Balloon boy's dad's new project

He's got some sweet "Bear Scratch" moves.

Wonder how prison worked out for him?
 
I am impressed with his ability to sell with such passion something that stupid. For most people, their enthusiasm would be unavoidably constrained by a deep-rooted sense of personal shame.
-harry
 
If he hasn't really filed for a patent, he could be looking at a false marking lawsuit under 35 USC 292. That's the latest sport for internet trolls. No standing or damages required to file suit.
 
You think he'll drop the "5% donation to Salvation Army for turkeys on the table before Thanksgiving" from the balloon?

What's that? I'm hearing ghosts of WKRP...
 
TangoWhiskey said:
You think he'll drop the "5% donation to Salvation Army for turkeys on the table before Thanksgiving" from the balloon?
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"...5% of the profits". So if he has a loss does the Salvation Army then owe him 5%? :confused:

Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe said:
According to the video: "Honey! I don't need you anymore! I can do it myself!"
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Woe is the wife who's replaced by a varnished stick.:rolleyes2:
 
I wonder if that kid in the video is Balloon Boy?

I'll have to check the Weekly World News to see if there have been any Balloon Boy sightings to go along with their Bat Boy sightings.
 
Matthew said:
I wonder if that kid in the video is Balloon Boy?

I'll have to check the Weekly World News to see if there have been any Balloon Boy sightings to go along with their Bat Boy sightings.
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What's Elvis up to these days???
 
The video doesn't look that compelling, but at least he's annoying.
 
Steve Foley said:
If he hasn't really filed for a patent, he could be looking at a false marking lawsuit under 35 USC 292. That's the latest sport for internet trolls. No standing or damages required to file suit.
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Is it actually possible to get a patent for a stick of wood? I can think of one person/being that might claim patent infringement on that one. ;)
 
The sad thing is that he'll probably make more selling that thing before New Years then I've made in the last year.
 
CJones said:
Is it actually possible to get a patent for a stick of wood?
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I really don't think so, and that was my point. Falsely claiming you've got a patent pending when you don't will subject you to penalties. Solo cups was (unsuccessfully) sued for selling ten billion plastic cups with expired patent numbers on them. The potential fine was $500 for each cup. There are hundreds of these cases pending, since the patent trolls learned that (a) anyone can sue, (b) there's a potential $500 for each item shipped, and (c) expired patents are now classified as falsely marked.

My employer recently received a summons from a lawyer in the mid-west somewhere because they found expired patent numbers on the company website.
 
Steve Foley said:
I really don't think so, and that was my point. Falsely claiming you've got a patent pending when you don't will subject you to penalties. Solo cups was (unsuccessfully) sued for selling ten billion plastic cups with expired patent numbers on them. The potential fine was $500 for each cup. There are hundreds of these cases pending, since the patent trolls learned that (a) anyone can sue, (b) there's a potential $500 for each item shipped, and (c) expired patents are now classified as falsely marked.

My employer recently received a summons from a lawyer in the mid-west somewhere because they found expired patent numbers on the company website.
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how do you know he is "falsely claiming he has a patent pending"? he could be working on the paten paperwork right now with the plan to submit it to the USPTO. All he needed to do was to notify the USPTO that he was planning on filing his paperwork on this invention. Until they give him an official issuance or dismissal of the patent application it is pending. Patent pending has no legal standing whatsoever nor does it offer and protection.
 
Steve Foley said:
I really don't think so, and that was my point. Falsely claiming you've got a patent pending when you don't will subject you to penalties. Solo cups was (unsuccessfully) sued for selling ten billion plastic cups with expired patent numbers on them. The potential fine was $500 for each cup. There are hundreds of these cases pending, since the patent trolls learned that (a) anyone can sue, (b) there's a potential $500 for each item shipped, and (c) expired patents are now classified as falsely marked.

My employer recently received a summons from a lawyer in the mid-west somewhere because they found expired patent numbers on the company website.
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"lawyers are having a heyday. They get to keep half of any money collected, encouraging them to chase expired patent numbers instead of ambulances."

http://www.freep.com/article/201010...20/New-patent-rules-drag-down-suspenders-firm

You can apply for a patent for purd near anything. Getting it issued is a little harder. Getting a patent that is actually worth getting is harder still.

His pattent application could be for a new application for a stick - screwing it to the wall for a back scratcher.

Or it could be for the way the stick is attached to the bracket. Or for whatever coating he finds "advantageous" to apply to the stick. Or...
 
ScottM said:
how do you know he is "falsely claiming he has a patent pending"?
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I don't. I wrote "If he hasn't really filed for a patent, he could be looking at a false marking lawsuit under 35 USC 292."

he could be working on the paten paperwork right now with the plan to submit it to the USPTO.
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The lawyers told us that it's not pending until the application has been filed.
 
Steve Foley said:
I don't. I wrote "If he hasn't really filed for a patent, he could be looking at a false marking lawsuit under 35 USC 292."
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Ok

Steve Foley said:
The lawyers told us that it's not pending until the application has been filed.
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You skipped my next sentence
ScottM said:
All he needed to do was to notify the USPTO that he was planning on filing his paperwork on this invention.
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This would be a preliminary filing application (provisional) and that would allow him to use the patent pending designation while he, or he and his lawyer work on the full (non-provisional) application.

You have to officially start the filing process with the USPTO to legally use the patent pending label. Your lawyers were right. There are just some fast way to start that process in order to get the designation and use it as a marketing tool or to help warn others that your fabulous invention is going to possibly obtain protection.

As for this invention getting a patent. I do not see him, as one poster said, getting a patent on a stick. But he could patent something as silly as the location and height of the bumps. Those type of patents, if written well enough, do get granted. I recall a certain communications company headquartered in Schaumburg had patented the height of cooling fins on a transistor heat sink. These were the optimal height and would fit perfectly in the space between circuit boards. Anything less and transistors would over heat, anything more and the heat sink would interfere with the circuit board above it. There was only one company that was allowed to make those heat sinks and the cost was commensurate with that uniqueness.
 
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I was just reminded of a joke of mine that my kids pretended to like when they were little:

"What's brown and sticky?"









"A stick"
 
Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe said:
"lawyers are having a heyday. They get to keep half of any money collected, encouraging them to chase expired patent numbers instead of ambulances."

http://www.freep.com/article/201010...20/New-patent-rules-drag-down-suspenders-firm

You can apply for a patent for purd near anything. Getting it issued is a little harder. Getting a patent that is actually worth getting is harder still.

His pattent application could be for a new application for a stick - screwing it to the wall for a back scratcher.

Or it could be for the way the stick is attached to the bracket. Or for whatever coating he finds "advantageous" to apply to the stick. Or...
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Here's a list of pending cases:

http://www.falsemarking.net/district.php

I count 755 filed this year.
 
ScottM said:
Ok
You skipped my next sentence
This would be a preliminary filing application and that would allow him to use the patent pending designation while he, or he and his lawyer work on the full application.
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That contradicts what our lawyers said as well as the plain language of the statute

Whoever marks upon, or affixes to, or uses in advertising in connection with any article the words "patent applied for," "patent pending," or any word importing that an application for patent has been made, when no application for patent has been made, or if made, is not pending,
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Steve Foley said:
That contradicts what our lawyers said as well as the plain language of the statute
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Then take it straight from the USPTO
http://www.uspto.gov/patents/resources/types/provapp.jsp

A provisional application for patent is a U. S. national application for patent filed in the USPTO under 35 U.S.C. § 111(b) . It allows filing without a formal patent claim, oath or declaration, or any information disclosure (prior art) statement. It provides the means to establish an early effective filing date in a later-filed non-provisional patent application filed under 35 U.S.C. § 111(a) . It also allows the term "Patent Pending" to be applied in connection with the description of the invention.
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That seems pretty plain language to me. not sure what you were reading. I think you are misunderstanding what I mean by the preliminary patent application. That is the provisional application to the USPTO.

You do not need to submit a complete non-provisional application with all your claims to use the term. After the provisional claim has been filed you have up to 12 months to get the non-provisional application in. That will give you even more time to keep using the term while that application is being evaluated. He may even not want to submit a non-provisional application at all and just use the provisional process for his marketing use of the term. The provisional application is but one tool that inventors use to try an obtain protection for their inventions.
 
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ScottM said:
not sure what you were reading.
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Section 292(a) of the same statute.

I think you are misunderstanding what I mean by the preliminary patent application. That is the provisional application to the USPTO.
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This is not my area, so I rely on the lawyers. Reading 111(b)(8), It looks like the provisional application should suffice for 292(a). Thanks for the information. I have been told in no uncertain terms that "counsel has been retained for this purpose and your opinion is not needed". We're holding up some product stamped 'patent pending' until the application is filed. There is no provisional application that I'm aware of.
 
Let 'em sue. You know what they say about blood and turnips? I suspect this guy owes so much in fines and charges over the balloon thing (and I suspect those prior government claims would have precednce) and has so few assets that no lawyer in his right mind would take the case for the plaintiff unless his only goal was publicity, not profit.
 
I've used door frames for most of my life. Should I patent that? Or is there a safety recall on door frames because of improper usage? I never did see the safety warnings for them. Pencils, pens, and yard sticks work as well.
 
Just for fun I went and searched the patent application database.

The first search term I used was 'Heene' and I looked in all fields for it.

Nothing that I can see from our balloon friend. But a Micheal Heene has applied for a patent on selling things on the Internet.

Systems and methods for facilitating the sale of classified ad items are provided. According to one embodiment, a linkage is created between a print advertisement and an online counterpart. Consumers are encouraged to view and/or purchase online an item for sale in the print classified ad. For example, a graphic, text, icon or other indicia may indicate the item is also accessible in an online environment. According to another embodiment, ad data for an e-commerce enabled online classified advertisement is originated by a periodical publisher via a call center and passed to the e-commerce system. In another embodiment, consumers placing an order for an advertisement are provided with multiple e-commerce selling format options that define the manner in which an e-commerce application will attempt to sell the subject of the ad. For example, the consumer may select a fixed price, a negotiated price, or an auction selling format.

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising: receiving, by ad placement software associated with a periodical publisher, information associated with a classified advertisement, including, but not limited to, contact information for a seller of a subject of the classified advertisement, a text description of the subject, and a price of the subject; storing the information associated with the classified advertisement within a first database associated with the ad placement software; enabling a transaction relating to the subject of the classified advertisement to be completed online by transferring the information associated with the classified advertisement from the first database to a second database associated with an e-commerce application; and creating an online version of the classified advertisement by transferring the information associated with the classified advertisement from the first database to a third database associated with an online classified advertisement system and adding e-commerce linkage information to cause a hyperlink to the e-commerce application to be displayed as part of the online version of the classified advertisement.
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http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=10&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PG01&s1=heene&OS=heene&RS=heene

The next term I used was 'bear scratch' and 'bearscratch' I turned up nothing.

I also looked at Heene's website to see if he listed a patent application number. I could not find one on his website.

Hmmm

I do have to comment that his website is far more professional than anything I ever saw come out of MAG! Troy Martin may want to contract Richard Heene to be his web designer.
 
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Everskyward said:
I was wondering why he couldn't just use the corner of the wall without the Bear Scratch attached. :D
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That was my first thought, because I often do that. I can than send more than 5% to the Salvation Army and more people can have Thanksgiving Dinner.
 
Ok so they say all proceeds to Tsunami Relief charity but then whats with all the questions on the bidding page?
 
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