Oh, patents! Bugaboo® modularity (1)

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

If you are looking for a buggy for your baby with the excellence of patented engineering, the Bugaboo® is for you! Variously equipped with such features as single-hand operation, advanced suspension and brake systems, and/or swivel wheels for unrivaled maneuverability, Bugaboo® strollers boast hundreds of patents, both design and utility. In other words, utility patents were granted for specific stroller functionalities, as well as design patents for particular ornamental aspects of the strollers. Bugaboo®, a Dutch company, has been pioneering advanced parenting products since 1990.

Consider, for example, the US utility patent application, US2022/0194457A1, titled Foldable stroller, foldable bassinet, foldable seat, stroller, and stroller and luggage system. The application was filed on December 17th, 2021. The inventors on record are Marco Willem Hendricus Nieuwenhuizen, Mattijs Hogeland, and Daan Jans Vos.

The patent recites some of the prized mechanical modularity of the Bugaboo® strollers. For example, infant bassinet (i.e., pram) and toddler seat configurations are interchangeable on a single stroller frame. Different configurations that were designed to accommodate a growing child. Strollers are foldable with the seat or bassinet attached for easy storage and travel. And, the possibility of placing a child alternatively facing a parent or caretaker, or forward-facing, with their back to the parent or caretaker.

The three patent figure drawings below, Figures 1A, 1B, and 1C, respectively depict the three configurations a given Bugaboo® stroller model: toddler seat facing-forward, toddler seat facing-parent or caretaker, and infant bassinet.   

The three patent drawings, Figures 18H, 17J, and 3E, respectively correspond to the folded forms of the toddler and infant stroller configurations shown in Figures 1A, 1B, and 1C.

The Youtube video below demonstrates some of the valued Bugaboo® modularity, particularly switching from folded to unfolded bassinet pram, and from folded to unfolded toddler stroller.

Reference
Bugaboo® (website)
www.bugaboo.com

Oh, patents! Altina Schinasi cat-eye spectacle frames

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

On Aug. 4, 2023, the Google splash page Doodle was designed to celebrate the 116th birthday of Altina Schinasi. Altina Schinasi was the 1930s inventor of the cat-eye-shaped, spectacle frame design for women, also called Harlequin eyeglass frames. Harlequin because their shape was inspired by the mystery and romance of Venice Carnaval Harlequin masks. 

Altina Schinasi, a trained artist, with Sephardic roots in Turkey and Greece, lived and worked in New York City, initially as a window-display designer for Fifth Avenue stores in Manhattan. Thus, the ingenuity of her cat-eye spectacle frame invention is said to have also stemmed from having noticed, in optician window displays, that eyeglass frames for women were all boringly round.

Altina Schinasi was married in 1928 first to a renowned architect called Morris B. Sanders, whose name she took to publish all her patented designs. The following are two US design patents that were granted to Altina Sanders, aka Altina Schinasi, specifically for the Altina Schinasi cat-eye-shaped spectacle frames.

• USD113882S, titled Design for a spectacle frame, awarded March 21, 1939
• USD118391, titled Spectacle frame, awarded January 2, 1940

Altina Schinasi brought her spectacle design invention to market, securing contracts with department stores and setting up a production and distribution office. Eventually, Schinasi also expanded her spectacle frame production company to the West Coast, when she moved to Los Angeles, where she lived for 17 years. 

Schinasi's cat-eye-shaped spectacle frame design was by far her most successful design, and is still in vogue to date. In the 1940s, such famous people as Lucille Ball, Marilyn Monroe, and Audrey Hepburn wore her cat-eye-shaped spectacles. Schinasi was also the recipient of the Lord & Taylor American Design Award in 1939, for having transformed eye-glass frames for women into a fashion accessory. 

Below, the patent Figures 1, extracted respectively from each of the two cat-eye-shaped spectacle patents, as well as the vibrant Google Doodle celebratory cat-eye-shaped spectacle frame design, which brought Schinasi back into the limelight.

Google Doodle - August 4th 2023

USD118391

USD113882S

References

Google Doodle (August 4, 2023)

https://g.co/doodle/a2jnf27

Google Doodles

https://www.google.com/doodles 

Doodle 4 Google Archive: Altina Schinasi’s 116^th birthday

http://www.google.com/doodles/altina-schinasis-116th-birthday 

Gergely, J. (Aug, 4, 2023). Google Doodle celebrates the Jewish designer of cat-eye glasses, Altina Schinasi. Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 

https://www.jta.org/2023/08/04/ny/google-doodle-celebrates-the-jewish-designer-of-cat-eye-glasses-altina-schinasi  

Oh, patents! Simplehuman® (2)

 Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

Simplehuman® trash cans have also received countless US design patents for their ornamental properties. The following is another impressive list of trash can-only design patents.

Three illustrative patent figures were also extracted. Figures 1, 3 and 1, respectively (left to right) from USD858024S1 titled Trash can, USD435951S1 titled Trash can. and USD631221S1 titled Rectangular trash can

• USD435951S1 - Trash can  
• USD517767S1 - Trash can assembly
• USD615722S1 - Trash can 
• USD631221S1 - Rectangular trash can 
• USD634911S1 - Trash can
• USD644806S1 - Semi-round open trash can
• USD657108S1 - Trash can 
• USD672520S1 - Trash Can 
• 
  USD675803S1 - Trash can  
• USD725861S1 - Trash can
• USD730008S1 - Trash Can
• USD773145S1 - Trash can
• USD793642S1 - Trash can
• USD829400S1 - Trash can
• USD835374S1 - Trash can
• USD855919S1 - Trash can
• USD858024S1 - Trash can
• USD930933S1 - Trash can 

References

Simplehuman®

www.simplehuman.com

Oh, patents! Balenciaga Hourglass handbag

 Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

Available in an array of sizes, finishes and colors, the Balenciaga Hourglass top handle handbag, with a removable and adjustable, crossbody strap, is a patented design. The US Design patent, USD904014S, titled Handbag, was awarded to Demna Gvasalia, and assigned to Balenciaga, on December 8th, 2020.

The handbag’s designation ’Hourglass’ comes from the curvilinear, hourglass-shaped, bottom of the handbag. The "B" clasp of the marketed handbag is unpatented. 

Below, the patent Figures 1, 3, 4, 6 and 8 are included, respectively depicting: a front left perspective view of the handbag (Fig. 1), a top view  (Fig. 3), and bottom-up view (Fig. 4), a right side view (Fig. 6), and a rearview (Fig. 8). Also included below, four marketed, top handle, Hourglass Balenciaga handbags, small models (L9 x W5.9 x H3.9 inches), in forest green, dark red, navy, and black, shiny crocodile-embossed calfskin, with brass hardware, and the adjustable, removable, crossbody strap, measuring 21.6 inches. 

  

Reference

Balenciaga https://www.balenciaga.com/en-us/

Oh, patents! Stella McCartney® L.I.l.Y perfume bottle

 Françoise © Herrmann

The fabulous Stella McCartney® L.I.L.Y perfume bottle is patented. Assigned to Stella McCartney Ltd., the US design patent USD710207S , titled Bottle, was awarded on August 5, 2014.  Launched in 2012, L.I.L.Y  is the second Stella McCartney® fragrance.

The name of the fragrance L.I.L.Y is actually an acronym for the nickname  "Linda, I Love You" that Stella McCartney’s dad, the famous ex-Beatle singer, and musician, Paul McCartney used for her Mom, Linda McCartney. The fragrance also has delicate Lily of the Valley floral accents.

The Art Deco style bottle is made of crystal with a metal frame. The second Stella McCartney® fragrance, L.I.L.Y, was created by the Master Perfumer of the House of Louis Vuitton, Jacques Cavalier. Famous, fourth-generation perfumer, hailing from Grasse, known as the capital of perfume, in the South of France, also the designer of the first Stella McCartney® fragrance 'Stella'.

Below, the patent Figure 1, depicting a front, left side perspective of the bottle, and an image of the marketed Stella McCartney® L.I.L.Y eau de parfum.

References

Stella McCartney (website) https://www.stellamccartney.com/us/en/ 

Oh, patents! TESLA’s falcon-wing doors

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

Surprisingly, Elon Musk, space exploration visionary and electric car guru, founder and CEO of SpaceX(1) and TESLA(2), appears to have patented few inventions for fear of fierce competition from China. In Musk's own words : 

“We have essentially no patents. Our primary long-term competition is China. If we published patents, it would be farcical, because the Chinese would just use them as a recipe book.” [quoted in Heller & Salzman, 2021]

Perhaps that Musk has a point, considering the US Patent Rules for filing utility patent applications that require a description of the invention:

 “[...] in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art or science to which the invention or discovery appertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same." (US CFR 37: 1.70)

On the other hand, in the spirit of the Open Source movement, Musk posted on the TESLA Motors Inc.  blog (June 12, 2014):

 “Tesla will not initiate patent lawsuits against anyone who, in good faith, wants to use our technology” [Musk, June 12, 2014] 

thus releasing TESLA’s patent portfolio to “The Commons”.

Explaining himself, Musk was actually arguing precisely according to patent specification rules that the disclosure of his inventions might indeed promote and advance the development of electric vehicles, considering the tremendous resistance to electric vehicles that then existed. Contrary to other domains of inventions, TESLA’s intellectual property was not even at risk of being stolen by larger multinational car manufacturing corporations. Noone was buying into electric vehicles. Thus, oddly enough, consistent with a positive take on disclosing inventions within the context of patents, it was hoped that foregoing the rights to awarded intellectual property would actually accelerate the company’s vision of sustainable transportation, in a world confronted with climate change. Indeed, the move was fearless.

In any event, a search (this day) for patents assigned to TESLA Motors Inc., at the USPTO, retrieved several hundred US design and utility patents combined (407 to be precise) and many more using Google Patents. Far less patents appeared assigned to the more recent Space Exploration Technologies Corp., via both Google Patents and direct USPTO search (8 patents and 19 pending applications) (3).

The following US design patent, USD678154, titled Vehicle door is one of the  TESLA US design patents, awarded to Elon Reeve Musk.  USD67815 is the design patent that covers one of the most far-out features of the high-end TESLA Model X Electric cars: the falcon-wing doors that lift up to open. 

Below, one of the patent figure drawings, showing a perspective view with the vehicle door mounted in an opened position, together with an image of the marketed TESLA Model X, with falcon-wing doors open. 

 Notes

(1) SpaceX, short for Space Exploration Technologies was awarded NASA partnership contracts within the context of the NASA Commercial Crew Program (CCP). NASA contracted SpaceX for the design and manufacture of re-usable spacecraft, intended to transport space crew and goods. Transportation would initially target the International Space Station. In the future, it might be part of missions to build colonies on the Moon, even launchpads to Mars from the Moon, or perhaps the development of space villages and cities, orbiting planet Earth.

(2) TESLA manufactures hi-performance electric cars, together with hi-performance solar installation solutions.

(3) The number of patents retrieved at sites other than the USPTO varies, in part depending on whether just one patent family member is counted, or all of them. Patents are also variously assigned to Tesla Motors Inc.. and Tesla Inc., plus more, which the search engine may, or may not, combine.   

References

Heller, M. and J. Salzman (March 4, 2021) Elon Musk doesn’t care about patents. Should you? Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2021/03/elon-musk-doesnt-care-about-patents-should-you

Musk, E. (June 12, 2014)  All our patent are belong to you. Tesla Motors inc. Blog.                    https://www.tesla.com/blog/all-our-patent-are-belong-you

NASA Commercial Crew Progam (CCP)    https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/commercial/crew/index.html

SpaceX https://www.spacex.com/

TESLA https://www.tesla.com/

Title 37 - Code of Federal Regulations Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights (CFR 37), Article 1.70  https://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/mpep-9020-appx-r.html#d0e320131

Oh, patents! Plae's customizable kids shoes (3)

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

Plae Inc., shoes are also designed for kids! Plae Inc., shoes for kids are customizable, flexible, durable, lightweight, washable, and easy to slip on and off.

The design of the customizable straps on Plae Inc., kids shoes has been granted several US design patents. As a reminder: “a utility patent” protects the way an article is used and works (35 U.S.C. 101), while a “design patent” protects the way an article looks (35 U.S.C. 171) [MPEP Chapt. 1502.01; [R-07.2015]]. 

The following four US design patents, each titled Upper for a shoe with removable straps were awarded for Plae Inc., kids shoes.

• USD807007 S1 – 2018-01-09 - Upper for a shoe with removable straps
• USD734014 (S) ― 2015-07-14 - Upper for a shoe with removable straps
• USD734013 (S) ― 2015-07-14 - Upper for shoe with removable straps 
• USD734015 (S) ― 2015-07-14|- Upper for shoe with removable strap 

The table below includes a drawing from each of the patents, together with images of sample marketed shoes.  

Plae Inc., kids shoes come in a wide variety of styles. Kid styles can be matched with adult styles (on the Sidekicks page). Shoe straps can be purchased separately to customize the look. The beta version of a Tab Lab, at the Plae Inc., website, enables kids to virtually select their shoes, and to swap the tabs for a preview of how the shoes will look. 

The short video below shows easy it is to swap and customize the Plae Inc., straps. 

References
Plae Inc.
https://www.plae.co/
Plae Inc. Tab Lab(beta)
https://www.plae.co//tablab
Plae Inc Sidekicks
https://www.plae.co/shop/sidekicks/
MPEP – Chapt. 1502-01 – Distinction between design and utility patent

https://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/s1502.html

Oh, patents! Coravin™

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

How about drinking wine from a bottle without uncorking it? Coravin™ makes it possible for you to have both your uncorked bottle of wine and a drink!

Coravin™ is a wine extractor device designed to insert a hollow needle through the cork, and through which the wine can be poured. Little or no air, which could react with the wine, is introduced during or after the extraction of the wine from its container. Instead, a small amount of pressurized argon gas is released into the bottle to force the wine out, without altering the quality of the beverage. When the needle is removed from the bottle, the cork's expansive properties fill-in, and reseal, the wine bottle, until the next glass, or next time you drink the wine.    

The many parts of the various embodiments of the Coravin™ wine extractor are patented. Whether it is the needle system and its actuation, the internal valve system controlling the flow of the wine from the container, the gas cylinder and dispenser, the pressure regulator for the delivery of gas to the container, or the casing guiding the movement of the needle, these are all different inventions associated with the Coravin™ wine extractor and its various embodiments. The following is a hyperlinked list of some of the many design and utility patents reciting these inventions, associated with the Coravin™ device, and numerous component parts.  

• US2017361999 (A1) ― 2017-12-21 - Beverage container cap for use with beverage extractor
• USD801129 (S) ― 2017-10-31 - Beverage extractor 
• ES2633844 (T3) ― 2017-09-25 - Method and apparatus for beverage extraction with a multi-function valve
• US2017144877 (A1) ― 2017-05-25 - Beverage extractor with controller 
• US2017137275 (A1) ― 2017-05-18 - Beverage extractor for sparkling beverage
• US2017001850 (A1) ― 2017-01-05 - Method for extracting beverage from a bottle 
• US2017002980 (A1) ― 2017-01-05 - Engagement of gas cylinder with gas dispenser
• WO2014058841 (A1) ― 2014-04-17 - Method and apparatus for beverage extraction needle guiding 
• WO2014058839 (A3) ― 2014-06-05 - Method and apparatus for gas cylinder sealing
• WO2014025630 (A1) ― 2014-02-13 - Method and apparatus for gas cylinder sealing
• WO2013166258 (A1) ― 2013-11-07 - Device for extracting a beverage from within a container
• USD755554 (S) ― 2016-05-10 - Beverage extractor
• US2015069085 (A1) ― 2015-03-12 - Wine extraction and preservation device and method 
• CA2872115 ― 2013-11-07 - Device for extracting a beverage from within a container
• CA2887453 ― 2013-10-08 - Method and apparatus for beverage extraction needle guiding
• USD709163 (S) ― 2014-07-15 - Gas cylinder cap
• US2014124530 (A1) ― 2014-05-08 - Method and apparatus for beverage extraction needle force indication 
• US2014103065 (A1) ― 2014-04-17 - Non-coring reduced shearing needle
• USD689353 (S) ― 2013-09-10 - Wine extraction and preservation device

A drawing of the beverage extractor, imported from the latest US design patent USD 801129S, is included below, together with an image of the marketed Coravin™ product. 

       

The abstract for the latest Coravin™ utility patent application US2017361999, titled Beverage container cap for use with beverage extractor, is also included below:

A cap for engagement with a beverage container allows an extractor needle or other conduit to pass through a portion of the cap such that beverage can be removed from the container without removing the cap. The cap may include a septum that is radially and/or axially compressed and a barrier layer arranged to engage with the container to form a seal.

An automated and Bluetooth™-connected version of the Coravin™ called Model Eleven, was unveiled at CES 2018 with rave reviews. The Coravin™ connected app monitors argon gas consumption and also pairs your wine with your mood...! According to CNet, Model Eleven will be released in September 2018. 

References
Coravin, Inc.
https://www.coravin.com

Oh, patents! Van Cleef & Arpels' Alhambra®

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

Alhambra - Trefoil Arch

Van Cleef & Arpels’ Alhambra® collection of jewelry, launched in 1968, was inspired by the trefoil (clover) arch details of Spain’s famous Alhambra palace and fortress. 

Spain’s Alhambra, located in Granada, Andalusia, is a monumental UNESCO-designated World Heritage site, remodeled and successively transformed through the ages, since 899 AD.  

The Van Cleef & Arpels Alhambra® clover design is patented in several US design patents. As a reminder, a utility patent protects the way an article is used and works (35 U.S.C. 101), while a design patent protects the way an article looks (35 U.S.C. 171).

The following list includes some of the Van Cleef & Arpels Alhambra® US design patents, together with a patent drawing and marketed embodiment of the design.

• USD614070 - Ring 

• USD614073 – Earing

• USD638737 – Ring
  

• USD640157 - Bracelet

Embodied design images Copyright © Van Cleef & Arpels. 

References

Van Cleef & Arpels – The Alhambra® Collection

http://www.vancleefarpels.com/us/en/la-maison/spirit-of-creation/inspiration/alhambra-collection.html?55click=Highlight

Making the Alhambra® collection

http://www.vancleefarpels.com/us/en/la-maison/our-know-how/craftsmanship/the-making-of-alhambra.html?55click=Highlight

UNESCO - World Heritage Site

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/314

UNESCO - World Heritage List of sites

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/

Oh, patents! Van Cleef & Arpels - Heures Filantes

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

In addition to the mechanical inventions, invoked in the Van Cleef & Arpels Poetic Complications® watches, patented with US utility patents, the series also includes ornamental inventions for which US design patents were granted.

The Heures Filantes (Fleeting Time) Lady Arpels watch, for example, has three associated US design patents (USD): 

• USD762508 and USD778757 for the watch dial, and
• USD787344 for the watch.

Below, three hyperlinked patent drawings, one from each of the three US design patents associated with the Heures Filantes Poetic Complications® watch, are included, with an image of the embodied and marketed product.

USD762508

USD778757

USD787344

Poetic Complicationss®
Heures Filantes  Lady Arpels watch 

As a reminder a US design patent is different from a US utility patent in that: 

a “utility patent” protects the way an article is used and works (35 U.S.C. 101), while a "design patent" protects the way an article looks (35 U.S.C. 171)” (USPTO). 

 References

Van Cleef & Arpels - The story of Poetic Complications®

http://www.vancleefarpels.com/us/en/la-maison/spirit-of-creation/inspiration/poetic-complications.html?55click=Highlight

Herrmann, F. (2017) Van Cleef & Arpels - Poetic complications®

https://patentsonthesolesofyourshoes.blogspot.com/2017/12/oh-patents-van-cleef-arpels-poetic.html

USPTO - MPEP - Manual of Patent Examination Procedures

https://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/index.html