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England Salutes 150 Years of Eccentric Patents
jonerik writes "Want to patent a moustache protector? Or perhaps you've hit upon the idea of improving chickens' lives by giving them eyeglasses. Well, don't bother - they've already been invented. The BBC has this piece today on the bizarre ideas that have trickled into the U.K. Patent Office on a regular basis since it opened 150 years ago this month. Other doozies which are saluted are a rifle fitted into a helmet, 'the recoil [of which] broke a man's neck during early trials' and the parachute hat. According to Steve van Dulken, who oversees the patent archive at the British Library, 'For every 100 applications lodged, I'd say that 10 are a bit whacky.'"
IP law isn't as bad as you think, just imagine the safe and secure world we'd be living in today if this evil technology had remained a secret.
You do realize that if the patent had been granted, it would have disseminated the information more *widely*, due to the fact that patents are available for anyone to read?
You also realize that a cyclotron is about as useful for making nuclear weapons as pocket lint would be?
I know, I know, IHBT...
Really, the title to this article should be "British patents...". Strictly speaking, England and Scotland have not been sovereign states since 1703. Since then there has been one British government.
The US Patent Office has certainly received its share of eccentric patents:
-One-Click Shopping
-Here's one discussed the other day...
-Any Software patent
Too bad the US also leads in enforcing eccentric patents as well!
If you're rich, you can be eccentric. If you are poor, you're just crazy. :)
I've heard of this before.
Horses don't 'masturbate'. This was actually to prevent someone from sneaking into your stable, giving your 2 million dollar stallion a handjob, and stealing "the stuff that dreams are made of".
You'd be surprised what a tube of good horse semen is worth these days.
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
At least all the applications mentioned were for tangible things. Here in the US, we are giving patents to intangible ideas, software, and stupid crap like "fat lines." Patently absurd is an understatement for a lot of this stuff.
The Uncoveror: It's the real news.
What good is Braille on ATMs anyway? (drive-in or otherwise). The screen is not Braille...
sudo eat my shorts
So I get modded Offtopic, and this doesn't? Oh yeah, it's an American web site.