Beginning at NYU in Jan 2013 within the context of a Patents Translation course delivered online, this blog seeks to uncover the patents that rock our daily lives....
The
distinguished Jury of the European Patent Awards selected 15 finalists, among
hundreds of nominations, in the five award categories of Research, Industry,
Small & Medium Enterprises (SME), Non-European Patent Organization country,
and Lifetime Achievement. However, one additional prize is awarded, during the Awards Ceremony, as a result of the popular vote. Consequently, this is your chance to vote. The finalist who receives the most popular votes will be awarded the sixth European
Inventor trophy.
The Popular
Vote electronic polling station is open for everyone to cast, not one, but
many votes. According to the European Patent Office rules, you may vote as many
times as you wish, but only once a day, for a single invention. Therefore, dear Reader, you are invited to cast your ballot(s).
To vote for
your favorite invention, please click here.
Until June
17th, Central European Summer Time (CEST) 7 pm. when all the winners of the
European Inventor Award will be celebrated, the short YouTube video included below is a teaser about the European Inventor Awards 2021.
Usually, patents and art invoke two very
different creative processes. Patents disclose inventions, which are required to
be both useful and to fulfill certain conditions of patentability [35 USC 101], such as
novelty [35 USC 102], and non-obviousness to those skilled in the art [35 USC 103]. All of which conditions and definitions are specified in the separate branch of Patent Law,
set forth in the US Federal Code Title 35 (USC 35) and in the US Code of Federal Regulations Title 37 (CFR 37). Prior to being patented, inventions are
also filed and subjected to a lengthy examination process at a government patent-granting
agency, such as the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), in the
United States, the European Patent Office (EPO), in Europe, regrouping countries party to the European Patent Convention, or other national
Patent Offices, such as the Japanese Patent Office (JPO), or the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CIPA).
Once granted, a patent then confers to the inventor(s), heirs or
assignees, the right to exclude
others from making, using, offering for sale, or importing the invention, without
prior licensing, or agreement with the inventors, heirs or assignees. Such
patent rights are also granted for a certain period of time, usually 20 years
for a US utility patent [35 USC 154], and 15 years for a US design patent [35 USC 173], contingent upon the payment of yearly maintenance
fees, per the provisions of the US Federal Code Title 35, Article 41 [35 US 41].
Art, by contrast, is unregulated, unbound to the provisions of the Law, or the conferral of rights, and without utilitarian
requirements, to name just a fraction of the more obvious differences. In rare
instances, however, such irreconcilable differences in the creative process of
art and patented invention come together, in an interesting reciprocal dynamic.
Indeed, this is precisely what drives Daniel Rozin’s mechanical mirrors.
Rizon, an Israeli-American artist and NYU professor,
whose art installations each depict different sorts of mirrors, (i.e.; surfaces
where people are reflected), relies on patented inventions to make the
installations work [Rozin, NYU]. Thus, Rizon is both artist and inventor, drawing on a
combination of sensors, motors, custom software, video camera and computers to create
his interactive digital art, each installation functioning as a mechanical
mirror. All of the pieces are explorations at the intersection of viewer
participation and image creation, powered by patented mechanical engineering, informing art.
No one could otherwise conceive of wood pieces (whether round or square) or
fluffy toys, functioning as mirror surfaces, capable of reflecting viewers,
much less make all of the pieces of the installation actually work together as a
mirror.
The following video showcases some of Rozin’s captivating mechanical
mirror installations. In particular, the Penguins Mirror, the Wood Mirror, the
Troll Mirror, the Pompom Mirror, the Peg Mirror, and the Fur Mirrors, are shown.
The following US patents, awarded to Rozin, and most recent patent application, are members of patent families that include World Intellectual Property Organization
(WIPO), Canadian (CA) and Australian (AU) patents. Patents that each recite inventions, supporting the display of Rozin’s art installations, depicting
mechanical mirrors.
US6552734B1 - System and
method for generating a composite image based on at least two input images.
US6553138B2 - Method and apparatus for generating three-dimensional
representations of objects.
US6891561B1 - Providing visual context for a mobile
active visual display of a panoramic region.
US20020031252A1-Method and apparatus
for generating three-dimensional representations of objects.
Not only did Perugia file design patents for all the new shoe models that he invented, he also filed many more utility patents, in regards shoe manufacture, materials and ergonomy.
Perugia’s utility patents span a wide range of inventions:
- improvements to soles, manufacturing processes, comfort and wear
- new materials for shoe manufacturing including organic fibers, cork and wood
- new manufacturing processes for use of the new materials, for various new parts of a shoe such as strapping, or elastic portions
- new sorts of shoes, sandals, in particular, and
- new sorts of heels, from the whimsical musical heels to removable and changeable heels.
Perugia’s US (only) utility patents are listed below. As you will see, in some cases I. Miller and Sons was the Assignee. The patents listed are hyperlinked to the keyed figure drawings filed as part of the disclosure of the inventions, at the USPTO.
The patents that Perugia filed in France, Germany, Switzerland Canada and Austria will be listed in subsequent posts, and some of the inventions presented in greater detail.
US Utility Patents
US1609918– Heel for shoes – Dec. 7, 1926 – André Perugia.
Here is the abstract of this invention titled MASCARA BRUSH, and one of the invention drawings:
The present disclosure concerns a reservoir and application device comprising: an applicator (3) having a stem (5) and a brush (8) at the end of this stem, the brush (8) presenting a largest transversal dimension (L) between 9 and 14 mm, the brush being at least 30 % wider than it is thick in cross section, a reservoir (2) containing the product (P) to be applied, having a wiper member (20) defining a wiper orifice (22) traversed by the brush when it is removed from the reservoir, the diameter (d) of the wiper orifice being between 2.5 and 5.5 mm.[WO2009153761]
