Amazon and patents

I've just finished reading Brad Stone's book The everything store: Jeff Bezos and the age of Amazon. If you are interested in how businesses are created and change, and the Web, then this is the book for you.

It emphasized for me how Amazon is so good at grinding costs down in every conceivable way, and deliberately offering promotions which lose it money, in order to build up market share. This is a very Japanese idea, by the way, increasing market share (although when Japanese banks tried applying it to loans they soon built up big books of risky loans). Nice for customers -- not so good for others trying to compete. What will happen if Amazon becomes the last one standing as a retailer ?

Amazon has vast numbers of patents. The company has over 1600 granted US patents, with 221 so far this year -- more than one a day. Some are about the details of how the stock is handled at the fulfilment centres (warehouses), such as Filling an order at an inventory pier, illustrated below, and

Replenishing a retail facility, illustrated below.

The book also talks of the way multiple vendors would be offering items on the Amazon website -- so that the company makes a percentage on vendors who are shipping the items themselves. Out of curiosity, I made a list of the 38 US patents by Amazon which had the word "multiple", and it's quite a mixture, with many involving software algorithms. As Stone says, Amazon is in many ways more a technology company than a retailer.

I would have liked it if Stone had gone into more details about the company's turnover, profits and taxes. Especially its arrangements and efforts to avoid paying sales tax in American states, and tax in European countries, channelling income through low-tax Luxembourg. Also more on compensation for the fulfilment centre workers.

I have only bought books from Amazon -- and now try to avoid doing so if possible.

The Spanish-American War in US design patents

American design patents can be a valuable source of images for studying social history, but are little used. Here is an example: reactions to the Spanish-American War. They may not be typical, of course, as the number is small. Nor does the issuing of a design patent mean that the item was actually manufactured.

There is no doubt that there are numerous souvenir, commemorative or patriotic pins, badges, etc. in the American design patents, and how to find them is explained at the end of this post. The British registered designs, the same sort of right for the look of a design, are not online for historical material, and do not cover such subjects. They also lack explanatory text which could be searched in this way.

The background to the Spanish-American War is that Cuba, a Spanish colony, was fighting a war for independence from Spain. The American battleship Maine was moored in Havana harbour when, on the 15 February 1898, she blew up with the tragic loss of 266 sailors. Sabotage, screamed many American newspapers (although the evidence is inconclusive), which whipped up patriotic enthusiasm which led to war being declared (by the Spanish) in April 1898. The fighting was mainly in Cuba and the Philippines, and ended swiftly, in August 1898.

What follows is a list of the design patents that I have identified as being relevant, in order of being filed at the US Patent Office. Some of the images are attractive; others are dull.

In fact before the war those wishing to express pro-Cuban sympathies were assisted by Henry Caldwell of Hartwell, OH with his "Badge", D27621, filed 30 January 1897. It shows the Cuban colours and is meant to "indicate sympathy with the cause of Cuba", says the patent.

On the 2 April 1898 Willis Hart of Unionville, CT filed for D28629, "Spoon". It shows the Maine and its commander, Captain Charles Sigsbee.

On the 25 April 1898 Julius Becker of New York City filed for D28787, "Pipe", in the appearance of the Maine.

On the 26 May 1898 Charles Bailey of Cromwell, CT filed for D29049, "Toy bank". Again in the guise of the Maine. Bailey had numerous Design Patents to his name.

On the 16 June 1898 William Smith of Philadelphia, PA filed for "Woven fabric", again showing the Maine.

On the 18 June 1898 Amos Standing of St Louis, MO filed for "Game device". I strongly suspect that this is for a game based on the Battle of Manila Bay on the 1 May 1898, when Commodore Dewey's ships defeated the Spanish.

On the 28 August 1898 John Croskey of Dunkirk, IN filed for D29364, "Pitcher". The text explains that it commemorates the Battle of Manila, artillery, the flags of Cuba and the USA, and "the United States Admiral".

On the 28 September 1898 Frank Zecher of Lancaster, PA filed for D29686, "Toy bank", again as the Maine.

On the 29 September 1898 Conrad Stein of Bridgeport, CT filed for D29649, "Game board". The text says that the Spanish and American flags are above the forts.

On the 30 September 1898 William Brown of New York City filed for D29661, "Spoon". The text explains that it commemorates Theodore Roosevelt and his Rough Riders volunteers, who fought in Cuba.

On the 6 October 1898 Charles Bailey of Cromwell, CT filed for D29687, "Toy money bank" -- almost inevitably, as the Maine. On the 26 May he had already filed for an earlier version.

On the 27 October 1898 Ole Prestholdt of Clarkfield, MN filed for D29812, "Medal or similar article". The text explains that Uncle Sam, while feeding chickens, is shooting a hawk that represents Spain while in the background is yes, the Maine. On the other side are images of notable Americans such as President McKinley.

On the 21 January 1899 Josephine Altshuler of New Whatcom, WA filed for D30210, "Game board". The big map is Cuba, the small map Manila Bay.

On the 11 April 1899 Morrison Swan of Manilla, IA filed for D30714, "Breastpin". It shows Dewey.

There is then quite a gap until the 8 July 1899, when Charles Kaiser of Rockport, IN filed for D31313, "chair seat and back". It shows President McKinley and the wrecked Maine. I wonder if the inventor considered if it was polite to sit on an image of the wrecked ship.

On the 11 July 1899 August Grametbaur of New York City filed for D31434, "Plate". Dewey is in the middle, surrounded by his leading naval officers.

On the 30 August 1899 Warren Greveling of New York City filed for D32001, "Lamp body". It shows Dewey.

Finally, on the 8 March 1900 Anson Bacon of Halliwell, ME filed for D32728, "Pencil". It shows Dewey.

The slogan "Remember the Maine" only turned up once -- as an example of what could be used in setting up type, in "Printing form". Filed on the 7 July 1898, it was published as utility patent 626649.

I found the designs on Google Patents Advanced by specifying a time period and designs and then searching the accompanying explanatory text for each design by keywords such as Dewey, Cuba, etc. The database seems to contain a full set of design numbers for showing PNG images of the drawing pages, but as the remainder is scanned content it is likely that some material has been missed. Of course, if no keywords were mentioned then relevant Design Patents won't turn up. There is a classification scheme, but this would simply define badges, pins, flags and so on.

A specific design can be found on that database by asking for e.g, D27621.

The only way is Essex: an infringement ?

I saw in today's Metro free newspaper that a fish and chip shop in Ongar, The only way is Fish, has been accused of infringing the rights of TV show The only way is Essex. It is supposed to be a reality show (though I must admit it looked scripted to me) about attractive, young, prosperous people in Brentwood, Essex.

According to the article, the letter they received said that Lime Pictures had copyrighted the use of "The only way is..." The shop was also said to be using a similar logo.

I see three puzzles here. I am not a lawyer or patent attorney, and these are my understandings of UK law.

(1) You cannot, in the UK, apply to copyright something. You use it and then assert it.

(2) You cannot assert copyright over a sentence, or over a title of a book or a show. You can, however, register trade marks for specific goods or services (a subtly different area of intellectual property).

(3) Lime Pictures has registered The only way is Essex for numerous activities, but not for Class 43, which includes catering services.

The company is on sounder ground if they claim that the shop is trading off the reputation of the show, or using the logo unfairly. Even if the big company does not suffer, they rarely like a small business being (as they would see it) cheeky. They have gone to a lot of trouble publicising the mark, and tend to resent anyone cheapening their image and -- as they see it -- exploiting the work that they have done. They also tend to have deeper pockets.

There are 8 UK and one pan-European registrations (EU12637591, which lists items as required within many classes). Here is the logo as in that EU trade mark:

The UK registrations use a different version:

It is this general look that the shop has -- unwisely, I would suggest -- used. An article in today's Daily Mail shows the look.

One for the lawyers, of course, but my thoughts are that using both the phrase, and the look of the logo, makes it clear that the similarities are not accidental, and that potential customers will be reminded of the show (which takes place in nearby Brentwood). "Passing off", I suspect, is what can be claimed here. The general principles are discussed in the Wikipedia article on passing off.

Another episode of Make me a millionaire inventor

Last night was another episode of Make me a millionaire inventor (Sundays on Pick, 11 on Freeview, 7 pm), which featured a nursing bra and a remedy for seasickness. I have posted on a previous show and the format, and as before had the pleasure of seeing my name credited at the end for help.

Declan McDonnell, an administrator in Omagh, Northern Ireland, had invented a nursing or maternity bra which can be adjusted to increase by a cup size, say from 34B to 34C. This is useful as breast sizes increase a a result of breastfeeding. A hook and eye arrangement at the sides do this.

McDonnell had formerly worked in a factory making bras, and his wife had complained when they had their first child of the problem with tight nursing bras. So he had both knowledge and a motive. A World Patent application, An expandable brassiere, was published in 2011. This document listed at the back five patents that had a certain similarity, which can be seen here. This important aspect was not mentioned in the programme. I see from the European Register data that a patent will be granted in the European system, and there is an American application. Below is the main drawing.

As before help was provided. McDonnell sourced a manufacturer in Latvia. He estimated that it would cost £6 to make, would be sold to shops for £12, and would probably retail at £24.99. 44 sizes would be needed (colours would of course make for more variations). Xpanda Bra was registered in the UK and EU-wide trade mark systems with the favourite artwork being given below.

The second invention was by Tim Flaxman, a Norfolk farmer. He was prone to motion sickness, and once when on the London underground had tried sticking his travel ticket inside his spectacles to block the vision in one eye. His desperate measure worked. He had bought 10,000 sunglasses at a cost of £30,000 and these were still stored at his farm, years on. Presumably blocking one lens is less obvious with sunglasses. TravelShades was registered as a trade mark in the UK as long ago as 2007.

In this case it was estimated that it would cost £5 to the retailer and would probably sell for £9.99 although £20 was later spoken of. The boat ride where people prone to motion sickness had a go with the adapted sunglasses was interesting, although it was crying out for research on variants on the basic principle: was a white card blocking one eye the best ? Did it matter which eye ?

Again a World Patent application was published, but only a British patent was secured, in 2011, as A pair of spectacles to reduce travel sickness. For a simple idea, it may seem strange that a 17 page document was needed. Below is the main drawing. It is still in force, says the British Register data.

Flaxman had also not researched if the concept was dangerous, and learnt from an eye specialist that while it was not a good idea for children it sounded safe enough for adults. It also emerged later on that as he was making a medical claim he might need permission to sell it as a medical device.

After training in presentation skills, which included for some reason singing, the two inventors had to make pitches for their inventions before people working in the trade. McDonnell asked for £75,000, Flaxman for just £25,000.

An existing £5 pill to deal with motion sickness was a possible problem but Flaxman was offered help, as was McDonnell for his bra. In the end McDonnell decided to go it alone.

While a single episode cannot cover all aspects of developing and marketing an invention some excellent points were made -- the need to make good, sensible presentations, the need to remember figures, the need to put together a sound business plan. It made for entertaining as well as informative viewing.

There is a website for Xpanda Bra, which is available to purchase, while TravelShades is not yet available but has a "contact us" website.

Open Innovation: 3 companies welcoming inventors

Open innovation is the concept that invention isn't just carried out by a company's staff, but also includes accepting ideas from outside (as well as selling technology out). After all, as Bill Joy of Sun Microsystems has pointed out, most of the smartest people will always work for someone else. This is called Joy' Law.

Many private inventors find it difficult contacting companies with their ideas. Will they be made welcome, or will there be a brush-off, polite or not ? This post lists three large companies which are noted for welcoming ideas from outside. All three are strong in household products.

Procter and Gamble has its Connect + Develop programme.

Unilever has its Open Innovation portal.

Reckittt & Benckiser has its RB-Idealink.

One problem with contacting a very large company, though, is that they are likely to expect a new idea to be a big product line. If the likely turnover is a few million annually it will add little to their massive turnover, so such ideas are best taken to a smaller company.

Designs of the Year 2014: my visit

I have now visited the Design Museum's exhibition Designs of the Year 2014 and found it very absorbing. It is on until the 25 August.

There are 76 exhibits in seven areas: architecture., digital, fashion., furniture, graphics, product and transport. I found the mixture very stimulating. Here are a couple of photos from it.

The official website for Designs of the Year 2014 (as opposed to the exhibition) lists the 76 and shows the numbers of votes for each. I didn't vote as I couldn't decide between such different products and solutions in so many different areas.

I seem to find the worlds of wheelchairs, bicycles and highly efficient cars very interesting, as my other photos are in those areas.

Below is the Chair 4 Life by the Renfrew Group.

Below is the IFmove bicycle by Pacific Cycles, which claims to be more than just a folding bicycle.

And there is the ME.WE concept car by Toyota, designed to be a light electric car for use in urban areas. I await with great anticipation the arrival in large numbers of electric cars -- they will be quiet for a start, and not emit lots of poisonous fumes. Liberate the city !

I also saw at the same venue the exhibition Hello, my name is Paul Smith. I was vaguely aware that Smith was a fashion designer but knew nothing more. It seems he is also involved in design work generally, and I loved his energetic curiosity -- he takes a camera and notebook everywhere, and absorbs ideas and influences like a sponge. I admit to being surprised by my own enthusiasm.

Each shop is individually designed and they are listed on the Paul Smith company website, and I will start visiting the 11 London shops. Below are a couple of photos I took at the exhibition.

Make me a millionaire inventor

The Sky Vision TV series Make me a millionaire inventor has hit the UK screens, 18 months after my modest involvement with it. I remember the filming at the British Library (as seen in the opening footage, going along the shelves) and making suggestions on how to identify likely patents.

It's a reality show where each week two engineers, Shini Somara and Jem Stansfield, identify two patents by British private inventors where the products are not available in the shops. They are called on and asked if they want help with getting the invention commercialised. I am sure I'm not the only person who finds shows about getting a possible product to market very good viewing.

I saw it for the first time last Sunday, and assume it is typical of the series. The first inventor was Stephen Britt. Instead of an electric bicycle to assist the cyclist, only the pedal (under the foot) is powered, using batteries. 30% of the power needed to cycle is provided by it. Stansfield certainly seemed to enjoy cycling with it: the harder he cycled, the more he claimed to enjoy it. Britt's British patent was published in 2011 as Auxiliary drive for a cycle.

The other inventor was Marc Spinoza. He had thought of the Fin Band, and had registered the trade mark for it. His British patent, Buoyancy and rescue device, was published in 2010.

Meant for small children, this buoyancy aid has two large fins attached by a sleeve which clings to the skin. Only an adult can get it off the child, and hence it adds safety to the swimmer. Children splashing about in the pool seemed quite happy using it.

Both inventors were very pleased with the offered help. Britt had even given up his job while trying to get it off the ground, although his family apparently didn't mind. Thousands had been spent on the projects. Shrewd comments were made by separate panels interviewing the inventors, especially about the need to get the costs down. Many inventors do not realise that this is vital for many products. The electric pedal would sell for £350, Britt estimated, and you saw potential investors from the retail trade wince. The buoyancy aid cost £5 to make, and would sell for perhaps £20 in the shops, far more than competing products.

In the end, both inventors were helped by an investor, though one decided to go it alone in the end.

The show made it clear that many skills are needed to become a successful inventor-entrepreneur, including memorising crucial facts and having a viable business plan.

What the show didn't mention was the need to carry out research -- ironically, what you see the presenters doing at the start of the programme. Inventors need to check if an idea is new (otherwise you can't patent it), and what sort of market there is out there, including competitors (otherwise you look foolish when asked questions). Both can be done at the British Library's Business & IP Centre or at one of the UK's Patlib libraries. The problems involved in getting a patent was also not mentioned.

To be fair, a lot of useful ground was covered and it all made good viewing. Any inventors, and many entrepreneurs, can learn from the programmes.

My own small part ended up on the editing room floor. I had been an assistant to the presenters, bringing them volumes of patents to look at (which is actually done now on a screen, like so many things). My name was, however, mentioned in the closing credits, which was nice.

In the UK it's on Pick (Freeview 11) at 7 pm every Sunday.

Youngest inventor ever ?

Kiowa Kavovit was on the US show Shark Tank on the 14 March, making a pitch for financial backing for a paint-on bandage. It was called BooBoo Goo. I understand that she secured backing on condition that a patent was applied for. There is a website for the product.

We in the UK also have our young inventors. Samuel Houghton was three when he thought of a double-headed broom, as explained by him in a video compiled for the British Library exhibition Inventing the 21st Century which I curated, back in 2010. I'll admit that I chose him for the cuteness factor, and to show that the young often have very imaginative ideas.

Samuel was lucky enough to be the son of a patent attorney. Dad apparently thought that it would be a useful educational exercise to apply for a British patent (but with no thought of enforcing it). Notice in my list below how the titles, besides the patent claims, are often "broad yet precise" in how they word the concept.

Samuel secured a patent both for this and for a later idea.

Improved broom (but called "Sweeping device with two heads" in a preliminary publication), applied for in 2006, is shown below.

I liked the comment in the granted patent that he "observed that my daddy was wasting time swapping between brushes" when sweeping small or larger fragments. His double-headed broom sweeps both kinds, the front head the big pieces, the back head the smaller ones.

In 2008 there was his Balloon bursting apparatus.

His younger brother Benjamin was responsible in 2008 for Plug for a wash-basin, as illustrated below.

There is one patent in the names of both boys, applied for in 2008. This was Improved handle (at a preliminary stage, titled "Shock-absorbing handle for manual tool"), as illustrated below:

Samuel Houghton has his own Wikipedia article which says "he is thought to be the youngest person to have been granted a patent for their invention", at age 5, though I wonder if Benjamin was younger still. One problem is that the age of invention, applying for and securing a patent are likely to be different and it is often unclear what age applies to what stage when claims are made.

The Guardian has an interview with Samuel Houghton from 2008.

Historical eye baths book

When I worked at the British Library it was a pleasure to help those researching historical artefacts so that they could identify old patents and trade marks.

I've just seen a book that came out of such research. It is Eye baths: an illustrated survey, by George Sturrock, who has been researching the field for thirty years. It was published in 2012.

It is arranged alphabetically by manufacturer and contains numerous colour illustrations of eye baths and packaging. Many were made of porcelain, it seems. There is a bibliography, and a table on page 214 of 36 patents arranged by applicant.

I'd have liked to have seen the "date" listed in this table explained -- was it date of application, or date of grant ? Both can seem important, and the former determines the length of the British patent term, and the latter the length of the US term. Also, I think there were patents mentioned in passing in the text which did not appear in the table and which were simply called a patent without giving the patent number, and I'd have also liked to have seen a full citation when the year of registration of trade marks was mentioned (which is frequently). These are minor quibbles. Once a librarian always a librarian, I am sorry to say.

I often used to see Mr Sturrock working away in the reading room on patents or trade marks. The result is truly a labour of love.

Other researchers on historical inventions that I recall were on croquet and revolving doors (both of which resulted in detailed books), ticket punchers, firearms, Indian topis [solar hats], and rat traps. It was a pleasure giving what help I could to all of them. It does seem to be men rather than women who get obsessed with a topic in this way.

One comment that George made that sounded useful was saying that eBay was a very good source of information, as sellers often provided good photos and patent or trade mark information.

Search Matters 2014: training at EPO

I attended the Search Matters 2014 conference at The Hague last week, where I gave the keynote speech.

Search Matters is an annual two-day meeting where the European Patent Office (EPO) provide talks and workshops to help patent professionals learn about patent searching tools, including changes in provision. I'd never been before, and it was certainly intensive. About 120 attended, and I went to six workshops on topics such as accessing Chinese and Korean patent information, and citation searching to assist in identifying relevant material. On the whole, the emphasis was on finding older patents that might invalidate a patent application -- what is called "prior art."

I think everyone else providing the talks and workshops were EPO staff, but I had been asked to give the keynote speech. I was asked to choose any relevant topic and to make it entertaining and informative. The title was Do you know English ? The challenge of the English language for searchers, and was a light-hearted review of common problems that we all face, including native English speakers.

These included English spelling; the numerous synonyms that the language has; verbs that are also nouns; US versus British spelling or wording; establishing terminology such as wording for cars and aircraft; and compound nouns, where there can be uncertainty over whether a word is spelt as one word or as two.

For example, I would never think of spelling "ballpoint" as "ball point", yet in the relevant patent class for ballpoint pens, B43K7/00, the number of title hits on the free Espacenet database was:

ball point(s)......................603
ballpoint(s).......................379

Within the same class, there were other wordings for the basic idea of a such a writing instrument:

pen(s)..............................1669
writing instrument(s).........323
writing implement(s).........122
writing device(s).................11

"Pen" would of course have overlapped with other wordings. The implication is, of course, use all possible variants.

I told a few jokes about machine translations. The English saying "The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak" get translated into Russian and back again and becomes "The vodka is great but the meat is lousy", and the French saying "Voici l'Anglais avec son sangfroid habituel" becomes "Here comes the Englishman with his usual bloody cold". I had scoffed in 1988 at the idea of machine translations at a meeting, but happily admit that they are now very useful and are of course much used. For patents, the Patenttranslate function on Espacenet is very valuable for translating ASCII text. Unlike other translation tools, it incorporates numerous technical wordings.

There is also Patentese, the dialect used by patent attorneys to draft "broad yet precise" patent claims. I gave the example of the weird wording in John Keogh's Circular transportation facilitation device, better known as a wheel. Keogh was a patent attorney who wanted to make fun of the new Australian innovation patent, which was not checked for novelty. I also gave the (fictitious ?) example of the patent attorney who, confronted by an optimist saying that a glass was half full, and a pessimist saying it was half empty, replied that it was an open-ended cylinder horizontally bissected by liquid H2O.

As a paperless conference, the presentations were put on a USB which was given to the participants. I will certainly keep it for review as it was hard to keep track of all the information. I learnt about new things, and enjoyed networking with the participants. I appreciated being invited to contribute to the conference, and the pleasant hospitality offered. I also enjoyed staying at Delft, and for the first time in my life visited Rotterdam, from which my ancestor migrated to England in 1875.

The website promises to publish the lectures and the larger workshops as e-learning modules by mid-May.

I would encourage those professionals who feel the need to strengthen their skills in patenting searching to attend next year's workshop.