Nice Patent... For Me to Poop On!

from the good-patent-office,-good--boy dept

Wed, Aug 16th 2006 10:27pm — Mike Masnick

theodp writes "What's that, Lassie? Timmy's in the Patent Office? On Tuesday, the USPTO issued U.S. patent no. 7,090,268 for a Dog waste catcher and holder, i.e., catching dog poop with a grocery bag on a stick (patent image)." It gets really fun when the patent tries to explain how it's different from prior art.

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35 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 16 Aug 2006 @ 10:46pm

Thats about what the patent is worth, too.
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?, 16 Aug 2006 @ 10:53pm

I wonder
If they make one big enough for the USPTO to fit in?
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milan, 16 Aug 2006 @ 11:00pm

Astonishing.
I am stunned speechless. Any of you think this patent is enforsable; i.e., if I came out tomorrow with a bag in a loop at the end of a stick, picking up dog poop, will I be ordered to 'cease and desist'?
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Frink, 16 Aug 2006 @ 11:11pm

Re: Astonishing.
"will I be ordered to 'cease and desist'?"

Only if it actually has dog shit in it when you are caught. Otherwise you could claim it is a butterfly catcher.
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Ryan, 16 Aug 2006 @ 11:14pm

You know, I'd really like to see...
...someone actually using this device. A group of friends and I made a video about something like this back in high school as a joke. During the shoot, we discovered how freaking hard it is to get an animal to {cough} evacuate into anything that you have hovering below them. My God, I guess just any old piece of crap gets a patent these days? [no pun intended]
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!, 17 Aug 2006 @ 12:09am

Holy Shit!
...and here I was thinking it was expensive and time-consuming to get a patent for an invention which is utterly worthless.
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ThePengwin, 17 Aug 2006 @ 12:36am

HEY!!
Aww that was my idea!!
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Xcetron, 17 Aug 2006 @ 12:39am

Some one go out and patent the idea to be stupid and then maybe we can stop these people.
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krum303, 17 Aug 2006 @ 2:16am

Remind me....
Note to self: Get a patent on that pill that gives worms to ex-girlfriends.
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nunya_bidness, 17 Aug 2006 @ 4:41am

Patent Infringement
There is already a patent on holding a stick in your hand, so it looks like this device will have to be operated by securing it to the human operator by some other method.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Aug 2006 @ 4:57am

Re: Patent Infringement
Not only that, but you will have to be a certified poop scooper, if you are in a union.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Aug 2006 @ 5:24am

poopPod
This patent could only be improved by the use of the word "Pod" in the product name.
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Rabid Wolverine, 17 Aug 2006 @ 5:36am

pooped out
Really, don't any of you people have a life?

I can think of anything better to waste my time other than blogging about this issue...

Wait! I jsut blogged about this issue! Help me, help me, help me I'm melting....
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Horses Mouth, 17 Aug 2006 @ 5:58am

Microsoft to release Zune poop scooper beta on fri
Never one to be too late for the party, today Microsoft announced that they too have a poop scooper product that will work seamlessly with your septic system, or Windows (same thing), a Microsoft spokesgirl was quoted as saying "we arent afraid to take some shit, and we dont give a shit either"
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trollificus (profile), 17 Aug 2006 @ 6:21am

Simply patenting stupidity isn't feasible...
...patenting stupidity as a BUSINESS METHOD, otoh...

We could use a similar drawing, too, just substitute a Patent Attorney for the dog and the Patent Office for the net.
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Ron (profile), 17 Aug 2006 @ 6:43am

Squat
The guy who submitted this patent, and the one who approved it are both frickin' idiots. My dogs squat when they crap; they don't stand there and shoot sh*t straight out the back (come to think of it, neither do they turn to the left and smile as they do so). So, to make this work, I need to shove this baggie under my dog squatting in the grass, hope I make directly under the evacuation chute, and that when the dog feels something russtling under her backside, hope she does not run off whilest continuing to crap on the run. That's for the large dog. The small one starts out at only about 6 inches off the ground. You can imagine (well, if you really want to think about it that hard) how low she gets to the ground when she's doing her thing.
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ebrke, 17 Aug 2006 @ 7:27am

Re: Squat
Oh, shoot--I read your post at work and nearly choked to death trying to laugh silently. Thanks for the mental picture of the large dog running in terror from the baggie, spilling poop all the way!
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a baggie, 17 Aug 2006 @ 7:45am

Caught
Right-o you lot! That's about enough of that. Leave the stupid people alone. They make the rest of us look good.
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Va-poo-rizing, 17 Aug 2006 @ 7:51am

Other Patents to Note
http://tinyurl.com/gxh3v

and

http://tinyurl.com/p2jlx
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oldbear, 17 Aug 2006 @ 7:52am

Pooper bag
Is this any different than the pooper scoopers that are already sold in the stores? We have a very large dog - I use old plastic bags - don't really want to carry any more "crap" when out walking the dog. We go out first thing in the morning, and I'm not that awake - I'd hate to grab the wrong damn end of this "crappy" device. Watch out - next this guy will patent the plastic bag on the hand - and then we'll all be picking up dog crap with our bare hands - until he pantents that too...
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Mousky, 17 Aug 2006 @ 8:05am

Priceless
Prior Art? Obviousness? Is there anyone at the USPTO that is capable of doing their job?
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Aug 2006 @ 9:10am

Looks more like a Fox Poop Catcher
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Aug 2006 @ 10:13am

Want an idea for patent?

Look at existing patents and see one or two minor things they miss out and claim it in your patent that is what this guy is doing.

It is funny to see in the patent claim doc how he writes "with my invention" so many times... Can somebody define invetion?
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CS, 18 Aug 2006 @ 8:00am

American Inventor Guy?
Is this the fella that the judges laughed out of contention on the show "American Inventor"?
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denny, 18 Aug 2006 @ 8:19am

Re: Remind me....
Nice KITH reference!
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michele, 24 Oct 2006 @ 4:14pm

Poop Catcher, love it!! Have one!
Sorry to all you haters of the idea, but I love it and have fashioned my own catcher(even before seeing this website) to keep from having a messy yard. The trick is to get your pup use to it at a young age, we take our pup out to potty on a leash and he goes in a matter of minutes, he is not even aware of the catcher behind him and I am spared the messy job of clean up afterwards. Now it would not be something a person would find a use for when you dog is free to potty where ever and clean up is done afterwards, but it works great for dogs that are trained to potty on a walk or while on a leash. There are patents dating back to 1907, so it has been around a lot longer than you think!
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michele, 24 Oct 2006 @ 4:15pm

Poop Catcher, love it!! Have one!
Sorry to all you haters of the idea, but I love it and have fashioned my own catcher(even before seeing this website) to keep from having a messy yard. The trick is to get your pup use to it at a young age, we take our pup out to potty on a leash and he goes in a matter of minutes, he is not even aware of the catcher behind him and I am spared the messy job of clean up afterwards. Now it would not be something a person would find a use for when you dog is free to potty where ever and clean up is done afterwards, but it works great for dogs that are trained to potty on a walk or while on a leash. There are patents dating back to 1907, so it has been around a lot longer than you think!
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George Kovacs inventor, 23 Nov 2006 @ 6:15pm

Pooper scooper Invention
I invented a disposable paper pooper scooper which is under patent pending. It is a paper plate with paper spikes on it. It is placed over the poop and you step on it. The poop sticks to it and it is very easy to pick and dispose of. I can send you samples for free to try it out if anyone is interested.

Sincerely George Kovacs inventor
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Braden Smith, 20 Jan 2007 @ 4:32pm

Beast Master
I also came up with this idea and have been using it twice a day with my great dane! So before you poo poo this idea, let me tell you it has saved me a bunch of mess. We're talking about three pounds of mess a day. My dane doesn't mind me catching it either.

It is easy to be negative and critical. Try creating something someone can use. Hats off to the poop on a stick guy!

Braden Smith
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martha, 27 Sep 2007 @ 11:57am

dog poop catcher!
Check out www.poodooty.com if you want to see one that never needs cleaning, fits in back pocket pictures of dogs using and ignoring it...Never gets dirty, bag slides down handle and stays on by friction. Can't beat this one. It is PERFECT. Great Danes, Mastiffs, toy Poodles..PooDooty works. Really. It beats the heck out of bending down to TRY and pick the smelly crap up!
Martha
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Anonymous Coward, 7 Jan 2008 @ 6:54pm

Re: Remind me....
ah shit. nice comment, i will steal this one. thank you. :)
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onkar singh, 4 Jul 2009 @ 9:43am

thats common in us
oho whenever i want to laugh i will search us patent ,and luckily i used to get like this frivilous patent .
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Anonymous Coward, 28 Jul 2009 @ 9:44am

u8yyt
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Shine (profile), 29 Oct 2011 @ 5:49am

anything
So you can actually ask for a patent on anything.
septic tank pumping
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