Australian Man Granted Patent For "circular Transportation Facilitation Device" Aka "the Wheel"

[TheTunersGroup]

Hi all,

I was sent this by a lawyer I know. Super funny and the government actually granted the guy this patent for a "circular transportation facilitation device" ROFLMAO !

The drawings and description of the "invention" in his patent application are side-splittingly funny. Check out the diagram on page 4 of his patent application LMAO !!

LOL !!

- Adam

[sh@un]

imagine the royalty payments from the manufacturers of cars, trucks, buses, trains, wheel-barrows, rollerskates, etc, etc...

LOL!

[TheTunersGroup]

imagine the royalty payments from the manufacturers of cars, trucks, buses, trains, wheel-barrows, rollerskates, etc, etc...

LOL!

This bit really cracked me up ...

"he has no plan to patent fire, crop rotation or other fundamental advances in civilization".

LMAO !!!

- Adam

[(B1) MR_fanny]

someone must have been asleep at the office to let this pass..ha. good on him. doesnt it cost money to patent stuff? Is he gonna use it to scam the system like they do with trademarks?

[saliya]

Hi all,

I was sent this by a lawyer I know. Super funny and the government actually granted the guy this patent for a "circular transportation facilitation device" ROFLMAO !

I'm really not sure what the big deal is. Mr Keogh's argument seems to be with the title of the granted object ('patent' rather than 'something else').

If you read the first page of the document describing the granted Innovation patent, you see two important things:

1) They are granted without examination (i.e. the substance of a patent request is unchecked, for example to see whether someone is attempting to patent the wheel).

2) After being granted, examination must occur before the owner can commerce (sic), or threaten to commence legal proceedings.

http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/patents/what_innovation.shtml says basically the same thing - that you satisfy the formalities, and the Innovation patent is granted.

But, "An innovation patent is only legally enforceable and certified if it has been examined by IP Australia and has met the requirements of the Patents Act."

So yeah, according to that you, I, or anybody else could also register an Innovation patent of the wheel as well (after all, they aren't examined before granting).

But for either Mr Keogh or anyone else to enforce any rights regarding the granted Innovation patent, it would need to be examined... and then they'd have 6 months

to overcome the objections of the examiner (unlikely ) after which the patent ceases.

Regards,

Saliya

Edited December 12, 2008 by saliya

[R31Nismoid]

^^ well that pretty much ends this thread

[scathing]

someone must have been asleep at the office to let this pass..ha. good on him. doesnt it cost money to patent stuff? Is he gonna use it to scam the system like they do with trademarks?

Aside from the issues below where it has to be examined, even if it were to pass it wouldn't matter. "Prior art" is what people use to get around stupid patents like this in a practical sense, and the wheel has been around for longer than this guy has.

Still, it's a good highlight to prove how flawed the system is.

[GTR-N1]

It reminds me of the US company that patented Ugg Boots = $$ grabber

[Iron Chef]

Still, it's pretty funny to read the patent application. Amazing how technical you can make a wheel sound when you put your mind to it.

The article's from 2001, btw

[GTR-N1]

It adds a new definition to 'SPIN'. hehe

[typevu]

lol @ the drawings

[a20089]

Old news, the point the lawyer was trying to make is quite true. The petty patent were all just accepted without being checked.

The patent is useless really.

[sneakey pete]

Yes, its accepted, but its useless unless it really is a real patent. quite a handy system, if you ask me, because it allows small time people to chuck in a patent for something that they've made without having to make a big time and money commitment. and if their idea turns out to be good down the track, they can enact the patent (which then will get checked out and passed if its logical). if their idea is useless, its less money wasted.

[.:: GimpS-R34 ::.]

*runs off to patent fire...