Patent Plaques, Patent Cubes, Patent Awards, IP Plaques, IP Cubes and IP Awards

Humility on the Radio: A Moment in History

Invention Geek — Thu, 16 May 2013 19:33:57 +0000

It’s time to wish “Happy Birthday” to another inventor time sometimes seems to have forgotten, although it probably shouldn’t have. You see, without music professor and serial tinkerer David Edward Hughes, a lot of modern conveniences – tv, radio, telephone, and music recording namely – probably wouldn’t exist. Although he was awarded countless honors in his [...]

Celebrate World IP Day With These Great Global Innovators

Invention Geek — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 18:13:13 +0000

Science & innovation are border-blind. That is, great minds come from all corners of the planet, inspired by infinite experiences. Every year, The World Intellectual Property Organization celebrates World IP Day on April 26, commemorating the day it was established in 1970. Organizations all over the world will hold events to celebrate innovation and encourage future [...]

Surgery & Sandpaper: The Match Turns 186

Invention Geek — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 19:33:12 +0000

This week we commemorate the 186th anniversary of the first-ever sale of friction matches. As the story goes, a young Englishman named John Walker had become rather sickened by his surgeon apprenticeship and left the field in 1818 for a less gruesome job as a chemist: something he was apparently (and quite fortunately) good at! By Walker’s [...]

The True Story of a Boy Wonder Who Totally Changed the World

Invention Geek — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 19:10:05 +0000

This week we celebrate one of the most important patents ever to cross a USPTO examiner’s desk. The patent describes a process for a producing a material we use nearly everywhere – our homes, our cars, our offices, our hospitals – we even use it in space! It’s one of the most abundant materials on the planet, [...]

The Mysterious Disappearance of Diesel.

Invention Geek — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 15:32:35 +0000

The fourth week of February is somewhat “lucky” for Rudolf Diesel, the man who’s responsible for a fuel, an engine, and a combustion process bearing his name. And it was this week in history, on February 28, 1892 that Rudolf Diesel received the patent for his groundbreaking compression-ignition engine in Germany. But, as lucky as this [...]

5 Things You Never Knew About Edison, Even Though He Told You Himself

Invention Geek — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 20:16:59 +0000

This week, we celebrate the 166th birthday of Thomas Edison, arguably America’s most famous inventor. As great a contributor as Edison might have been to the development of so many technologies, it is sometimes easy to forget he was also just a man. A brilliant, stubborn man, but a man nonetheless. So, to pay homage to the [...]

5 Colorful Quotes From America’s First Inventor

Invention Geek — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 17:01:55 +0000

This week we celebrate the 307th birthday of America’s First Inventor, Benjamin Franklin. The Founding Father’s inventions include the Franklin Stove, bifocals, the lightning rod, and even the odometer. In addition to creating everyday objects for the benefit of everybody, he also helped organize a number of firsts in the public service industry. [...]

Walt Disney: Inventing the Art of Animation

Invention Geek — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 17:22:04 +0000

Today is Walt Disney’s 111th birthday. In a few months, the invention that made Disney famous will turn 72. You see, when Disney first started in the business in 1919, animation involved layering transparencies of moving elements right on top of an opaque background. This primitive multi-layer technique allowed artists to focus more on the actual animation [...]

60 years of PEZ in Pictures

Invention Geek — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 21:00:58 +0000

This Sunday, the PEZ Dispenser celebrates its 60th Patent Birthday. On December 2, 1952, the iconic flip-top candy dispenser was granted its first American patent. It was designed to look like a cigarette lighter, a nod to the candies initial design as an alternative to smoking. At the time I don’t think the company could have imagined [...]

History in the Making: Google Co-founders Inducted into Inventor Hall of Fame

Invention Geek — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 21:15:27 +0000

I’ve had a hard time holding my tongue about this for the past few weeks, but I’ve finally been given the “go ahead” to let the cat out of the bag: Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page have been welcomed into the exclusive Stanford Inventor Hall of Fame alongside sixteen other modern innovators. The best part? [...]