Method of exercising a cat
- Method of exercising a cat
-
Figure 1 from "Method of exercising a cat."
U.S. Patent 5,443,036 was granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on August 22, 1995 for a method of exercising a cat by getting it to follow a spot generated by a laser pointer. The patent has been taken as an example of a "goofy" [1], "seemingly absurd" [2] or questionable [3] patent justifying, in the opinion of some, reform of the patent system. (The original filing date is 1993-11-02.)
The patent expired in 2007 for failure to pay maintenance fees.[4]
See also
References
- ^ Darren Franklin, Patent-Reform Bill Promises Changes to Transform Law, Los Angeles Daily Journal, September 14, 2005
- ^ Small-time inventors cry foul on patent changes, MSNBC, October 21, 2005
- ^ N. Stephan Kinsella, “Against Intellectual Property”, Journal of Libertarian Studies 15, no. 2 (Spring 2001), pp. 1–54. (see Appendix: Some questionable examples of patents and copyrights)
- ^ "Notice of Expiration of Patents Due to Failure to Pay Maintenance Fee". United States Patent and Trademark Office. August 22, 2007. http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/sol/og/2007/week41/patexpi.htm. Retrieved June 27, 2011.
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