Anticipate This!™ | Patent and Trademark Law Blog

They Invented What? (No. 114)

Posted in General Commentary by Jake Ward on September 30, 2019

Anticipate This!™ | Patent and Trademark Law Blog

U.S. Pat. No. 6,612,440:  Banana protective device.

 

I claim:

1. A banana protective device comprising:
          a container having a first cover member and a second cover member being hingedly attached to said first cover member, said first and second cover members defining an interior for receiving and storing a banana therein, each of said first and second cover members having a substantially concave inner side;
          pad members each being mounted on the inner side of one of said first and second cover members for protecting and cushioning the banana when the banana is received in said interior; and fastening members being attached to said first and second cover members for fastenably closing said first and second cover members together;
          wherein each of said first and second cover members has an elongate wall which has a lateral U-shaped cross-section and which is longitudinally curved and banana-shaped…

View original post 226 more words

They Invented What? (No. 113)

Posted in General Commentary by Jake Ward on September 18, 2019

Anticipate This!™ | Patent and Trademark Law Blog

U.S. Pat. No. 5,687,752:  Dining table having integral dishwasher.

 

What is claimed is:

1. A dishwasher comprising:
          a washing basin having side and bottom walls and an open top;
          a rack assembly for carrying dishes, and that is vertically shiftable between a lower cleaning position wherein the rack assembly is disposed within the basin below the open top and an upper loading position wherein the rack assembly is disposed above the open top of the basin;
          a shifting mechanism coupled with the rack assembly for selectively shifting the assembly between the cleaning position and loading position;
          a lid member for covering the open top of the basin when the rack assembly is in the cleaning position; and
          a cleaning means for cleaning the dishes carried in the rack assembly when the assembly is in the cleaning position, said lid member being coupled with…

View original post 1,414 more words

They Invented What? (No. 112)

Posted in General Commentary by Jake Ward on September 8, 2019

Anticipate This!™ | Patent and Trademark Law Blog

U.S. Pat. No. 4,300,473: Device for moistening the adhesive coating on postage stamps and envelopes.

 

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for moistening adhesive coatings on postage material and the like, comprising:
         (a) an enclosure member;
         (b) an open top liquid container disposed within said enclosure member;
         (c) a spring biased linkage member pivotally mounted within the enclosure member and biased to a predetermined position;
         (d) a moistening member pivotally mounted to the linkage member, said moistening member being movable from a first position in which it is disposed within the open top liquid container to a second position in which it is extended outwardly from the enclosure member;
         (e) a plunger reciprocally movable within the enclosure member, said plunger engaging the linkage member for applying a force thereto non-coincident with the linkage member’s pivotal axis to overcome its spring bias; and

View original post 194 more words

They Invented What? (No. 111)

Posted in General Commentary by Jake Ward on September 2, 2019

Anticipate This!™ | Patent and Trademark Law Blog

U.S. Pat. No. 5,675,103:  Non-lethal tetanizing weapon.

JW Note:  Set phase pistols to stun.

Definition : Tetanize = To affect with tetanic convulsions; produce or induce tetanus (a state of continuous muscular contraction, especially when induced artificially by rapidly repeated stimuli).

   

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for applying a tetanizing electrical current to muscular tissue of a distant human target which comprises:
          means for generating a high-voltage pulsed electrical current modulated to closely replicate physiological neuroelectric impulses which control human striated, skeletal muscle tissue;
means for ionizing at least one channel of ambient air between said means for generating and the target; and
          means for inducing said tetanizing electrical current within said ionized channel wherein said means for generating and said means for ionizing have rated output powers capable of inducing a flow of pulsed electrical current through said tissue, said current being adjusted to…

View original post 499 more words