You Can Patent That?
Title: You Can Patent That? , By: Stix, Gary, Scientific American, 00368733, Jul2003, Vol. 289, Issue 1
Section: Staking Claims
A selection of recently issued intellectual-property gems
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issues several thousand new patents a week. Not everything that originates from the patent office is just another variation on a rotary valve or a mobile communications device. In each weekly batch, a number of issuances demonstrate both the scope of human ingenuity and the expansive breadth of what the patent office considers novel, useful and inventive. What follows are a few recent highlights that, if nothing else, transcend the mundane.
Sildenafil citrate chewing gum formulations and methods of using the same, patent 6,531,114, assigned to Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company. According to the text of the patent: “We claim a method for treating erectile dysfunction in an individual comprising the steps of providing a chewing gum composition that includes a therapeutically effective amount of Sildenafil citrate in the chewing gum composition.” Chewing causes the drug” to be released from the chewing gum composition into the oral cavity of the individual.” Sildenafil citrate is better known as Viagra.
Warren portal identification and tunnel resident disgorger system, patent 6,474,601, Richard Krobusek and David H. Hitt of Piano, Tex. A jet engine is aimed at the mouth of a cave. “Running the jet engine at idle … creates a significant volumetric flow of exhaust gases, including significant quantities of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide,” the patent states. “These gases displace the oxygen that the terrorists require to breathe.” The engine can also be run at cruise power, which “causes significant airflow and force to be applied to those persons and objects in the warren. Therefore, the terrorists are assaulted through their sense of touch as they are blown about in the warren.”
Registered pedigree stuffed animals, patent 6,482,067, David L. Pickens of Honolulu. From the patent: “A pair of opposite sex ‘parent’ toy animals are sold together with a serial number by which the parent’s genotype and phenotype may be identified. The owner or owners of the ‘parent’ toy animals may register the parents with the manufacturer and subsequently request ‘breeding’ of the animals, whereupon the manufacturer makes at least one ‘offspring’ toy animal randomly selected from a litter having phenotypes [traits] determined according to the registered genotypes of the parents and the Mendelian laws of inheritance.”
Nervous system manipulation by electromagnetic fields from monitors, patent 6,506,148, Hendricus G. Loos of Laguna Beach, Calif. A pulsed electromagnetic field, from either a television set or a computer, can be created to manipulate the human nervous system, inducing sensations that range from relaxation to a “tonic smile,” to sexual excitement or “sudden loose stool.” Sometimes the pulses cannot be seen on the monitor. “This is unfortunate,” the patent notes, “since it opens a way for mischievous application of the invention, whereby people are exposed unknowingly to manipulation of their nervous systems for someone else’s purposes. Such application would be unethical and is of course not advocated. It is mentioned here in order to alert the public to the possibility of covert abuse that may occur while being online …. “
Semen taste-enhancement dietary supplement, patent 6,485,773, Lois Kay Myers and Brent Richard Myers of Apache Junction, Ariz. Details can be sought by getting in touch with the U.S. government. Go to the patent and trademark office site (www.uspto.gov) and type in the patent number in the “search patents” section. Then read about a formulation that could complement the aforementioned Wrigley patent.
More offbeat patents will be included in next month’s Staking Claims column.
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By Gary Stix
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Source: Scientific American, Jul2003, Vol. 289 Issue 1, p32, 1p
