{"id":52,"date":"2024-06-19T17:14:01","date_gmt":"2024-06-19T17:14:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mckenzieip.com\/?p=52"},"modified":"2024-06-19T17:16:12","modified_gmt":"2024-06-19T17:16:12","slug":"what-is-being-patented-on-a-hammock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mckenzieip.com\/?p=52","title":{"rendered":"What is being patented on a Hammock?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why this Patent?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>I recently saw a newstory about an inventor in Utah who has a patented idea for a hammock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I thought, I wonder what they are patenting in a hammock?&nbsp; Hammocks are well known.&nbsp; What is in this patent that makes it different?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, I used the inventors name and looked up the patent.&nbsp; The inventor is Derek Tillotson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He is listed on US patent number 11,008,772.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Here is the patent:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/patents.google.com\/patent\/US11008772B2\/en?oq=us11008772\">Link<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Here is the top of the first page:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"661\" height=\"636\" src=\"https:\/\/mckenzieip.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/image.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-53\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mckenzieip.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/image.png 661w, https:\/\/mckenzieip.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/image-300x289.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 661px) 100vw, 661px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>In the US, patents are awarded to the inventor or inventors who come up with the idea.&nbsp; Here you can see Derek&#8217;s name and that he is from Utah.&nbsp; So, I knew I had found at least one of the patents of this inventor that were referred in the news story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What is Claimed?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>To find out what is claimed as the new technology, the invention, we have to look at the claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This tells us what this inventor wants to protect as their own invention or innovation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Typically, the first claim is the broadest and will give you a good idea of what the invention protects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here&#8217;s claim 1:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>What is claimed is:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>1. A hammock tent, comprising:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>a ridgeline; and<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>a tent body attached to the ridgeline and comprising:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>a platform comprising;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>to end sections; and<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>a central section between the two end sections, the two end sections each relatively wider than the central section;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>opposing sides attached to first opposing edges of the platform;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>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<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>opposing ends positioned between the opposing sides and attached to edges of the opposing sides and second opposing edges of the platform.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;So, this patent claim is to a hammock that includes a ridgeline and a tent body.&nbsp; Those are the two main parts of this claim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The tent body includes: a platform, two opposite sides, support structures, and opposing ends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After listing the platform, Claim 1 has a typographical error in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/blog\/post\/edit\/914702170922996305\/5771130368845609814#\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEgZD3wp2dK8HWTsjwKJRWgQTbhVaPTuw2Gq4NY477e9R0RHCOw3lShQfNvYAUtVzZ3Vjh8DnaSRetmL6zwfjOuUt7CRKPh7jWbRGfmF8XunGZv74DvI551eh3G95ll8wnStBs6Mn9NmN-MOmp3biDcqjI_v9yNtRVKQ399LvMfQEimLJlChrnoUG83r-A\/w395-h337\/Claim%201%20Typo..jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The central section is between two sections, but these are not introduced in the claim. The first red underlined part should say &#8220;two end sections&#8221;. Then, later references to &#8220;the two end sections&#8221; makes sense.&nbsp; The patent owner has since corrected this typo, so that is good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What is New or Unique?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>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 &#8220;relatively wider than the central section.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What does that really mean?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can see this aspect in Figure 3 of the patent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/blog\/post\/edit\/914702170922996305\/5771130368845609814#\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEjRz4RlsxlsyQs2tGVGfwOjpuXZFqzJiN9yoF6p9LUHsvFZBYblo-LzH1U-ibGSCRDAqdDEJTVTgdECcga1r9MxSh5CD2aK40vOuxCAtZDBCJ7El8hK4k1lJly4-d3Gm2XtGIoD8i91K84qxh8cFpQL7mTwbIR_prvsMw1oh8ASgjK249BAkHa078dAZQ\/w398-h279\/Fig%203..jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/blog\/post\/edit\/914702170922996305\/5771130368845609814#\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEgxtotit-QvkmC9mp4IxOVkq4BIXkooaUbPXsqhxUt2klNvOIQaTFgOtE-0AuiR5kTUzSFJY6_Rwpa8SD6JCHL1SJeguAMhyV_3XOlXWmaJCgvnr9tB9B9OYwFy77aSoiwY2CxQ44UiCYwsOjBs41ct0uSwN1ozL8FL9C5LrzRmx2EZa9TH8N8FjGriLQ\/w400-h280\/Fig%203%20marked%20up..jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Here I have outlined the hour glass shape of the &#8220;Central Section&#8221; and the two &#8220;End Sections&#8221; in green.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Where is this idea protected?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The idea is currently protected in the US. Also, a patent for the ideas has been filed in CA, AU, EPO, JP, and CN.&nbsp; The patent is allowed in AU, JP, and CN. The patent is still in the process of being reviewed in CA, and EPO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I hope this helped explain some of the details that can make a difference in getting a patent and not getting a patent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Originally Published on blogger.com Nov. 18, 2022<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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?&nbsp; Hammocks are well known.&nbsp; What is in this patent that makes it different? So, I used the inventors name and looked up the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-what-about-patents"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mckenzieip.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mckenzieip.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mckenzieip.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mckenzieip.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mckenzieip.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=52"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/mckenzieip.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63,"href":"https:\/\/mckenzieip.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52\/revisions\/63"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mckenzieip.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=52"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mckenzieip.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=52"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mckenzieip.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=52"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}