VR Hardware and UI/UX: The next big thing in design patents

Google Cardboard - High Tech that melts in the rain. 

The internet teems with articles giving you the "20 next big things in X" or "15 reasons why everyone should know about technology Q." However,  most of these lists are really slim native advertisements for companies hawking all manner of kit and not really instructive on what the next big thing is going to be in any industry.

Luckily, I am here to tell you what the next big thing is going to be in a particular industry. I had the opportunity to go to Maker Faire this past weekend and take in the sights and sounds of what a low pretense, high diversity Burning Man would look like it if was hosted in Queens and had easy subway access. Among the automated pancake makers and drone suppliers, I kept noticing that what really stood out was the prevalence of VR (Virtual Reality Gear). VR gear was everywhere, not only in demo booths, but also strapped to the slack jawed faces of noobs and experts alike, usually through some jury-rigged cardboard contraption (as shown above).

VR Gear itself is a ripe for intellectual property protection. Usable VR gear presents a number of engineering and UX / UI problems that, when solved are like patentable inventions. Furthermore, just as in the Smartphone Wars (TM), the industrial design of one product versus another might spell the difference between a record shattering Iphone and an also ran Nokia. As such comapnies are going to be aggressive in patenting designs for hardware. Companies like Oculus Rift (Facebook acquired) already have pending an issued design patents cover the form of their VR headsets, and their products have not reached consumers yet.  

Occulus Rift Issued Design Patent on VR Gear. 

However, hardware is, well...hard, and designs for VR Gear are likely to be refined within the walls of engineering and design studios with massive budgets and expansive teams.  Neither of these resources are going to be available to the nimble, cash strapped, start-up.

On the other-hand, VR GUIs, i.e. the graphical display of information within the VR helmet, is the same sort of disruptive opportunity that garage tinkers, and lean teams have made fortunes on. Much like the design patents Apple Inc. received on its icon arrangement for the Iphone, VR companies will be looking to find the optimized, and proprietary, ways to display information to a user.

If one were asking me the "next big thing" is design patent law - I would say it is the race to develop and patent the most beautiful and intuitive VR UI this side of The Lawn Mower Man. In this race, the field is wide open.


  

Don't use Invention Assistance Companies until you check the PTO

Short Post: 

There are a lot of entities out there that want to help you get your idea off the ground. From venture capital firms, to Kickstarter, to your cousin's Persian rug connection, there are people well placed who want to see your idea succeed and share in the profits.  
There is nothing wrong with bringing a few fellow travelers along with you for the ride. In fact it is good practice to have a couple more heads to put together when the going gets tough. 

One group that does not have your best interest at heart are "Invention Assistance" companies.  You seen the ads on late night T.V. They will help you patent, market, and sell you idea to major companies! 


Why go to a moldy patent attorney who has ethical obligations?  Hitch your wagon to a business that knows what good ideas look like, and will escort you through the process from conception to showers of riches.  </sarcasm>

While it is entirely possible that these companies do help the odd inventor. It is much more likely you will exit the process will poorer, both in terms of actual money and patent rights. 

We could walk through all the way that Invention assistance companies upbraid your future patent having happiness, but the Patent Office has already compiled a list of complaints as depressing as they are informative.   

Here is an excerpt of a complaint sent to the PTO regarding an Invention Assistance Company: 

Name of mass media invention promoter advertised in:  Mail Advertisement

Invention promotion service offered to be performed:  To market and license my invention.

Explanation of complaint between customer and invention promoter: 
I am filing a complaint against this company.  I paid them $25,270.00 completed last payment May 2011.  On November 6, 2012, received a letter they closed their business so I got ripped off.  In year 2007, I lost $5527 – to another companyXXXX., XXXX, XXXX, XX 07004.  That makes it (two) almost $31,000.  How can I trust anyone to market and license my invention.  I don’t’ have the money anymore. I research on the website on the XXXX before paying any money.  Who are the trusted companies who will follow through and assist new inventors?  These companies had a bad reputation with the BBB and FTC.  What am I doing wrong?  What do I look out for?  I need help to get my money back and market my invention.

You can read all the complaints for various Invention assistance Firms, here. 

Patent Lawyers, and law firms in general, will not assist you in taking your idea to market. That is generally a task best left for yourself.  However, if you must use a company to help you, understand what you are getting yourself into. 

More importantly, check the company out, and due your due diligence. It is not enough to review the BBB, but check the PTO, and the FTC. If your idea is worth thousands of dollars, then it is worth the time to make sure you are protecting it right. 

Jordan Garner 

Steampunk, Patents & IBM

Steampunk as a genera was set to explode in 2013.  For those who don't know the difference between steampunk, cyberpunk and retro-future, let me provide this definition. A common definition could be provided as a sci-fi / fantasy sub-genre based around Gothic machinery and the industrialized civilization of the 19th Century. However, it should be noted that the definition of Steampunk differs from adherent to adherent. The common elements are a heavy influence by the works of Jules Verne, the inventions of Nikola Tesla and Victorian fashion. The genera adheres a retro-futuristic style that puts critical emphasis on ascetics, at times to the detriment of function.

According to IBM (a retro-futuristic enterprise if there were one) Steampunk was set to evolve into a cultural meme, jumping cultural domains like some sort of mechanical fish. IBM came to that conclusion through the use of its sentiment analysis system which scans social media for "chatter". In this case, the chatter said that Steampunk is set to explode. This "steam explosion" will see the transition from "high-cost" low volume Steampunk inspired devices to mass market production. See there analysis here. 

Naturally giddy at the prospect of this explosion in felt hats and brass goggles, I fired up my ISPDR Terminal (More on this another time) and went looking for Steampunk patents. 

Unfortunately, the only issued patent that felt "Steampunk-y" is the above illustrated "gear-heart" pendant. U.S.P. 666116.  Some additional patent applications were directed to video games having a Steampunk feel, but no additional physical device. No giant steam powered spider-automaton diagrams, no difference engines powered by AEther. Just some odd electrode wielding walking sticks and some flogs. 

Of course, it is possible that all of the really fancy jewelry is being copyrighted and not design patented.  However, if you thought your designs were going to go mass market, and you were working in a genera as unique and ascetically diverse as Steampunk, why wouldn't you seek design patent protection.  

The general take away should be about focusing your development efforts to conform to some 10,000 foot analysis, as opposed to developing and IP portfolio which serves current business needs. Clearly, those high-cost low volume manufacturers are not having a problem with rampant infringement. Otherwise they would have masses of patents and pending applications. 

Chatter about trends, technologies, or concepts are just that, chatter. Even with powerful computer analysis it is difficult to determine the direction of technology and style. Therefore, you never know what ideas and technology might take off tomorrow. This makes it difficult to justify the costs associated with IP protection. However, the opposite is true too. One well placed patent might control the market, or a genera. A balanced IP portfolio strategy, based on real world feedback, is always the right style. 

Jordan Garner

Yuletide Patents: Reconstruction to the Long Depression (1860's to 1900's)

One of the reasons that I find IP Law so fascinating is the depth and breadth history that patent records provide.  Patents provide an alternative, focused history into the mindset of inventors and designers. Problem solvers and money makers have used the patent system for hundreds of years to disclose to the world their version of a better mousetrap. The patent office is a near perfect record of the changes that have taken place in design, manufacturing and technology.

This is the start of a series looking at holiday patents through the years.A trip through the patent office records will find patents on various weapons, vehicles, rocket ships and toys. The diligent observer will also find technologies directed to freeing man from the onerous chores that have plagued the human condition since time immemorial.

Of course, one of the plagues beset  heavily on the shoulders of mankind is Christmas decorations. Untold families have been torn asunder by arguments concerning the de-tangling of lights, proper Christmas tree display orientation angles and proper ornament positioning.

The following patents show that the issues around Christmas, the quest for easier decorations, for simpler trees, for time saving autonomous devices, has changed little in the last 150 years.


The featured patent at the top of the post is the earliest patent I could find which used the term Christmas.  Patent No. 18,238 was filed in 1868; and concerns a design patent on a particular figure for a Christmas tree ornament.

Slightly more recent, from 1881, Patent No. 237,026 describes a paper Christmas Tree decoration. As industry and commerce stalled during the Long Depression, the inventor, Mr. Kanuff probably hoped that his Christmas decorations would help life spirits as well the balance of his bank account.











Of course, nothing goes better with paper draped over a wooden, rapidly drying, vertical piece of kindling than an open flame. This is why Mr. Schroeder's idea, patented in 1903, for a "Candle holders for Christmas Trees" was likely a big hit.
















Possibly as a result of uncontrollable fires resulting from placing candles in Christmas tress, enterprising inventors sought to do away with the tawdry notion of an actual tree. Why fell a potential hazard when you can construct a safe tree with the tools of science. For example patent 255,902 describes an "Imitation Christmas tree"













Of course, no Yuletide celebration would be complete without the accompaniment of music. The modern era is complete with Ipads and Spotifys, belting out the latest Christmas versions of your favorite artists.

 Engineers of the later 19th Century had solved the problem of stored music, a perfect accompaniment to the roaring fire which is quickly engulfing your candle lit Christmas tree.

Reed Organs had been around for some time. However Mr. Metzger found useful improvements in the art of delivering canned Christmas music. All the elements are there of the modern electronic system of music. A recordable medium, a software instruction set, and a hardware amplification device.






Patent Office records provide a wonderful source of inspiration for designers and inventors. The technology illustrated in these patents still exists, only in more refined forms. Anyone who loves graphic or industrial design owes it to themselves to take a trip through the patent office records.

Jordan Garner

Terrors of the Patent Office [ Halloween Patents]

Nothing gets the inventive process moving like a commercial holiday. Unlike Christmas, Halloween lacks a committed religious lobby arguing that the festival has become too commercialized. Gaelic Druids, engaging in their Samhain Festivities, would probably be in awe of the variety and sophistication of modern creepy faced gourd lanterns. (a particularly creepy turnip Samhain lantern seen at left)

A quick search of the patent office provides several excellent updates of this apparently ancient tradition of making disturbing faces on otherwise inedible tubers. (Yes, I find turnips inedible...)

Everyone likes a menacingly happy Jack-O-Lantern. That's why, in 1907,  JC Tyndall of  St. Louis decided to file and get a patent (No. 848,938 on a "Toy Lantern"). Tyndall realized that the weak point of any Pumpkin light was the cap, and the susceptibility of the entire enterprise ending in a pumpkin scented conflagration. therefore, his pumpkin lantern includes a candle retainer, and an interlocking cap and gimbals mechanism for easy transport. the Specification does not detail why the eyebrows are so disturbingly curved.

In the continued vein of creepy faced pumpkin products, we move onto B. Wilmsen's particularly threatening Jack-O-Lantern patent issued in 1934. (No. 94,935 on a "Pumpkin Lantern").Tyndall had actually technology. Wilmsen make up for his lack of technical sophistication in this design patent with existential pumpkin-faced dread. His products nearly vertical optical orbs scream "infringe me if you dare!"

Lastly, we have an epileptic seizure inducing pumpkin Lantern. The psychedelic 1960's produced some interesting and mind altering experiences.  None of these hold an electronic candle to a double faced Janus-like Pumpkin invented by R.R. Authier of Oaks Bluff Mass and issued as Pat. No. 3,250,910. (Ed: Martha's vineyards for those who don't know).This specialty lantern has dual faces, one scary and one comical. In addition, it contains selectively operated light sources of differing colors. Lastly, these lights can blink or strobe, producing the red flashing eyes of a haunted monstrosity, in pumpkin form.


Always remember to check the patent office for particularly excellent holiday ideas.