“To anyone out there with an idea, I say, 'What the heck, no idea is too silly,'" says Mary Spio, owner of Gen2Media, an online video-production company.
Spio patented movie delivery by satellite in 2003 and later sold the rights to Boeing.
Spio is not the first to patent an idea. Between 1996 and 2008, the annual number of patent filings jumped 130 per cent, to 485,000, according to the US Patent and Trademark Office.
We take a look at some kooky ideas that passed the US Patent and Trademark Office. Are they really worth all the effort? You decide.
Middle East conflict board game
Think Monopoly, except in place of Boardwalk and Indiana Avenue you have spots like "Oil Spill, Lose 1 Barrel" and "Peace Talks" and "Find Saddam, Win 3 Barrels."
The game, created by Debra A. Gould of Palmer, Mass., in 1991 and patented in 1992, revolves around a not-so-imaginary war between Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the United States.
The object: Collect missiles and oil barrels. The winning player is the one with the most barrels when the game's last missile is fired.
Combination pillow and crash helmet
This really, really good pillow aims to help passengers survive a crash. A potential hit with drivers in Dubai?
The thing splits in half, so you can stuff your head into the middle and brace for impact, snug with the knowledge that you're protected.
The pillow/helmet even has a drawstring at each end so the wearer can cinch it down tight over his or her noggin. When standard turbulence turns into a steep nosedive, get your fluffy crash helmet out and strap 'er down. You'll be fine.
Bird trap and cat feeder
Leo O. Voelker apparently had a soft spot for lazy cats. His contraption, patented in 1979, catches birds, which fly into a little house with a false floor attached to a downspout and dispenses them uninjured to a cage below, where famished felines move in for the kill. This guy would be a hit at an ornithologists' convention.
Pneumatic shoe lacing apparatus
Remember those Nike shoes that Michael J. Fox sports in Back to the Future II--the ones that, with a touch of a button on the shoe tongue, tightened up to a perfect fit, no messy lace tying or hopelessly un-hip Velcro?
Aaron D. Harrell figured he'd make those a reality, if a tortuously complicated one: These high-tops require a gas canister on the back of the shoe to power a pneumatic piston in the shoe's sole. The piston turns a crank on the side of the shoe that draws close the straps across the top--no laces needed. Great Scott, Marty, that's ridiculous!
Dust cover for dog
Don't want your dog getting all dusty? Neither did Seroun Kesh of Detroit in 1964. Actually, Kesh's main goals with this full-body suit for dogs were to protect house furniture and allow owners to insert a hair dryer into the suit's end to quick-dry their mutts after their baths. Not a PetSmart bestseller, to say the least.
