A Board Certified Patent Attorney
Posts Tagged ‘patents’
Thomas Bales Demonstrates That Scientific Geeks Can Get Rich Too
There is a lot of debate whether it is now cool to be a geek. So-called nerds have changed society for the better with their inventions. One such creative type is Thomas O. Bales. This scientific genius used the proceeds from his patents to transform a Coral Gables, Florida, mansion into a virtual nirvana for inventive types. Anybody who enjoys whiling away a day tinkering with electronic and mechanical gadgets would have felt comfortable in this home laboratory. Now, according to sources, Bales has sold the 8-bedroom home for $12.6 million. Bales demonstrates that working at a home lab can be more profitable than Wall Street or professional sports. The creator of a battery-powered surgical instrument has for years been a top mind in the medical device community. Here are some of the amenities found in the two-story
Patent Writing Secrets: What’s the Hook?
Before beginning to draft the patent application there is one step you must take to make sure you get MAXIMUM protection for your idea (and to make sure no one gets around it). And that step is establishing the hook. Allow me to explain what a hook is with a rather famous example in patent circles. Years ago a man caught a rather tragic news story. A woman had died from carbon monoxide poisoning while trapped in her garage. The story goes the woman drove into her garage and shut the door behind her BEFORE shutting off her car (this was up north, in the winter, where people normally do these things). By some series of events the woman fell out of her car before she was able to shut the engine off. Trapped on the ground unable to open the garage door or turn off her car, the woman suffocated to death. Now this is where the story gets […]<
Patent Riches through Licensing
Patents may grant you exclusive rights to prevent others from manufacturing, selling, and importing your idea…but that doesn’t necessarily mean the money will just fall into your lap. To actually profit from your patent you must do one of three things… 1. You must create and sell some aspect of the product 2. You must sell the actual patent itself 3. You must license the patent to someone else What option should you decide on? That’s what we are going to talk about today. Why license your patent? The obvious reason is to avoid the hassles of running a business (things like manufacturing, stocking inventory, and actually selling product). The not so obvious reason is that you may not know how valuab
Patent Your Food – A Look at Edible Patents
I received a call a few days ago from a woman who had a secret family recipe for cake. Her bridge friends said that she should get a patent on it, but she didn’t believe it was patentable. While most patents are for mechanical designs or other inedible inventions…new food and food products definitely fall under the realm of patentability (that includes everything from creating new strains of corn or wheat…all the way down to new natural and artificial flavors). With that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the food items people have patented over the years. Giant Gummy Bear Patent In 1994, Stefan D. Murza et al received patent number 5338245 giving them full ownership of giant gummy bear candy. The patent states this invention is “A giant gummy bear is provided which consists of a pre-molded stretchabl
Inventors Reap Rewards from “Cheap” Patents
Have you ever dreamed about inventing a product that raked in millions? Do you think you have to invent the next "big thing" to do so? Not necessarily so. There have been plenty of nickel-and-dime patented products that have gone on to make their owners millionaires. For example, a number of patents that have crossed my desk have helped their inventors live a life they only dreamed of. An article on Yahoo finance listed 7 products under $5 that made millions. The patents range from a failed glue that wasn’t sticky enough…a straw that helped to get kids to drink their milk…a craze sweeping the nation right now…a static "pet"…a new use for a tennis ball…and a safer baseball. Visit 7 Products Under $5 that Made Millions and see if you can’t think of the next million dollar ide
The “Lost” Michael Jackson Patent
"You’ve Been Hit By, You’ve Been Hit By…A Smooth Criminal" From Smooth Criminal by Michael Jackson Did you know Michael Jackson holds a patent for a device used in the live entertainment version of Smooth Criminal? Here’s the story… In the 1980’s, Michael Jackson revolutionized pop-entertainment. Other than the moonwalk, one of his most memorable gambits was the "anti-gravity" lean from the Smooth Criminal video. During concerts, Michael Jackson wanted to recreate this lean in front of a live audience. If you haven’t seen the stunt, click below on the youtube video to check it out. Patently Absurd The problem is, it’s impossible to lean that far without falling over. In the Smooth Criminal video, Michael used pulleys and cables to create the illusion of defying gravity.
Think your idea is silly? Check out these patents…
Today, let’s take a look at some of the crazier patents from the USPTO. (As silly as some of these seem, I assure you, they have all passed successfully through the patent office doors). User-Operated Amusement Apparatus for Kicking the User’s Buttocks. Patent No. 6,293,874. (2001) Improvement in Fire Escapes (Short Range Parachute). Patent No. 221,855 (1879) Wiper Mechanism to Keep Eyeglasses clean of rain, steam or the like. Patent No. 2,888,703 (1959) Method of Preserving the Dead (for display). Patent No. 748,284 (1903) Apparatus for Walking on the Water. Patent No. 22457 (1858) Do you have an idea for a silly (or hopefully very useful) patent? If so, call our Coral Springs, Florida patent attorney office toll-free hotline number at 1-866-Idea-Attorneys (that’s 1-866-433-2288)