Thomas Edison holds 1,093 U.S patents, including those for the phonograph and electric lightbulb. He still holds the record for most patents granted to a single person in U.S history.
The very first U.S. patent was issued in 1790 for a process to produce potash, a key ingredient in fertilizer. The patent was signed by George Washington himself.
Elon Musk announced in 2014 that Tesla would make its patents open source to encourage the development of electric vehicles.
Mary Kies was the first woman in the U.S. to receive a patent-for a method of weaving straw with silk.
The title of the shortest patent is “Metroprolol Succinate”. Patent numbered US Patent No. 5,081,154 is just half of a page long (about 70 lines). This patent covers a modified release pharmaceutical composition that includes metoprolol succinate.
An inventor filed a patent for a method of raising sunken ships by pumping them full of buoyant balls. However, the Dutch patent office rejected the application. The surprising reason is that the idea wasn’t novel as it had already been illustrated years ago in a Donald Duck comic strip.
Inventor Ignacio Marc Asperas worked on how to build the ultimate snowman and patented his idea in 2011. The newly patented snowman building procedure as granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office was officially dubbed the “apparatus for facilitating the construction of a snow man/woman.”
On May 20, 1873, tailor Jacob Davis and fabric supplier Levi Strauss patented an invention that would change the world: the blue jean. Their idea wasn’t the denim itself, but the small copper rivets placed on pocket corners and the base of the button fly to stop them from tearing under strain. Originally designed as durable workwear for miners and laborers, these revolutionary pants laid the foundation for an iconic piece of fashion.
Did you know that Michael Jackson’s iconic pose is credited to a patented invention? The musician once filed a patent for “anti-gravity illusion shoes” that were used in the music video for his song “Smooth Criminal.”
The tall, slightly curved cylinder of a Pringles can with its peel-open metal lid has been patented in 1970 through the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Snack rivals can’t package crisps in any container that too closely mimics that famous tube shape.
X, formerly known as Twitter had an iconic bird logo which was named “Larry” after NBA player Larry Bird. This was a tribute to NBA player, who played for the Boston Celtics, Biz Stone’s (one of the founders of Twitter) home-state team.
Barbie’s full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts, trademarked by Mattel who have rights over this trademark and branding.
Marvel and DC Comics co-own the trademark for the word “superhero,” which is why you’ll often see other publishers use terms like “powered being” or “vigilante” instead.
