Terminology – Leap year 2024 (année bissextile 2024)

Copyright ©Françoise Herrmann

Curious about “leaping”? Here is the scoop.

It takes a bit more than 365 days for the Earth to revolve around the sun. To be precise, it takes 355 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 56 seconds or 365.242190 days for the Earth to complete its revolution around the sun. The extra time it takes for the Earth to revolve around the sun amounts to about one-quarter of a day (i.e., about 6 hours) each year, or about one day (i.e., about 24 hours), about every four years. Thus, to re-align (or sync) the calendar year of 365 days, with the real time it takes for the earth to revolve around the sun, one day is added every 4 years, at the end of February, the shortest month of the year.

However, this neat leap year adjustment to the 365-day calendar year, every four years, would still create a calendar year that would eventually become out of sync with the time it takes to revolve around the sun, considering that everything after the decimal point in 365.242190 days does not amount to exactly 6 hours, multiplied by 4. Thus, intercalary (leap) days are added every four years, except those years that are multiples of 100 (i.e., centuries), but not multiples of 400. Thus, for example, the year 2000 was a leap year, but the year 2100 will not be a leap year, for the same reason that the years 1900, 1800 and 1700 were not leap years.

As a result, the term “leap year” really means “sync year”. The French term bissextile (which also exists in English as an archaic term) is derived from the Latin terms (bis)sextus, meaning “twice sixth”. Thus, February 29th is twice sixth day of the month of February because the extra day that is added at the end of February is the second sixth day before March 1rst (calend martius), using the ancient Roman way of designating days, relative to the ones that effectively had a name. In the Roman case, just the calends (first days of the month) or new moon days, and ides (the middle of the month) or full moon days, had names. For example, the nones were the ninth days before the ides of every month, using the same dating system. 

Revolution and rotation of  planet Earth
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

References 

Merriam Webster – Bissextile.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/bissextile-#:~:text=The%20extra%20day%20fell%20on,to%20refer%20to%20leap%20day. 

NASA Spaceplace–What is a leap year?

https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/leap-year/en/ 

Gif file – revolution and rotation of the Earth (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/review/leap-year/1day-1year.en.gif 

Oh, patents! Azzedine Alaïa (1935-2017) – ‘Papa’ bag logo clasp

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

The Azzedine Alaïa hit piece Papa bag is adorned with a patented logo clasp. A clasp that was granted the US design patent  USD983526S1, titled  Clasp for leather goods, on April 18, 2023.  The patent was awarded to Angela Lauria, also the Papa bag designer. 

Below the patent Figure 1.1, shows a perspective view of the clasp, and an image of the geometric clasp in gold tone, mounted on two Azzedine Alaïa Papa bags.  As a reminder, a US design patent covers only the ornamental aspect of an invention. In this case, the patent covers only how the clasp looks, in contrast to how the push-lock clasp works.   

Reference

Alaïa (website)
https://www.maison-alaia.com/

USPTO MPEP – Chapt. 1502-01 – Distinction between design and utility patent.
https://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/s1502.html

Oh, patents! Azzedine Alaïa (1935-2017) (1)

 Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

The Tunisian-born couturier, Azzedine Alaïa, established his fashion house in Paris, France, in 1964.  Since then, several iconic Azzedine Alaïa pieces have been granted US design patents. For example, the it-pièce (in English, hit piece) Le Papa bag, is a patented design. The US design patent USD979236S1, titled Shoulder bag, was granted on Feb. 8, 2023, to Angela Lauria, and assigned to Azzedine Alaïa SAS, in Paris, France. 

Le Papa bag honors the deceased founder, Azzedine Alaïa, and his eponymous fashion house, known to function more like a family. A family that is continuing his legacy. According to fashion lore, Azzedine Alaïa developed close working relationships with his models, including  Grace Jones, whose costumes he designed, in 1985, for the 14th James Bond movie, A View to Kill.  

Below, the patent Figure image 1.1, together with black and white marketed models of the treasured Le Papa piece. A piece produced in three different sizes and several different materials. A design that turns the "A", representing the house's name, Alaïa, upside down.

As a reminder, a US design patent covers the ornamental aspects of an inventive design, or how the design looks. In contrast, a US utility patent covers the functional aspects of an invention, or the way the invention works. Thus, this patent excludes all but the stunning looks of Alaïa's Papa bag.

References

A View to Kill (1985). James Bond movie, starring Roger Moore and James Bond and  Grace Jones as May Day and music by Duran Duran. (Original Trailer)

https://youtu.be/pxQS8iAlr9w

Bobard-Deliere, M. (2022). It-pièce : Le Papa d’Alaïa, le nouvel intemporel. Elle Magazine France.

https://www.elle.fr/Mode/Accessoires-de-Mode/It-piece-le-Papa-d-Alaia-le-nouvel-intemporel

Maison Alaïa (website)

https://www.maison-alaia.com/us

Thomas, M. (2022). Le Papa, nouveau sac emblématique de la maison Alaïa. Marie Claire Magazine France. 

https://www.marieclaire.fr/le-papa-nouveau-sac-emblematique-de-la-maison-alaia,1429533.asp

Lori Silverman - Crystal Sole® pumps (3)

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

The US design patent, USD753378S1, titled Shoe with decorative sole is another US design patent awarded to Lori Silverman for her Crystal Sole® pumps. The patent was granted on April 12, 2016, to Lori Silverman and assigned to her company LSIL & Co Inc. As a reminder US design patents cover the ornamental aspects of an invention or the way it looks. In contrast, US utility patents cover the way an invention works and/or is manufactured. 

Below the patent Figure 1 extracted from the US design patent, USD753378S1, shows a bottom perspective view of a shoe with the invention decorative sole in an argyle rhinestone pattern. An image of a marketed pump model with a black patent leather upper, an argyle patterned sole, and argyle piping, is also included below.

Reference

LSIL & Co Inc. 

lsilandco.com

Lori Silverman - Crystal Sole® pump (2)

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

The US design patent USD740006S1, titled Shoe with decorative sole is one of twelve US design patents awarded to Lori Silverman for her Crystal Sole® pumps. This patent was granted on Oct. 6, 2015 to Lori Silverman, and assigned to her company LSIL & Co Inc.  As a reminder, US design patents cover the ornamental aspects of an invention, or the way the invention looks. In contrast, US utility patents cover the way an invention works, and/or how the invention is manufactured.

Below, the patent Figure 1, extracted from the US design patent, USD740006S1, depicts a bottom perspective view of a shoe with the invention decorative sole in a camouflage, rhinestone pattern.  An image of a marketed, pointy-toe, pump model with nude suede upper, and more than 3000 crystals adorning the camo-patterned sole, is also included below. 

Reference

LSIL & Co inc. 

lsilandco.com

Lori Silverman - Crystal Sole® pumps (1)

 Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

Lori Silverman’s Crystal Sole® invention consists in a process of decorating shoe soles, in a way that makes the design impervious to the rigors of walking on asphalt and other surfaces. The result is a shoe with signature decorated soles.  

Crystal Sole® shoes are patented. Patented not only with dozens of US design patents for each of the distinctive ways the decorated soles look, but also with a core US utility patent. A US utility patent covering the manufacture of the Silverman shoes with distinctively decorated soles. Indeed, the Crystal Sole® invention was originally recited in the US utility patent application, US20160007678A1, titled Shoe with wrapped sole and transparent pod. 

The invention recites a method of making a shoe with a decorated sole, comprising decorative fabric that is bonded on a blank sole, and covered with a transparent plastic pad. The extracted patent Figure 1 below shows a side perspective view of the shoe made according to an embodiment of the invention.  

Specifically, the patent Figure 1 depicts the invention shoe 10, an upper 12, a  sole 14 to heel 16, a decorative element 18 on at least a portion of the sole 14, and a protective pad 20, covering at least a portion of the sole 14. 

The depicted shoe 10 is a woman’s pump, but the scope of the invention extends to other types of shoes for both men and women. Shoe types for women comprise, for example, boots, booties, flats, or ballet slippers. Shoes for men comprise both loafer types and boots. 

The decorative element 18 is a piece of fabric 22 with a separately patented decorative design. Decorative designs for men’s shoes comprise, for example, checkerboard, camouflage, or sport’s team logo. Decorative designs for women shoes comprise, for example, checkerboard, zebra pattern, stripes, polka dots, plaid, argyle, leopard spots, tiger stripes, plus many more. 

The protective pad 20 covers just the portion of the shoe contacting the floor when the shoe is high heel. When the shoe is a flat, the pad covers the entire sole, up to, or including the heel portion. The protective pad 20 is made of any polymer such as silicone or PVC. The pad 20 also includes holes 24 for stitching to the sole.

The patent further describes the methods of cutting, bonding, and putting together the invention shoe 10, comprising the fabric 22, the blank sole 14,  the protective pad 20, and the upper 12. The patent also describes the extra steps required to include crystals as decorative elements beneath the protective shoe pads 20, directly on the shoe soles 14.

The patent Abstract is included below. A marketed women’s pump embodiment of the invention appears below the patent Figure 1.  

The invention provides a method for making a shoe having a decorated sole, which comprises: providing a sole blank for a desired shoe; providing a fabric having desired decoration, design, or insignia on a bottom side thereof cutting the fabric to a size which will cover the sole and wrap on a portion of an inside edge of the sole; adhering the fabric to the sole blank with bonding agent or adhesive and wrapping the fabric around the edge of the sole; adhering the fabric to the upper edge of the sole blank; affixing a clear plastic pad to at least a portion of the sole to protect against wear of the fabric by floor or street surfaces; and adhering the sole to a shoe upper to form a complete shoe. The invention further provides shoes having decorative soles made in accordance with the foregoing method. [Abstract US20160007678A1]

References
Lori Silverman Shoes (website)

https://www.lorisilvermanshoes.com/

CES 2024 - Invoxia Minitailz Pet tracker

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

Invoxia unveiled the Minitailz pet tracker at the largest  Computer Electronics Show (CES) in the USA, meeting in Las Vegas, Jan 9-12, 2024, since 1995. The Minitailz pet tracker not only informs you of your pet’s whereabouts, using Global Positioning System (GPS) technology, the Minitailz is also a biometrics pet tracker that supplies information 24/7 about your pet’s health. Health information such as respiratory and heart rates, movement, sleep and barking. Indeed, it is the first combination GPS-Health tracker for dogs, and soon for cats also. 

The Minitailz tracker is sold together with a collar, or separately for easy attachment to an existing collar. The Minitailz tracker comes with a monthly (8$) subscription-based app for monitoring and interpreting all the collected data.

The Minitailz pet tracker is a patented invention recited in the US utility patent application, US20230210091A1, titled Dog collar. The patent recites a non-invasive, intelligent collar with a neural network (NN), trained to continuously monitor the physiological parameters of a dog, such as heart rate (HR) and breathing rate (BR) and to separate the BR and HR signals. The collar further comprises a movement sensor comprising an accelerometer and/or gyrometer to capture movement data, and a storage unit comprising the trained neural network. A memory is configured to store physiological information. The tracker also has an interface to communicate all the collected physiological information, to a remote device.

Below the patent Figures 1 and 2 of the dog collar (1). Figure 1 shows a band (2) fitted around the dog’s neck and a set of electronic parts (3) adapted to the band (2), for monitoring the physiological parameters of a dog.  The patent Figure 2 represents a detailed view of the Figure 1 set of electronic parts (3). 

The electronic parts (3) comprise a processing unit (5) and memory (6). The electronic parts further comprise a radar (7) unit with a sensor, comprising a receiving antenna, adapted to detect a signal on the dog’s skin (8), preferably above the dog’s throat, in particular above the dog’s jugular and/ or carotid veins (9). The raw radio frequency (RF) signal (10) detected by the radar is measured by a single antenna. In other embodiments, three antennas might capture the RF signal, resulting in a three-dimensional signal. The dog collar also comprises a ballast (11) with a power source (4) for positioning the radar unit on the jugular vein. 

The electronic parts also comprise a movement sensor unit (12), comprising an accelerometer and/or a gyrometer. The movement sensor (12) is designed to capture the raw movement signal (13) of the dog’s collar (1). The dog collar also comprises a clock (14), designed to synchronize segments of raw movement signals with raw radiofrequency (RF) signals. The neural network unit (16), comprising artificial intelligence software, is stored in its own storage unit (15). The dog collar also comprises an input/output unit (17), for short-range radio communication, designed to transfer stored physiological data to a remote device via BlueTooth®. 

The abstract of the invention is included below. 

An intelligent dog collar for monitoring physiological parameters of a dog, comprising:
- a movement sensor unit comprising an accelerometer and/or a gyrometer, wherein the movement sensor unit is configured to detect raw movement signals of the dog collar,
- a storage module storing a trained neural network, the neural network being configured to determine a physiologic information into raw movement signals detected by the movement sensor unit,
- a processing unit connected to the movement sensor unit and configured to operate the trained neural network,
- a memory configured to store the identified physiologic information,
- an interface for transmitting to a communication device the identified physiologic information. [Abstract US20230210091A1]

References

CES 2024 

https://www.ces.tech/

Invoxia

https://invoxia.com/en-US