While the average person may only consider reading patents when they have difficulty sleeping, U.S. Pat. No. 6,368,227 ("the '227 patent") proves that anyone can be an innovator and that patents can occasionally be an amusing read. The patent is directed to a method of swinging on a swing, developed by (at the time) five year old Steven Olson.1 Conventional swinging, according to the '227 patent, involves either "forward and back" movement "defined by oscillatory motion of the swing and the user along an axis that is substantially perpendicular to the axis of the tree branch from which the swing is suspended" or "twisting the seat around repeatedly so that the chains or ropes are wound in a double helix [and when] allowed to unwind, the swing spins quickly, which can be entertaining to the user."2
According to the '227 patent, such methods "can lose their appeal with age and experience" and therefore "[a] new method of swinging on a swing would [] represent an advance of great significance and value."3
In contrast to conventional swinging, the '227 patent discloses swinging by "having the user pull alternately on one chain to induce movement of the user and the Swing toward one side, and then on the other chain to induce movement of the user and the Swing toward the other Side," as shown below.4
The patent also cleverly notes that "because pulling alternately on one chain and then the other resembles in some measure the movements one would use to swing from vines in a dense jungle forest, the swinging method of the present invention may be referred to by the present inventor and his sister as 'Tarzan' swinging. The user may even choose to produce a Tarzan-type yell while swinging in the manner described, which more accurately replicates swinging on vines in a dense jungle forest. Actual jungle forestry is not required."
After the news about the patent issuance got out, the USPTO on its own instituted a reexamination of the patent and cancelled all the patent's claims (meanies!). The upshot is that "Tarzan" swinging can now be done without infringing the '227 patent.
"Yes. . . This Really Happened!" is a recurring column in IP Corner that focuses on interesting and weird stories dealing with various aspects of intellectual property.
Footnotes
1. See Jeff Hecht, Boy takes swing at US patents, NewScientist (April 17, 2002).
2. '227 patent at 1:23-27, 2:15-20.
3. Id. at 1:28-33.
4. Id. at 3:8-4:3.
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