New Way To Build A Snowman: Patented!
from the the-following-is-not-a-joke dept
In showing the ridiculousness of the patent system, there are a few patents that stand out that get cited pretty often. Among them are Patent #6,004,596 on making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich without the crust, patent #6,368,227 showing a method of swinging on a swing sideways and patent #5,443,036 explaining a method for "exercising a cat" by pointing a laser pointer and "selectively redirecting said beam out of the cat's immediate reach to induce said cat to run and chase said beam and pattern of light around an exercise area."I think we may have another one to add to that list. Prisoner 201 lets us know that the USPTO, in their infinite wisdom, has granted a patent on building a snowman. Because, lord knows, without that, no one would have any incentive at all to make a snowman. I will admit that the patent does discuss a rather different way of making a snowman, involving "snow spheres." But I do wonder if this is the proper use of the patent system. Anyway, go ahead and check out patent # 8,011,991 for inventor Ignacio Marc Asperas of Melville, NY, which is technically for an "Apparatus for facilitating the construction of a snow man/woman." The patent itself declares: "The following is not a joke patent. Its completely serious and is a serious undertaking to obtain a patent."
I don't know. Something tells me that when you need to declare in the patent itself that it is not a joke patent... chances are... it is. I have to say that the description part of the patent is a fun read that made me laugh out loud multiple times. Here's the opening paragraph:
The history of the snow man or snow woman is unknown. But, I have to say this. Whoever the first person was to think to form snow into a human figure was a genius. For untold years thereafter, children and adults alike have been thrilled and received joy in making and watching others make snowmen, err women. You know what I mean. At any rate, what is remarkable is that no one has ever thought, or at least reduced to practice, a way to make snow people easy and fun. I have done an abbreviated patent search and there is nothing relating to the subject of creating a snowman. Unbelievable since it is so much fun and considering the effort involved. But, if no one has thought of it, well, no one has thought of it.My favorite line from the description may be the following:
[W]e are living in the 21st century now. We have created the Internet. China is getting ready to send a person to the moon. And we invented silly putty, perhaps one of the all-time greatest inventions a big kid ever invented. Can't somebody build a better snow man?Later, he wonders if his snowman will be "as revolutionary" as the wheel. Either way, whether you like the patent system or not, this is a pretty fun patent to read, and the description part explains a lot more than the almost unintelligible claims on the patent, with this one being the main one:
1. A building component apparatus for facilitating a construction of a snow man/woman, comprising: a spherically-shaped body that provides an interior structure of the snow man/woman that has an outer surface and an interior, the interior substantially lighter than when the interior is filled with snow; an adhesion surface provided on the outer surface of the spherically-shaped body that substantially increases the ability of the outer surface to adhere snow to the spherically-shaped body; wherein, the spherically-shaped body and adhesion surface form a building component for facilitating the construction of the snow man/woman; and a generator that generates an electric charge, the electric charge coupled to the outer surface.
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I'm suing this patent!
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Patent check
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Re: Patent check
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All I can say is...
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Re: All I can say is...
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A truly new method of making a snowman
The next day the miners built another snowman in the middle of the road - only this time they built it around a bollard!
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Re: A truly new method of making a snowman
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article5847315.ece
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Re: All I can say is...
http://www.google.com/imgres?q=calvin+%26+hobbes+cannonball&hl=en&client=firefox-a& hs=WeX&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&biw=1400&bih=887&tbm=isch&tbnid=73Vi8_pV-m 2MvM:&imgrefurl=http://www.aaronhatcher.com/Photos/Calvin_and_Hobbes/index.htm&docid=WMLOw_G xVKEyEM&w=584&h=190&ei=ZOZ8TtSELYPfsQLLne0R&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=853&vpy=2 57&dur=993&hovh=64&hovw=196&tx=134&ty=54&page=1&tbnh=64&tbnw=196& ;start=0&ndsp=24&ved=1t:429,r:4,s:0
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Ha ha ha! Scraping the bottom of the barrel trying to spread IP FUD. Unfortunately, I'm sure a patented drug will save your life one day, chubby.
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Re: Re:
In doubt? Hardly. I use insults because Pirate Mike has them coming. Look, I know chubby is a smart dude. From time to time he writes something that strikes me as genuinely insightful... sometimes even brilliant. That's why I give him grief about writing FUD like this that panders to the intellectually challenged. He's better than this. Or at least, he should want to be.
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What drug company is going to spend millions on research and development if everyone else can just sell a generic version of it right away? It's the age-old free rider problem.
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Re:
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Uh, dump a bucket of water on a pile of dry snow. Yay...snow for a snowman.
Okay, yes he obviously had to go to some work and testing to set up something like the method used in the patent, but this is not something most people would even consider doing.
On the other hand, I live in a place where there is more than enough snow during the winter to build a suitable snowman...thousands of them, without worrying about dry snow. How would he know which method you used?
So even though the patent may actually have some validity, it does seem a little on the silly side. How is the patent even enforceable in terms of use? People build snowmen, mostly kids. Is this guy going to deconstruct every snowman that "might" have used his patent?
He'd be better of patenting the "kit" along with the method. Then he can sell the "kits" with the instructions and be all set.
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Re: Re: Re:
He didn't patent "building a snowman."
Besides, there is nothing illegal or infringing about doing something on your own that someone else has patented. You just can't sell it, that's all.
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Too bad that you can't see it for what it really is, proof that your objections to the patent system are mostly unfounded.
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I was surprised to learn that one can construct, using the claimed apparatus, a snowman using dry/powder snow.
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I guess I shouldn't be shocked that Mike is in such a rush to slam the patent system that he didn't bother to actually read it. I guess I am not surprised that his minions are falling for his crap too on this one.
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Does this patent meant that I should be careful of posting my dry snowmen on my facebook page since I may fringe on this morons patent?
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I guess I shouldn't be shocked that Mike is in such a rush to slam the patent system that he didn't bother to actually read it. I guess I am not surprised that his minions are falling for his crap too on this one.
Exactly. This patent is actually clever, and the state of the art of snowman making has been advanced. Of course, Pirate Mike has to FUD this out. Sadly, it's all he knows.
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Let's see...make a snowball, roll in snow. Pile two or three on top of each other. Voila. Snowman.
What the hell does that guy's instructions say?
While it may be "valid" how many people would use that method to build a snowman? Certainly no kid I know would be interested, and neither would most adults. Half the fun is in the snowballs.
There's plenty of ways to build a snowman...using electricity isn't high on my list of "must dos".
One of our local groups built a snowman using a lot of recycled plastic lunchables containers...I'm pretty sure they didn't patent it. Anybody want to take a stab?
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It is not a patent on building snowmen.
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Tainted PB&J
It seems that Smucker's stole this idea for their Uncrustables!! The dirty jelly conglomerate can't even leave the poor PB&J alone. Something needs to be done about this travesty. I can't even think straigh, this makes me so upset. I guess I will go out back and swing sideways!
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Re: Tainted PB&J
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Yeah, I don't think so...
Having just read the patent, I can say with confidence that the chance of anyone "using this approach" is zero.
You have a kind of skeleton that looks like a snowman, then use a continuous electrical charge on its surface to make the snow stick to it.
Basically, you're creating a Snow Terminator. Except instead of threatening you with an Austrian accent, it zaps your kids every time they touch it.
It's not so much a stupid patent, as it is a stupid idea.
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Re: Yeah, I don't think so...
It is kind of stupid, but that doesn't mean the patent system is stupid--which seems to be Pirate Mike's point. As long as the criteria of Title 35 are met (101, 102, 103, 112, etc.), then a patent should issue. If the invention is stupid, that's for the market to decide, not the law. You'd think an ivy league-educated guy like Mike'd understand this, but I'm guessing he was in the bottom half of his class.
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Re: Re: Yeah, I don't think so...
Heh. If you must know, graduated second in my class and got to represent the school at graduation. But, eh, facts. Not your strong suit.
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Re: Re: Re: Yeah, I don't think so...
Or not.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Yeah, I don't think so...
Or not.
I said: "but I'm guessing he was in the bottom half of his class." Clearly, I was indicating a guess and not a fact, so your point (like so many of your points) completely misses the mark. Doh! Chubby swings and misses!
That's a whole different ball of wax than you purporting to state as fact that Deadline.com was suing for infringement over news stories, when in fact they were suing for infringement over source code that was copied verbatim.
The only thing worse than you making that mistake (a mistake that 2 minutes of research would have prevented, i.e., you should have done even the most basic and minimum of research into what their arguments actually were before writing a whole article about how dumb their arguments were) is the fact that you won't admit that you even made a mistake. An intellectually dishonest act through and through, chubby. Good on ya!
And funny how you don't actually address the point I made, which is that the market will decide how stupid this patent is, not the Patent Office or the courts.
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Re: Re: Re: Yeah, I don't think so...
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Re: Re: Re: Yeah, I don't think so...
"guessing" is one of those weasel words, you know, the sort of thing you pepper many of your stories / opinions / unresearched posts with. He didn't have to be right, because he isn't wrong. He was guessing, nothing more. Where you finished doesn't matter, and there is no way to correct it, because it was just a guess. He isn't a journalist, he is just a guy making comments. If you want an accurate news report, don't come to blog, right?
"As a result of his posts, is it possible that Mike Masnick graduated at the bottom of his class?"
See? I didn't state anything, I just opened it up for discussion.
As a side note, I don't see you apologizing for failing to read or understand the patent you worked so hard to slam. That makes it your turn to say something nice.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Yeah, I don't think so...
Don't hold your breath. Pirate Mike saw an opportunity to slam patent law and took it. The details are inconsequential--it's all about the IP FUD, not facts.
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But why did he do it ?
So why did me go to the effort and expense of doing this ? Is it for the notoriety of having patented something or is like the people who join Mensa because they have not done anything with their lives.
Or is it just that I'm missing some wonderful business opportunity that he has the vision to see?
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Re: But why did he do it ?
Now that he has been granted the patent. And thanks to the ridiculous nature of it, a bunch of free publicity as well. He may now look at opportunities to either sell or sue. There are plenty of trolls out there amassing arsenals of patents who may be interested in buying his patent. Or, there may be someone out there (think winter entertainment park, or cold-climate research facility, or whatever) that may come up with a similar idea independently which he will now be able to sue.
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Re: But why did he do it ?
Oh, I dunno. Priced right, I'd absolutely buy this! Maybe $20/sphere would be about right, if the spheres were large. I'd have great fun building 10' tall snowmen.
I think that's the appeal. As the patent application says, this is a toy.
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What about snow pets?!
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What do these two problems have in common? We've been solving them for decades by putting a basketball in the freezer then blowing it up tight, misting it with a sprayer, rolling it in the snow, and repeating over and over again.
Kudos to the guy who posted the Calvin and Hobbes snowmen link. Totally opened my mind. I'm going to have a ton of fun with snowmen this winter!
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Fill in the form and pay the money!
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Re: Fill in the form and pay the money!
There are quite likely things much more lucrative than a business built around apparatus helpful for making a snowman or other snow figure, but long ago I learned that what seems almost certainly a loser in the marketplace sometimes surprises even the most ardent cynic.
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Gmail
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