First let's take a look on the abstract of this patent: "a device for imitating the sound of a footfall or stomp of an animal. The device includes a blunt for selectively striking the ground. The blunt can be engaged with a spring and an anchor. A cord can be attached to the spring to draw the blunt back from the ground. The cord can be released and the energy stored in the spring can move the blunt to strike the ground."
The first claim will give us more insight on what this patent is trying to achieve: "1. An apparatus for attracting an animal comprising: means for generating a sound imitating the sound of a footfall of the animal..."
Sounds simple enough right? You drop an object from height to the ground to create sound that resembles the "stomp of deer." Without a second thought, this patent is obvious. That violates the concept of utility patents that they should be non-obvious. Moreover, without any significant of technology implemented into this patent (only a spring with an anchor), this patent is obviously not novel.
This patent seems less legit when we are discussing the usefulness of its application. The idea is to lure animals (which claimed to be deer) by the sound create by this "Deer Stomp Simulator" because "stomping can occur as a form of communication which can provide a male the opportunity to encounter a female for the purpose of mating." Without debating whether the fact that this simulator indeed simulate the stomp of deer instead of something else (you hope it won't attract bear, or Bigfoot, right?), the statement the inventor made on "stomping can be a form of communication" lacks scientific supports. How can a patent be built on a theory that hasn't been scientifically confirmed yet? Well, then you know how silly this patent is.
Did the inventor really believe this device will attract a nearby deer? I can see maybe using a device like this to test traps or other hunting tools, but for the purposes aforementioned in the blog post, I believe this patent is silly as well.
ReplyDeleteThis is not a innovative device and should not be patented. At best, it should be blogged about in a hunting blog. What a waste of patenting fees.
ReplyDeleteI do agree that a deer stomp simulator is not novel but this device reminds me of duck dynasty where a family is able to make a profit off of duck call devices. There are already many duck call devices out there for hunters as well. If the inventor is able to incorporate something novel into this device, then I could see this patent becoming valid if there is a market for it. Primarily, the patent needs at least one unique feature and have a solid business model with a good customer base.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Norman that this product has potential. However, it doesn't seem to be fully fleshed out and most certainly should not have been passed in the first iteration. But I bet there are people out there who would buy a contraption that attracts deer through footfall sounds, and therefore this patent is not useless as you claim it to be. Furthermore, I think the patent definition of "non-obvious" is a little different than our laymen definition. In this case, to be considered obvious, there needs to be multiple pieces of prior art for support, and the inventor could argue that it is not obvious to put all the components together and formulate the idea for a deer luring stomping mechanism. In general though, this patent is a little silly but not necessarily because it is invalid. Rather it is silly because there seems to be little use for such a patent. Unless the market develops, I doubt the owner will make use of his or her patent in any way to justify spending however much he or she did on the application.
DeleteWhile I agree that the patent is silly, and not necessarily useful, I do not think that it is not novel. To my knowledge, such a device does not exist, and while the usefulness of deer stomping simulators may be unclear, the fact remains that such a device, while incorporating simple mechanics, is being used in a wholly new environment, thus representing a novel use case.
ReplyDelete