Anticipate This!™ | Patent and Trademark Law Blog

They Invented What? (No. 87)

Posted in General Commentary by Jake Ward on February 22, 2019

Anticipate This!™ | Patent and Trademark Law Blog

U.S. Pat. No. 7,062,320:   Device for the treatment of hiccups.

  hiccup

What is claimed is:

1. A device for curing hiccups, comprising: a metallic cup-like vessel being a first electrode for producing electricity adapted to be applied to the lip of the user; and a second electrode electrically insulated from said first electrode being affixed to said vessel and extending from a point substantially within said vessel to a point substantially above a rim of the vessel.

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They Invented What? (No. 86)

Posted in General Commentary by Jake Ward on February 22, 2019

Anticipate This!™ | Patent and Trademark Law Blog

U.S. Pat. No. 5,392,735:  Marine mammal communication device.

 dolphintalk

What is claimed is:

1. A communication device for communication between marine mammals and humans comprising:

           a submersible keyboard, said keyboard having at least one panel in which a plurality of hollow keys are disposed, said at least one panel having a front surface and a plurality of openings, each key having
          a housing open at a first end and mounted at said first end to an opening in said panel,
          an object situated in said key housing near said panel opening, said object comprising an echolocatable object providing a unique echoic or visual representation of an audible language element, and,
          a switch means which can be activated by a marine mammal to produce a signal when a key is selected; and,
          an audio generator coupled to each key for detecting said signal and…

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They Invented What? (No. 85)

Posted in General Commentary by Jake Ward on February 7, 2019

Anticipate This!™ | Patent and Trademark Law Blog

U.S. Pat. No. 5,260,639:  Method for remotely powering a device such as a lunar rover.

 powersat

What is claimed is:

1. A method of supplying power to a device located on the surface of a planet, comprising the steps of:

          orbiting at least one satellite around the planet, wherein the satellite comprises a nuclear reactor for generating electrical power;
          generating electrical power via the nuclear reactor;
          converting the generated electrical power into a GaAlAs laser beam;
          directing the GaAlAs laser beam from the at least one satellite to the device; and
converting the power of the GaAlAs laser beam into electrical power for use by the device, said converting step comprising directing the GaAlAs laser beam through a layer of n-GaAlAs semiconductor, through a layer of p-GaAlAs semiconductor, and then through a layer of p-GaAs semiconductor, whereby an electric current is generated.

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They Invented What? (No. 84)

Posted in General Commentary by Jake Ward on February 3, 2019

Anticipate This!™ | Patent and Trademark Law Blog

U.S. Pat. No. 4,150,505:  Bird trap and cat feeder.

 catfeeder

I claim:

1. A bird trap and cat feeder for catching a bird and in particular, a sparrow, and feeding the bird to a cat, the trap comprising: 
          an enclosed bird housing having an upper portion, a tapered lower portion, a back, a front, a top, an open bottom, and sides;
          an entrance hole mounted in the side of the upper portion of said housing for receiving the bird therethrough;
          a glass window mounted in an opening in the tapered lower portion of the front of said housing;
          a balanced pivot tube pivotally mounted on a pivot pin inside said housing, a first end of said pivot tube is attached to a balance weight for balancing said tube in a horizontal position, a second end of said tube is disposed adjacent and below said entrance…

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