Twister and Simon.

There is no doubt that Santa Claus contributes greatly to the staggering 2017 predictions for holiday spending… Indeed, after reading all these patents (and the many others I found) it seems clear that there is a long tradition of inventors seeking patents on various items inspired by or relating to Santa Claus himself. And unlike many other celebrities, no doubt owing to Santa’s jolly nature, he seems perfectly comfortable with inventors using his name and likeness as they invent toys, figurines and other gadgets that are useful for conjuring up the loving spirit of the man during the holiday season.

Dear Mr. Claus: You recently contacted this office to confirm the availability of your proposed “SANTA CLAUS” trademark for use in your business and, if this mark is non-infringing, to assist you in registering it for U.S. and international use. For these purposes you describe your business as “delivering games and toys to good little boys and girls as gifts for Christmas.”

The solution to this intractable puzzle was provided by Santa in the Patent, which describes a grid of enormous, land-based wind turbines running back and forth between the east and west coasts of the United States, arranged alternately parallel and perpendicular to the equator. This grid, claims the Patent, propels a sled that contains an assembly of wind-catching parachutes and, as a backup propulsion system, a team of stimulated ruminants who respond to their catchy Teutonic names. The sled itself is manned by a right jolly old elf who is prevented from being blown off by a sophisticated harnessing process adapted from the airline industry and more fully described in the Patent.

In addition to our two most recent Christmas themed articles, we invite you to take a look at some of our Christmas related patent articles of the past. Enjoy! From our family to your, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I thought it might be interesting to take a look at one of more fun holiday traditions — kissing under mistletoe. According to History.com, mistletoe is a symbolic herb that has been used in one form or another for thousands of years, but when and how kissing under mistletoe became associated with the Christmas holiday is open for debate. What isn’t open for debate, however, is just how sparse the field of mistletoe innovation really is. Sure, there are a number of patents that deal with mistletoe extracts, but that isn’t exactly in keeping with the holiday theme. There are also a couple design patents of questionable taste, at least for a family audience. I hope you enjoy this selection and have a very Merry Christmas.

Later this evening, on December 24th, Santa Claus will guide his team of nine reindeer, led by Rudolph’s red nose, from the North Pole to points across the globe, spreading good cheer and presents to children of all races, languages and creeds. At that time, the progress of Santa’s journey will be closely tracked by the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), a joint operation of the United States and Canadian federal governments. With many years of Santa tracking under its belt, it’s possible that NORAD has the world’s largest compendium of data collected from analysis of Santa’s previous Christmas trips. Last year, the agency released a fact sheet about Santa’s sleigh, reported by multiple news outlets.

What kind of patents relating specifically to artificial Christmas trees exist? Plenty! Here are artificial Christmas tree patents from 1911 to 1928. U.S. Patent No. 1,654,427, issued December 27, 1927, is the first artificial Christmas tree patent I uncovered that could be said to actually look like something that you might see today.

Of course, 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, with Christmas firmly in mind, we want to take a look at the importance that utility and design patents have held for the toy industry. With the hours winding down before Santa Claus makes his way down chimneys across the world, join us as we take a look back at some of the most popular children’s toys of all time, as well as the intellectual property behind them all. Our journey runs includes iconic toys such as the Hoola Hoop, Slinky, Play-Doh, Easy Bake Oven, Game-Boy, the Frisbee, YoYo, Lego blocks, the Magic 8 Ball and the Etch A Sketch.

Frequent readers of IPWatchdog know that we look for any excuse to talk about patents and holidays provide an opportunity to discus thematically relevant patents for interesting innovations. This year we are focusing on Christmas lights. Some of these patents are for Christmas tree lighting, some are for outdoor decorative lighting and we have one from the era that just caught our eye as we were researching. So sit back and enjoy the wonderful world of patents, Christmas style. And be sure and check out our other Christmas patent articles.