Archives June 2024

Why this Patent?

Between about 10-13 years old, I remember one toy that was impactful and exciting as I grew up. I remember getting a Stomper 4×4 truck in the early to mid 1980s.

If I remember right, I had a grey Datsun Stomper.  These were the “in” or “cool” toy because they had so many great features. 

• First, they were four wheel drive meaning all four wheels were powered and driving to move the toy over obstacles you place in their way. 
• Second, they had working lights, the lights at the front of the truck turned on when the truck was running. 
• Third, they had two gears a low gear and a high gear.  Actually, they had three gears because they had a neutral gear. When in neutral the wheels spun freely and the motor was not running.
• Fourth, they ran on one single AA battery.
• Fifth, they had interchangeable tires. You could remove the rubber tires and replace them with soft spong-like tires, with large triangular treads.
• Sixth, they could climb over anything – at least that is what a young boy thought who had one.

Recently, I saw a news story about Eddy Goldfarb, who is the inventor of the Stomper 4×4. Here is an article on him. I noticed that the Stomper has a patent number written on the bottom. Its patent number is US 4,306,375.

So, I decided to take a closer look at this patent in this post.

Here is the patent: Link

The patent lists Adolph E. (Eddy) Goldfarb and Delmar Everitt as co-inventors. The Stomper has a very distinctive chassis. So, one look at the first figure confirms I have the right patent. I also confirmed the number with the one printed on the bottom of the chassis.

Here is the top of the first page:

You can see in the abstract that some of the features I list above are highlighted. The motor and drive mechanism are explained as, are the tires, tire size, and pronouned treads.

This patent expired in 2000.

What is Claimed?

To find out what is claimed as the new technology, the invention, we have to look at the claims.

This tells us what this inventor wants to protect as their invention or innovation.

Typically, the first claim is the broadest and will give you a good idea of what the invention protects.

Here’s claim 1:

1. A miniature electrically self-powered toy

 vehicle capable of climbing over rough terrain and obstacles as well as up steep inclines, said vehicle having major weight components positioned to provide weight in a generally balanced and relatively low arrangement, while also providing adequate ground clearance in the area between the front and rear wheels, said vehicle comprising:

        a frame;

        front wheel means and rear wheel means mounted to the frame for rolling rotation about respective mutually parallel but spaced-apart front and rear axes, the distance between the front and rear axes being generally about two inches, each of said wheel means having high friction peripheral surfaces with inside edges located respectively adjacent to opposite sides of said frame;

        an electric motor mounted to one side of the frame between the two axes and located adjacent to said inside wheel edges on said one side of the frame, and having a driveshaft which is perpendicular to the two axes and extends both fore and aft from the motor;

        means mounted to the frame to releasably support electrical battery means in the form of a single standard cylindrical AA dry cell at the other side of the frame in a position extending substantially the full distance between said front and rear axes and located adjacent to said inside wheel edges on said other side of the frame, with the axis of the battery means substantially parallel to the driveshaft and the battery means being laterally adjacent to the electric motor and at approximately the same height as said front and rear wheel means, and wherein said frame, said motor and said battery means do not protrude any appreciable distance below the level of said front and rear axes in the area between said front and rear wheel means;

       means for electrically connecting such battery means, when supported in the supporting means, to the motor, so that the battery means powers the motor;

        a pair of worms rotatably mounted parallel to the driveshaft and driven respectively from the fore and aft extensions of the driveshaft; and

        a pair of worm gears rotatably mounted to the vehicle, with their axes of rotation parallel to the axes of wheel rotation; each worm gear driving a respective one of the said wheel means, and being meshed with and directly driven from a respective one of the two worms.The claim includes 8 main elements:

1. Frame
2. Front Wheel Means
3. Rear Wheel Means
4. Electric Motor
5. Means to support battery means
6. Means to connect electricity
7. Pair of Worms
8. Pair of Worm Gears

I would like to see the prosecution history on this patent to see how claim 1 might have changed from when it was initially filed to what later issued. But, that file history is not available electronically. A visit to the USPTO offices would be required.
This claim includes a lot of elements (8). In addition, each element is very specific. This makes the claim easier to design around because a competitor could build a similar device without one of the elements. Or, they could change one element to be different enough to avoid infringing this patent.
How much of a change would be needed is unclear. It is likely that a design with two batteries would probably be enough.

What is New or Unique?

Without the history it is hard to tell what elements of claim 1 are needed to get this patent allowed.One of the benefits of the patent system is that anyone can now make the same toy car and not have to worry about this patent since it has expired.
More importantly, we can all use the information in this patent to build the next generation of 4×4 toy cars/trucks.

• Originally published on blogger.com April 20, 2023

Why this Patent?

I grew up in the 80’s and am very familiar with the advertising jingle about a device you can use to turn on or off your lights with the clap of your hands. We knew it as “The Clapper” and the jingle went something like this “Clap on, Clap off, the Clapper.”

I wondered whether this idea was protected by patents. Patents, which by now, would have expired.

I started researching. Most of what I found was about Mr. Joseph Pedott and his marketing success.

Eventually, I did find a patent relating to the clapper idea, however this patent was filed in 1993, much later than the original design patent. Shown below.

I learned that the inventor of the 1993 patent is Sidney Boguss who later sold the patent to Joseph Pedott of Joseph Enterprises. Joseph Pedott owned the marketing agency which came up with the popular jingle, or what some might call an “Ear Worm”.

The earliest patent connected to the device advertised as “The Clapper” appears to be a design patent filed Nov 13, 1985.

Here is the design patent: Link

However, it look like there was prior art that prevented a US utility patent filing. For example, the design patent cites a TV commercial from 1981 that would have likely prevented a US utility patent filing.

As explained in this article, the original idea for the clapper came from two Canadian inventors.

It looks like they did not work to patent the idea early enough to get a US Utility patent.

Here is the top of the first page:

It is important to note that this is a design patent. The idea of a sound activated light switch is NOT what is protected here. Here, the design patent is protecting the ornamental look and design of the housing.

A later filed patent related to the clapper is US Patent 5,493,618 awarded to Carlile R Stevens and Dale E. Reamer.

Here is the link to that patent: Link

Here is the top of the first page:

This patent is also owned by Joseph Enterprises.  The patent expired in 2013.

What is Claimed?

To find out what is claimed as the new technology, the invention, we have to look at the claims.

This tells us what this inventor wants to protect as their own invention or innovation.

Typically, the first claim is the broadest and will give you a good idea of what the invention protects.

Here’s claim 1:

The claim includes 6 elements:

1. Microphone
2. Filter
3. 1st Power Switch
4. 2nd Power Switch
5. Master Control Device
6. Mode Selector

The switch works by the master control device (MCD) accepting a filtered acoustic signal. The MCD recognizes signals for the 1st switch or the 2nd switch. The MCD sends an output to either the 1st switch or the 2nd switch depending on which signal is received. The mode selector is for a separate operation mode.

What is New or Unique?

This patent application was filed some time ago and I was not able to find a history of what happened at the patent office.  Without the history it is hard to tell what elements of claim 1 are needed to get this patent allowed. One thing is clear, to infringe the claim you would need to have a device with two power switches. So, if you want to make one with one power switch then you would not need to worry about this patent.
Of course, you also do not have to worry about a device with two power switches because this patent is expired!

• Originally Published on blogger.com March 7, 2023

Why this Patent?

I recently saw a newstory about an inventor in Utah who has a patented idea for a hammock.

I thought, I wonder what they are patenting in a hammock?  Hammocks are well known.  What is in this patent that makes it different?

So, I used the inventors name and looked up the patent.  The inventor is Derek Tillotson.

He is listed on US patent number 11,008,772.

Here is the patent: Link

Here is the top of the first page:

In the US, patents are awarded to the inventor or inventors who come up with the idea.  Here you can see Derek’s name and that he is from Utah.  So, I knew I had found at least one of the patents of this inventor that were referred in the news story.

What is Claimed?

To find out what is claimed as the new technology, the invention, we have to look at the claims.

This tells us what this inventor wants to protect as their own invention or innovation.

Typically, the first claim is the broadest and will give you a good idea of what the invention protects.

Here’s claim 1:

What is claimed is:

1. A hammock tent, comprising:

a ridgeline; and

a tent body attached to the ridgeline and comprising:

a platform comprising;

to end sections; and

a central section between the two end sections, the two end sections each relatively wider than the central section;

opposing sides attached to first opposing edges of the platform;

support structures attached to the opposing sides and each comprising ends attached to the ridgeline and an apex proximate the central section of the platform; and

opposing ends positioned between the opposing sides and attached to edges of the opposing sides and second opposing edges of the platform.

 So, this patent claim is to a hammock that includes a ridgeline and a tent body.  Those are the two main parts of this claim.

The tent body includes: a platform, two opposite sides, support structures, and opposing ends.

After listing the platform, Claim 1 has a typographical error in it.

The central section is between two sections, but these are not introduced in the claim. The first red underlined part should say “two end sections”. Then, later references to “the two end sections” makes sense.  The patent owner has since corrected this typo, so that is good.

What is New or Unique?

This patent application was initially rejected by the USPTO. However, the inventor revised the claim to include a requirement that the two end sections be “relatively wider than the central section.”

What does that really mean?

You can see this aspect in Figure 3 of the patent.

Here I have outlined the hour glass shape of the “Central Section” and the two “End Sections” in green.

I have circled approximately where each end section is outlined in blue. Interesting how a feature like this can mean the difference between getting an allowed patent and not getting the patent allowed.

Where is this idea protected?

The idea is currently protected in the US. Also, a patent for the ideas has been filed in CA, AU, EPO, JP, and CN.  The patent is allowed in AU, JP, and CN. The patent is still in the process of being reviewed in CA, and EPO.

I hope this helped explain some of the details that can make a difference in getting a patent and not getting a patent.

• Originally Published on blogger.com Nov. 18, 2022

It took a little doing, but the site is now live and active 🙂

Glad it is working now. Thanks to my son for his help getting it working.

Now to decide how to populate the site!