From patent history
These are well-known public stories, not clients of this practice, and I had no part in them. They show the kind of idea that can be patented: a specific improvement to something people already used. They are unusual. Most patents never earn their owners money, and the success in each story also came from the product, the market, and years of work.
01
Clothing people already wore · A narrower patent on a familiar garment
Sara Blakely wanted a smooth line under white pants and open shoes. Footless pantyhose had already been patented. Her patent covered a specific garment: a firm control top reaching down the thigh, sheer legs ending near the knee, and knitted-in bands instead of tight elastic.
02
A toy aisle product · Licensed to a toy company
Lonnie Johnson, an engineer, was experimenting with nozzles for a new kind of heat pump when one shot a stream of water across the bathroom. Toy stores already sold water pistols. His used a hand pump to build air pressure inside the gun, so it fired a strong, steady stream.
03
A part already on every car · Payments from Ford and Chrysler after years in court
Cars already had windshield wipers. In a drizzle they smeared the glass, because they could not take a break. Robert Kearns made them pause, the way a blinking eye does.
04
A clothing fastener people already used · Grew into a worldwide fastening company
George de Mestral came home from a walk with burrs stuck to his dog. Buttons and zippers already existed. He copied the burr: one strip of tiny hooks, one strip of loops.
05
Watering a farm · A 5% royalty on every machine
Frank Zybach was a farmer who was tired of moving irrigation pipe by hand. Farms already used ditches and sprinklers. He put the pipe on wheels so water pressure walked it in a circle around the well.
06
A spring from a ship lab · More than 250 million sold
In 1943 Richard James, an engineer, was working with springs on a device to steady equipment on Navy ships. One fell off a shelf and kept walking. Springs were already everywhere. He patented a spring with the right size and steel to walk down stairs on its own.
07
A farm fence · Sold for $60,000 plus royalties
Joseph Glidden was an Illinois farmer. Wire fences already existed, and so did earlier barbed wire patents. His fix was to lock each barb in place by twisting a second wire around it.
08
A cake pan people already tossed · More than 200 million sold by Wham-O
Fred Morrison and his girlfriend found a cake pan flew well on the beach. Pans and pie tins already flew. He made a plastic disc shaped to fly farther.