Historical & Interesting » The Invent Blog

Vuvuzela, the trademark

Historical & Interesting, Humor 2 Responses »

Jun 172010

I wondered if there were a rash of US trademark applications filed on variations on VUVUZELA (as US applicants race to do every time there is a new hot word). Surprisingly, there are ZERO pending trademarks that include VUVUZELA. The only mark in TESS is an abandoned US Trademark application…I had no idea that VUVUZELA itself was a trademark. Now, you know…

Word Mark VUVUZELA
Goods and Services (ABANDONED) IC 015. US 002 021 036. G & S: Musical instruments, namely, plastic trumpets
Serial Number 78605017
Filing Date April 8, 2005
Live/Dead Indicator DEAD
Abandonment Date July 18, 2008

Book Review – The Way Toys Work

Historical & Interesting, Humor, Idaho, Info For Inventors Comments Off

Jan 172010

Most larger cities have a “children’s museum” where kids (and grown ups) can experience “hands on” science. Anything that teaches kids that science is cool is worth supporting!

Our local children’s museum is called the “Discovery Center of Idaho.” For about ten years now, I have provided free patent searches to the winners of the Discovery Center’s annual “Invent Idaho” science fair contest for elementary and middle school students. It has been a blast working with young kids that are so excited about inventing.

Through that participation, I have come to be a big fan of the Discovery Center’s Education Director, Woody Sobey (@twsobey). A few weeks ago, Woody mentioned that he had a book on toys called “The Way Toys Work: The Science Behind the Magic 8 Ball, Etch A Sketch, Boomerang, and More.” I immediately ordered it.

The book is amazing. In the book they take apart toys, deconstructing them for kids while explaining how they work. Additionally, most of the toys mentioned include figures from the actual patents for the toys. It is definitely something that most of my readers would enjoy reading, as well as giving away as a gift to their children/grandchildren/nieces/nephews.

Google patents (design) its user interface

Historical & Interesting 4 Responses »

Sep 022009

google ui design patent Via Gawker, Google has obtained (Sept. 1, 2009) a design patent that covers its user interface. USPN D599,372.

What’s amazing to me is how long it took to obtain the patent, the application was filed on March 7, 2006.

It is also a good example of a patent containing a copyright or mask notice (see my earlier post on Are Patent Drawings in the Public Domain?).

This Week in Law Podcast – patents

Historical & Interesting, IP Law Practice, Lawsuits/Laws/Rules, USPTO Comments Off

Aug 052009

I’m going to be a guest on this week’s TWiL (This Week in Law) podcast, discussing patents with host Denise Howell and patent lawyers Adam Bagwell and Matt Buchanan. Topics on the slate include Volumedia’s “podcasting patent,” patent reform, “Web 2.0 and uspto.gov,” and Peer-to-Patent. Per Denise’s blog:

This Friday, August 7, this WEEK in LAW will be live on TWiT.tv at 11 a.m. Pacific. You can watch at live.twit.tv, or on Stickam or UStream. Chat with us real-time at irc.twit.tv or on FriendFeed (the Stickam and UStream channels have their own chat as well, but I won’t be monitoring those while we’re on.) If you can’t make it live, you can, of course, always subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcatcher (more options here).

Denise’s blog has details on how to submit questions/topics for the show.

Patents per capita and Idaho

Historical & Interesting, Idaho Comments Off

Aug 032009

One statistic I get tired of hearing is how data shows (showed?) that Idaho is (was) #1 per capita for patents and Boise is (was) #2 per capita for patents. The reality is those numbers are (were) greatly skewed by Micron Technology and Hewlett-Packard both having facilities in town. Those two entities account for 75%+ of the Idaho patents since 1984.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not bad mouthing Idaho inventors. Instead, I’m criticizing those (typically in government) that pound on their chests like Tarzan, bragging about this statistic, trying to make it mean something it doesn’t.

A local friend of mine, Chris Blanchard, recently wrote a post on this exact topic: Blanchard v. Florida: Why Patents per Capita is a Poor Economic Indicator. In that post he takes issue with portions of Richard Florida’s book The Rise of the Creative Class. Chris’ post is worth reading too…

New patent data/statistics/analytics website

Historical & Interesting, IP Law Practice Comments Off

Jul 212009

Boliven Patents. Impressive collection of patent data, searchable file histories, listings of the most prolific inventors, which examiners have examined the most patents…and so on.

King of Pop, and patentee

Historical & Interesting Comments Off

Jun 252009

It is sad hearing that Michael Jackson passed away.

Did you know he had a patent? See this 2004 Invent Blog post.

Robot inventors

Historical & Interesting, USPTO 4 Responses »

Apr 042009

FT.com notes “A laboratory robot called Adam has been hailed as the first machine in history to have discovered new scientific knowledge independently of its human creators.”

Patent bar exam trivia question of the day: can the robot be listed as an inventor on a U.S. patent application?

Video – Bob Shaver on Bicycle Patents and Technology

Historical & Interesting, Idaho 1 Response »

Apr 032009

Video from Ignite Boise 01 is online now. One of the videos that my readers may enjoy is my law partner Bob Shaver’s (Patent Pending Blog) FIVE MINUTE presentation on The History of Bicycle Technology (below).

By the way, Bob has a new blog: BicyclePatents.com.

IgniteBoise|01 Speakers/Topics Announced

Historical & Interesting, Idaho, Info For Inventors Comments Off

Mar 092009

I’m jazzed by the great speakers/presentations we have on tap for IgniteBoise|01. See the IgniteBoise blog post”: Without further ado… « Ignite Boise | Boise’s best ideas in 5 minutes, 2 0 slides.

Included in the speaker list is my law partner Bob Shaver (aka the bicyclepatents.com blog) speaking on…bicycle technology.

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