There are also humorous quotes on my quotes page. This page has other things that I have found to be humorous.
Every so often I come across something that received a patent that appears so crazy to me that I just have to keep a record of it.
Vehicle mounted toilet seat [US6125480] (buy one from the Bumper Dumper website if you want)
1985 patent for a Brassiere [US4519137] that comes in a series of cup sizes. And while we're at it here is a patent for a Method of bra size determination by direct measurement of the breast [US5965809].
Amazon.com
Method and system for placing a purchase order via a communications network [US5960411] also known as One-Click Ordering--a term trademarked by Amazon.com
Method and system for placing a purchase order via a communications network [US5960411] which is that tricky idea of using only the last four digits of your credit card number as a security measure
Tracking a user's purchases on the internet by associating the user with an inbound source and a session identifier [US6223215] which patents using browser cookies to hold a session id
You can exercise your cat with a Method of exercising a cat [US5443036] which update the idea of having your cat chase a flashlight beam by using a laser light device
Trolling system for baseball and player endorsements [US6123282] allows a fan to suspend a baseball and pen over the dug roof or into the bullpen area hoping a player will sign the ball
You better never hit a tennis ball while down on one knee that is covered by a kneepad without getting the permission of the holder of a Method of executing a tennis stroke [US5993336]
Here is the first patent issued on the Unix Operating
System. It is titled Protection
of Data File Contents [US4135240]. Even though it has been
only implemented in software this describes a circuit for implementing
setUID permissions. This was done because software patents were not
being granted. AT&T gave up the patent when it became too
expensive to enforce.
Delphion's Intellectual Property site
Got a US patent number? Enter it here to see the first page. Place the 8 digit patent number between the US and the double underscore in the input field, i.e. US04135240__.
The Duct Tape Guys and their fashion gallery
Send mail to me at jvallino@mail.rit.edu.
Page last modified: 03 January, 2003 12:07 AM