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JefW
I thought you were joking - but no; I found a patent for "Method of swinging on ...
does1230
What were they thinking: Christmas patents
Brian Bailey
12/14/2012 6:23 AM EST
Holiday related patents are often quite interesting and by now you would think that everything imaginable had been patented. But this year there were 20 new patents issues that had Christmas in the title and hundreds more that mentioned Christmas in the body. One very popular category is of course converting every idea known to man to use LEDs and the new possibilities that they create.
Living in the Pacific Northwest of the US, where “Christmas Trees” grow like weeds, I do perhaps have a cynical side when it comes to fake trees, and it is amazing how creative people can get (that includes their writing). Take this abstract as an example:
An outdoor Christmas tree assembly includes a cone-shaped frame formed of frustum-shaped frame segments detachably stacked one on top of the other. Each frame segment includes annular frames and slanted lateral frames. One or more frame segments are formed of end-to-end detachably connected arc-shaped frame sections. Tree branches are detachably mounted on the annular frames. Each tree branch may include at least one set of lights, an electric socket, and an electric plug. A harness cord system runs from top to bottom along a lateral side of the frame, and has socket outlets for electrically coupling to the electric plugs of the tree branches. Harness cords are secured to the frame by clamps. The frame may be supported on a base structure having therein a working platform. The outdoor Christmas tree assembly is also applicable for indoor use.
Well, I am sorry, but that is not a tree, and it is not going in my house! Well, perhaps a rotating Christmas tree stand,
or a self-watering one,
or one to prevent a pet from getting into the tree. If you think that would stop my cat or most of the cats I have known then the inventor must be used to sedentary animals!!
Brian Bailey – keeping you entertained
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T. Pro Harrison
12/14/2012 4:32 PM EST
Hey, I'm buying one of those in Figure 5 this weekend for our tree. They made their way into The Home Depot for $5, and I'm not paying $32 plus shipping to get the (probably also patented) Gift Box Tree Watering System (at least not this year). :-)
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BrianBailey
12/14/2012 6:16 PM EST
I hope Home Depot is paying full royalties on this incredible invention that nobody else has ever thought about!
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Battar
12/16/2012 2:02 AM EST
You would be surprised - and saddened - to see how much "unpatentable" rubbish gets past the patent examiners and converted into patents.
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LarryRu
12/16/2012 6:34 PM EST
I have #5. It is the best solution for watering trees I have ever had. It also has a long pipette that slides down inside the watering tube to check how much water is in the stand. I've seen all kinds of complicated solutions to this problem including pumps with level monitoring, and siphons with remote filling tanks, etc., but sometimes the simple solution involving a bit of plastic is the best. This kind of innovation is why the patent system was created.
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BrianBailey
12/17/2012 10:40 AM EST
This was patented THIS year, meaning NO ONE has ever had this idea before (according to the patent office)!
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jjgray
12/17/2012 5:09 AM EST
Well I am hoping the watering funnel is not a granted patent, but Larry is right: it is certainly the right balance of effectiveness v simplicity.
About 30 years ago I made something similar for emptying buckets of water out of my parents' leaky attic and it still works. My 'funnel' was a cut-off plastic Coke bottle.
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bogdanbmcc
12/17/2012 10:27 AM EST
Maybe there should stocks before the USPO where they could keep always one of the last frivolous patent filers
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BrianBailey
12/17/2012 10:41 AM EST
I think even better, the patent officer that accepted the last frivolous patent!
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Chris-J
12/17/2012 12:02 PM EST
Ha - I used something suspiciously like Fig. #5 years ago to water, er, well, fill an inaccessible brake fluid reservoir... got a funnel and a piece of tubing and went to it (no level monitoring though).
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electrofun
12/19/2012 9:25 AM EST
I realized that the USPTO had jumped the tracks when I saw a patent for "a method of swinging a swing."
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JefW
12/21/2012 5:18 AM EST
I thought you were joking - but no; I found a patent for "Method of swinging on a swing".
http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=%22method+swinging+swing%22&OS=
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12/20/2012 2:53 AM EST
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