Patent Law: It’s Fun for Kids!
Most folks think patent law is pure torture: arcane at best, and irrelevant at worst, but they’re wrong. Protecting inventors’ rights has real implications for us all, and may perhaps be best demonstrated by this story. It’s about a six-year-old boy who invented a ride-on car with an IV pole attached, so that hospitalized children who had been intubated could play without having Mom or Dad jog alongside them with the IV pole.
This patent was criticized by some, who viewed it as obvious, and yet we have to wonder why this “obvious” contraption had never before been built for sick children. The reason patent law matters is because it provides inventors with a financial incentive to share their ideas. Without the protection a patent provides, they’d be forced to stay quiet if only to prevent someone else from wrongfully capitalizing on their idea.
The Patent Reform Act of 2009 is rocketing through Congress now. If you haven’t read up on it, check out the senate version and the house version, and be sure your voice is heard before becomes fait accompli! Patent law matters: ask a child riding in a “KidKare” car courtesy of young inventor Spencer Whale.
Just thought I’d share a story that warms the heart and involves patent law – a rare combination! I have to get back to my inventing. I’m working on an office chair with a keg attachment!