Posts Tagged: "santa patents"

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.

This year I asked Glen Kotapish of Planet Patent if he could provide me some examples of interesting or bizarre US patents that somehow relate to “Christmas trees.” I figured that Glen, the owner of a patent search firm, probably had come across an interesting Christmas tree patent or two over the years. Glen did not disappoint! Incidentally, if you are into bizarre patents I highly recommend visiting his Bizarre Inventions Weird Inventions page.

The device is explained to be a structural improvement of toy Christmas tree. The lower part of the foundation unit has a motor with intermittent off-and-on rotation controlled by a control circuit board installed in the base.

This Santa Claus Detector patent is one of my all-time favorites, and one of the more ingenious holiday patents that I have ever seen. In addition to some very cool patent art, the invention is explained as including a Christmas stocking having illumination means that light up upon the arrival of Santa Claus. According to the invention, the Christmas stocking has a light source on the exterior of the stocking and a power source with a switching mechanism, which is preferably contained in the stocking itself. The toe of the stocking has a hole that will allow for a slide pin. The stocking is hung by the chimney with care, and a decorative pull cord is tied to the ring at the toe of the stocking. The other end of the decorative pull cord is tied to either another stocking hung opposite or secured to a decoration on the other side of the fire place.