Can you patent anything ?

Lost prior thread where Switch wondered about Double Action BJ patent in 1992. Just patented a player having dual spots so he could play either one or two hands of BJ.
I am currently in culinary arts college with daughter who is on disability and wants to become a chef to support herself. Part of homework was researching sandwiches popular on 3 or 4 continents. I found out this about peanut butter and jelly LOL

Sealed crustless sandwich

In December 1999, two independent inventors, Len Kretchman and David Geske, were granted U.S. patent,[2] "Sealed Crustless Sandwich" for a peanut butter sandwich that would have a long shelf life. The J.M. Smucker Co. bought the patent from the inventors and developed a commercial product based on the patent called Uncrustables. Smuckers then invested US$17 million in a new factory[3] to produce the product. By 2005, sales of Uncrustables had grown to $60 million a year with a 20% per year growth rate.

Smuckers attempted to enforce their patent rights by sending out cease and desist letters to competitors, and by expanding their intellectual property coverage via the patenting of a machine to produce Uncrustables sandwiches in high volume U.S. Patent 6,874,409 "Method and apparatus for making commercial crustless sandwiches and the crustless sandwich made thereby". The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, however, rejected the viability of the patent citing its similarity to existing processes such as that of fashioning ravioli or a pie crust.[4]

About a year ago I spent four or five months working with a young, er, rap artist who wanted to patent one of his beats. It was legally interesting enough to me that I took on the project, but still hadn't heard back from the patent office when I relocated to a different job. Seemed like he had a decent case for the patent, but the government was really dragging its feet on the process. I'd be interested to know if he ended up securing it or not.

Way back during the tech bubble in the mid-to-late 1990s people were successfully patenting all kinds of weird and not-so-unique things. Freaking JavaScript applications and whatnot. Caused all sorts of headaches later when bureaucratic unfamiliarity with new technology caught up with itself.

I've seen lists of totally obvious things that the USPO granted patents for. If you saw the list you wouldn't know whether to laugh or cry. Now the case is the opposite, where they look for any reason to deny anything. In my opinion, the first rejection is pretty much automatic and you have to fight with them through the appeals process, which of course is expensive, where they will sometimes grant a limited version of your idea.

I wonder if they've granted a patent for a perpetual motion machine...

Quote: Nareed

I wonder if they've granted a patent for a perpetual motion machine...

Once I was watching Johnny Carson with my father and there was some kook on with a so-called perpetual motion machine. He was complaining that the patent office wouldn't approve it as Johnny just nodded his ahead, probably regretting they had him as a guest.

Anyway, my father got quite livid about it, saying the patent office was absolutely right to reject it, because they have a policy to not allow anything that violates the rules of science. He was angry at Johnny for not calling the guy a fraud, as I think Carson had a background in science before he got into entertainment.

Quote: Wizard

Anyway, my father got quite livid about it, saying the patent office was absolutely right to reject it, because they have a policy to not allow anything that violates the rules of science. He was angry at Johnny for not calling the guy a fraud, as I think Carson had a background in science before he got into entertainment.

I sympathize with your dad. howver, Johnny was an entertainer and he was always a very nice guy on the air, as far as I recall.

But you remind me of one of my favorite scene from the Simpsons. It's the ep with the teacher strike, when Marge and Homer begin to grow concerned about the effect of it on the children. Homer has a thing with gears and a light bulb (I think) with him and he says "This perpetual motion machine Lisa built is a joke. It just keeps going faster and faster!"

Later he calls Lisa in and tells her "In this hosue we respect the laws of thermodynamics!"

Quote: Nareed

I wonder if they've granted a patent for a perpetual motion machine...

Here you go.

Quote: Wizard

Once I was watching Johnny Carson with my father

LOL. We're probably about the same age.

Quote: Nareed

I wonder if they've granted a patent for a perpetual motion machine...

Sure. I've bought a couple of them myself as novelties, and I have one of them that I keep running on the shelf in my office.

Of course, "perpetual" can be a troublesome word. Sometimes my machine gets knocked out of alignment and has to be restarted, such as most every time the shelf gets dusted. Other than that, this machine has been running for months, ever since the last time I moved it.

I know, I know -- you're skeptical. In anticipation of that, I captured a 60-second mobile-phone video and tried to share it with the forum the way I usually share still photos, but that didn't seem to work. So I signed up for a YouTube account and stored the video there. Apologies in advance for the quality -- I'm definitely not a video guy.

Here is the link for the YouTube video.

For those without the science background, yes, this is indeed a fraud. Just one that looks good enough to fool the gullible ones and entertain the technical ones.

Quote: Nareed

But you remind me of one of my favorite scene from the Simpsons. It's the ep with the teacher strike, when Marge and Homer begin to grow concerned about the effect of it on the children. Homer has a thing with gears and a light bulb (I think) with him and he says "This perpetual motion machine Lisa built is a joke. It just keeps going faster and faster!"

Later he calls Lisa in and tells her "In this hosue we respect the laws of thermodynamics!"

Quite coincidentally, I found the clip when I looked at Doc's PPM. It was in the "related videos" on the right. You got a goog LOL from me on that one. By the way, you don't know what you're missing, not being able to get YouTube at work.

Quote: Doc

I know, I know -- you're skeptical. In anticipation of that, I captured a 60-second mobile-phone video and tried to share it with the forum the way I usually share still photos, but that didn't seem to work. So I signed up for a YouTube account and stored the video there. Apologies in advance for the quality -- I'm definitely not a video guy.

Here is the link for the YouTube video.

For those without the science background, yes, this is indeed a fraud. Just one that looks good enough to fool the gullible ones and entertain the technical ones.

Thanks for the video! Impressive collection of books behind it. You can tell a lot about a person by the books on his/her shelf. I suspect the thing eventually does come to a stop. If not, maybe there is a battery and magnets in the stand.

I have a globe in my house that needs only a tiny bit of light to rotate. In normal lighting it turns pretty fast, like one revolution every 20 seconds.

Quote: Wizard

Quite coincidentally, I found the clip when I looked at Doc's PPM. It was in the "related videos" on the right. You got a goog LOL from me on that one.

Thanks!

So what's funnier, the joke or Homer being able to say "thermodynamics" at all? :)

Quote:

By the way, you don't know what you're missing, not being able to get YouTube at work.

A stern talking to by the boss, among other things.

Quote: Doc

Sure. I've bought a couple of them myself as novelties, and I have one of them that I keep running on the shelf in my office.

Oh, there are plenty of those. I used to have one with two concentric rings and a dolphin mounted on each. It ran on magnets and a 9 volt battery. It worked very well, and lasted over a year on one battery, too, until my nephew broke it.

I liked that sort of gadget for a while. Once I had a ball bearing clock, too. It was fun, but it kept me up all night whenever five minutes passed and the ball bearings fell to mark the passage. Of course at 12 am all the little metal balls completed their turn and the noise was amazing. I wound up moving it to the den, where inevitably it broke down. I'd love to get another one someday.

Quote:

For those without the science background, yes, this is indeed a fraud. Just one that looks good enough to fool the gullible ones and entertain the technical ones.

Thanks. It's nice, but a bit plain (just saying). Of course you do know it doesn't produce more energy than it uses, the way a "real" PMM is supposed to.

And I'd like to second the Wizard on your bookshelf. I noticed a word and phrase origins book. Those can be absorbing.

Sad state of affairs right now at USPTO.

They are now routinely rejecting all non electronic new table game patent applications as related to unpatentable material. It is complicated these days and as far as I know, most inventors are waiting for more litigation to clarify the matter and force the USPTO to recognize that using cards and dice in a unique way (i.e. a new table game concept) is something that is patentable, even if it isn't tied to an electronic device used to play the game.

The interesting piece is that with the current stance, it would seem that previously granted game patents are in jeopardy of being challenged under the same concept. My understanding is just because you have an issued patent, if the USPTO has changed its parameters for what is patentable and an issued patent fails under the current "non-patentability" view, theorectically issued patent holders could have a problem defending their IP.

I think this is a bad stance that USPTO has recently taken, but it appears to be what the state of affairs right now.

Quote: Wizard

... I suspect the thing eventually does come to a stop. If not, maybe there is a battery and magnets in the stand.

First, I have already admitted the device is a fraud. Unlike some visitors/posters here, I do not think this forum is a suitable place to come in making outlandish claims and following them up by ridiculing those who do not immediately worship my superior skills. Thus, I make no claims that I have a real perpetual motion machine. (If I did, someone might call me a THIEF.)

Second, in response to the battery/magnet suggestion (and almost everyone says some variant of "There must be a magnet hidden somewhere"), my usual response is, "OK, if there were a magnet or a battery or something else hidden, how would it make this thing keep running for longer than anyone would ever be willing to watch (months or years)? I don't think the video is very clear about the configuration of the machine, so below is an image of the frame and the rotor that is supported by the two clear rails that provide the slopes. (Note: this photo is one more example of why the machine is not really running "perpetually".)

Quote: Doc

"OK, if there were a magnet or a battery or something else hidden, how would it make this thing keep running for longer than anyone would ever be willing to watch (months or years)?

Maybe I'm a little slow but that picture isn't helping me figure out the secret. I also can't explain how the magnet would work. The idea probably got planted in my head from maglev trains. Give me an F in science for today -- I deserve it.

(If I did, someone might call me a THIEF.)

I only called one poster a thief and only because he is one.

P.S Wiz, I gave another G2E pass away this am to a member. Unfortunately it was mine. SIGH

MrCasinoGames' "Roulette Links Bet" interests me in regards of patentability. I think it's an excellent idea and especially meritorious when applied to all electronic versions of the game.