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Peteris Skorovs @peteris.skorovs.com · 9h

2/2 Lost patents, a burned archive, and patent numbers with fractions. A fascinating read for patent professionals and history enthusiasts. Highly recommended!

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Peteris Skorovs @peteris.skorovs.com · 9h

1/2 I’ve just read the new book “Unfettered Invention: How the X Patents Sparked Early American Technology” by Scott Guthery, Julie Burke, and Michael Risch. #PatentHistory #Patents

“Unfettered Invention: How the X Patents Sparked Early American Technology” by Scott Guthery, Julie Burke, and Michael Risch.

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Peteris Skorovs @peteris.skorovs.com · 01/10/2026

3/3 Playmobil won in the market, but Geobra’s IP strategy failed to keep a competitor out.

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Peteris Skorovs @peteris.skorovs.com · 01/10/2026

2/3 The day before filing the patent application, Geobra had applied for design protection for the figure’s appearance. However, these rights protected particular features, not the wider commercial idea, leaving room for competing Play-Big figures.

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Peteris Skorovs @peteris.skorovs.com · 01/10/2026

1/3 On this day in 1981, German Patent No. 2205525 was granted to the toy company Geobra Brandstätter for a “Toy figure”, the Playmobil figure invented by Hans Beck. #OnThisDay #OTD #PatentHistory #Patents #Playmobil

German Patent No. 2205525 for a “Toy figure” (DE2205525C2, “Spielzeugfigur”).

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Peteris Skorovs @peteris.skorovs.com · 27/09/2026

3/3 Getting the patent was one thing. Persuading a bank manager that the lobby needed an armed vehicle chasing robbers would have been another.

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Peteris Skorovs @peteris.skorovs.com · 27/09/2026

2/3 A watchman would sit inside an armoured, motorised box. When robbers appeared, he could drive towards the exit and swing curved metal arms around a fleeing suspect, holding him against the tank until help arrived. Gun ports provided another option.

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Peteris Skorovs @peteris.skorovs.com · 27/09/2026

1/3 On this day in 1921, Stanley Valinski received US Patent No. 1,392,095 for a “Man-catching tank”. Its intended destination was not a battlefield, but a bank lobby. #OnThisDay #OTD #PatentHistory #Patents

Frightful Trap for Bank Bandits. Popular Science. October, 1926.

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Peteris Skorovs @peteris.skorovs.com · 25/09/2026

On this day in 2001, Joe Armstrong received US Patent No. 6,293,874 for a “User-operated amusement apparatus for kicking the user’s buttocks”. Apparently, even kicking yourself was a problem worth solving properly. #OnThisDay #OTD #PatentHistory #Patents

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Peteris Skorovs @peteris.skorovs.com · 24/09/2026

2/2 But unlike the 1836 fire, it did not erase the patent record. By then, granted patents had been reproduced and distributed across the country. The fire showed that publication was not just about disclosure. It was also a safeguard against losing technical knowledge.

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Peteris Skorovs @peteris.skorovs.com · 24/09/2026

1/2 On this day in 1877, fire devastated the U.S. Patent Office and destroyed tens of thousands of patent models. #OnThisDay #OTD #PatentHistory #Patents #USPTO

The fire in the Patent Office. Illustrations after photographs by Timothy O'Sullivan.

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Peteris Skorovs @peteris.skorovs.com · 23/09/2026

2/2 A glass bulb, a little aluminium foil and oxygen replaced the old flash-powder ritual of preparation, ignition, smoke and residue.

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Peteris Skorovs @peteris.skorovs.com · 23/09/2026

1/2 On this day in 1930, Johannes Ostermeier received US Patent No. 1,776,637 for a “Flash lamp”, a patent behind the first commercially successful flashbulbs. #OnThisDay #OTD #PatentHistory #Patents

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Sarah Fackrell @design-law.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

U.S. Patent No. 151,767 - issued in 1874 for a useful improvement in life boats. #UtilityPatents

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Peteris Skorovs @peteris.skorovs.com · 22/09/2026

On this day in 1903, Eldridge Johnson received US Patent No. 739,318 for a “Sound-record”. His invention concerned the paper label at the centre of the disc. Small improvements matter, even when they look obvious in hindsight. #OnThisDay #OTD #PatentHistory #Patents

“At the Jazz Band Ball” by the ODJB released as a Victor 78 single, 18457-A, 1918.

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Peteris Skorovs @peteris.skorovs.com · 20/09/2026

2/2 Better known for science fiction, Gernsback was serious about this one. But he never found a fishing company willing to take it beyond the patent. In the end, the project remained on paper.

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Peteris Skorovs @peteris.skorovs.com · 20/09/2026

1/2 On this day in 1955, Hugo Gernsback received US Patent No. 2,718,083 for a “Hydraulic fishery” designed to pump fish from the sea straight to shore. #OnThisDay #OTD #PatentHistory #Patents

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Keebler Youngblood @youngkeebler.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

We can rebuild him; we have the technology patents.google.com/patent/US654...

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Peteris Skorovs @peteris.skorovs.com · 19/09/2026

Here are the drawings from Duldig’s British Patent No. 318577 for her ‘Flirt’ umbrella. The licence fees helped pay for furniture she designed for her Vienna home. Some of it still survives in Melbourne, a tangible legacy of that rainy-day frustration.

British Patent No. 318577 for "Improvements in or relating to foldable umbrellas and the like".

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Peteris Skorovs @peteris.skorovs.com · 19/09/2026

Die Originalzeichnungen aus Melville Bissells US-Patent Nr. 182,346 von 1876. Er hat den Teppichkehrer zwar nicht erfunden, aber offenbar entscheidend verbessert.

US Patent No. 182,346 for an "Improvement in carpet-sweepers".

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Peteris Skorovs @peteris.skorovs.com · 19/09/2026

Not as beautiful as those vintage nylon ads, and probably much less exciting to most people. But behind them was US Patent No. 2,130,948, one of the key patents in the story of nylon.

US Patent No. 2,130,948 for a "Synthetic fiber".

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Peteris Skorovs @peteris.skorovs.com · 17/09/2026

Many thanks to Jean-Claude Alexandre Ho for the invitation to talk about patent history, from individual patents and the stories around them to the development of patent systems more broadly. A little “patent archaeology” for anyone interested: www.linkedin.com/pulse/forum-...

linkedin.com

FORUM IP Talks: Peteris Skorovs on patent archaeology

Jean-Claude: Patent history is often narrated through the disclosure bargain. Is that a historically accurate account of why patent institutions emerged, or does it project a modern justificatory fram...

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Peteris Skorovs @peteris.skorovs.com · 17/09/2026

3/3 After Wang alleged patent infringement, Cochran sent HP’s lawyers Briggs’s 1624 Latin treatise with one comment: “It looks like prior art to me.” They heard nothing further. Sometimes the most troublesome prior art is not another patent. It is sitting in a centuries-old book.

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Peteris Skorovs @peteris.skorovs.com · 17/09/2026

2/3 But the underlying mathematical idea was centuries old. When HP later developed its 9100 scientific calculator using a similar logarithmic method, engineer David Cochran traced the approach back to Henry Briggs’s 1624 “Arithmetica Logarithmica”.

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Peteris Skorovs @peteris.skorovs.com · 17/09/2026

1/3 On this day in 1968, An Wang received US Patent No. 3,402,285 for a “Calculating apparatus”, concerning the logarithmic technology behind Wang Laboratories’ early calculators. #OnThisDay #OTD #PatentHistory #Patents

Henry Briggs’s 1624 treatise “Arithmetica logarithmica“.

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Peteris Skorovs @peteris.skorovs.com · 16/09/2026

5/5 Apparently, when a real cat was unavailable, the obvious solution was a glowing, peppermint-scented cardboard one.

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Peteris Skorovs @peteris.skorovs.com · 16/09/2026

4/5 And, just in case that was not persuasive enough, the cardboard was scented with peppermint, which Nelson believed rats and mice disliked.

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Peteris Skorovs @peteris.skorovs.com · 16/09/2026

3/5 Nelson suggested placing it near rat holes, on pantry shelves or floors, or anywhere rodents were likely to appear.

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Peteris Skorovs @peteris.skorovs.com · 16/09/2026

2/5 The cat stood upright on a folding support, with its head turned and eyes positioned as if watching something nearby. It was coated with luminous paint so it would glow in the dark, while the eyes received an extra coating to make them shine more brightly.

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Peteris Skorovs @peteris.skorovs.com · 16/09/2026

1/5 On this day in 1884, John Nelson received US Patent No. 305,102 for an “Illuminating device for frightening rats and mice”, essentially a cardboard cat. Even contemporary newspapers treated the invention as something of a curiosity. #OnThisDay #OTD #PatentHistory #Patents

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Peteris Skorovs @peteris.skorovs.com · 15/09/2026

2/2 The drawing shows it hanging over the front. Not a claimed feature, but apparently enough evidence for the “over” crowd to close the case, dismiss all further argument and treat anyone hanging it “under” as wilfully ignoring the patent record.

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Peteris Skorovs @peteris.skorovs.com · 15/09/2026

1/2 On this day in 1891, Seth Wheeler received US Patent No. 459,516 for a toilet-paper roll. #OnThisDay #OTD #PatentHistory #Patents

US Patent No. 459,516 for "Wrapping or toilet paper roll".

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Peteris Skorovs @peteris.skorovs.com · 11/09/2026

3/3 And the idea did not remain in the artist’s studio. The same basic collapsible-tube principle eventually became familiar in products ranging from toothpaste to pharmaceuticals.

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Peteris Skorovs @peteris.skorovs.com · 11/09/2026

2/3 Rand’s idea was simple but practical. Paint was stored in a thin, collapsible metal tube. As the contents were squeezed out, the tube collapsed instead of filling with air, helping to protect the remaining paint.

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Peteris Skorovs @peteris.skorovs.com · 11/09/2026

1/3 On this day in 1841, US Patent No. 2,252 was granted to American painter John Goffe Rand for an “Improvement in the construction of vessels or apparatus for preserving paint, &c.” #OnThisDay #OTD #PatentHistory #Patents

US Patent No. 2,252 for an “Improvement in the construction of vessels or apparatus for preserving paint, &c.”

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Peteris Skorovs @peteris.skorovs.com · 10/09/2026

2/2 His real financial success came later, through licensing the patented technology to other sewing-machine manufacturers.

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Peteris Skorovs @peteris.skorovs.com · 10/09/2026

1/2 On this day in 1846, Elias Howe received US Patent No. 4,750 for an “Improvement in sewing-machines”. It would become one of the foundational patents of the sewing-machine industry, although Howe initially struggled to make money from the machine itself. #OnThisDay #OTD #PatentHistory #Patents

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Peteris Skorovs @peteris.skorovs.com · 10/09/2026

US Patent No. 12,648,600, granted just three months ago, covers a method for keeping your trousers from touching the floor while using a toilet. Finally, a solution for those of us who were apparently using the toilet wrong.

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Peteris Skorovs @peteris.skorovs.com · 10/09/2026

Finally, a solution for those of us who were apparently using the toilet wrong.

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Peteris Skorovs @peteris.skorovs.com · 09/09/2026

On this day in 1843, Nancy Johnson received US Patent No. 3,254 for an “Artificial Freezer”. She did not invent ice cream. She simply found a much better way to make it. A hand crank, ice, salt, and a clever beater changed the process. #OTD #OnThisDay #PatentHistory #Patents

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Eric Christensen @echristensen.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Fire Hydrant: On this day in history, 188 years ago, September 8, 1838, John M. Jorden of Baltimore, Maryland, was issued the first known patent for a fire plug and hydrant. (1/4)

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Peteris Skorovs @peteris.skorovs.com · 06/09/2026

5/5 Perhaps what makes this patent so memorable is the combination of serious engineering and such an unusually personal specification.

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Peteris Skorovs @peteris.skorovs.com · 06/09/2026

4/5 It tells the story of his own snowman-building experiments, including a snowman called “Frosty”, discusses the unfortunate proportions that resulted from rolling very large snowballs, and mixes engineering observations with humour throughout.

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Peteris Skorovs @peteris.skorovs.com · 06/09/2026

3/5 Yet the specification is anything but conventional patent prose.

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Peteris Skorovs @peteris.skorovs.com · 06/09/2026

2/5 At first glance, it sounds like a joke patent. In fact, the specification begins: “The following is not a joke patent.” Asperas had identified a very real problem, and his solution was really technical.

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Peteris Skorovs @peteris.skorovs.com · 06/09/2026

1/5 On this day in 2011, patent attorney Ignacio Marc Asperas received US Patent No. 8,011,991 for an “Apparatus for facilitating the construction of a snow man/woman”. #OTD #OnThisDay #PatentHistory #Patents

US Patent No. 8,011,991 for an “Apparatus for facilitating the construction of a snow man/woman”.

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Peteris Skorovs @peteris.skorovs.com · 05/09/2026

I may have had a slight professional advantage when it comes to patent searching. 🙂 U.S. Patent No. 4,105,925, “Optical Object Locator.” A neat early machine-vision system for locating and orienting parts on a moving conveyor.

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Peteris Skorovs @peteris.skorovs.com · 05/09/2026

3/3 It helped turn commercial sewing patterns into a more practical mass-market tool, making dressmaking easier for people without professional training.

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Peteris Skorovs @peteris.skorovs.com · 05/09/2026

2/3 His idea was simple. Perforate identifying numbers into sewing-pattern pieces, then use the same perforations to chalk those numbers onto the cut fabric.

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Peteris Skorovs @peteris.skorovs.com · 05/09/2026

1/3 On this day in 1899, Robert O’Loughlin received US Patent No. 632,361 for a “Pattern for Garments”, an improvement to sewing patterns. #OnThisDay #OTD #PatentHistory #Patents #Butterick

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