@Knightshift: An uncle of mine invented something in the 1940s or 1950s and got a patent. Is there a relatively straightforward way of finding the patent just using his name? I'm not a premium member and so I have to reach you this way.
OT: Note to Knightshift
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Try this link to USPTO search tool. You can search by name as one of the options:
Might be a good starting point at least.
Might be a good starting point at least.
I found it -- thank you! In the 1950s, one of my uncles by marriage co-invented a new kind of strike plate that would improve the locking of storm doors and screen doors.
https://ppubs.uspto.gov/dirsearch-public/print/downloadPdf/2790668
Here's another one in my aunt's name: this is for a door lock contained entirely within the door knob.
https://ppubs.uspto.gov/dirsearch-public/print/downloadPdf/2873990
No. He passed away of a congenital heart disorder at age 50 only a couple of years after the invention. (His elder son eventually died of the same disorder.)
My father took me to visit him as he was lying in bed. I was then about 6. I remember he complained of "water on my legs" (edema from the heart condition) and I remember wondering what that meant.
Glad you found them. I'm on a vacation this week in Arizona, and I was on a long mountain bike ride.
Do you know if your aunt and uncle were able to commercialize their invention.
We rarely work with individual inventors. We give them a free 30-60 minutes of counseling and a list of other patent attorneys that can help them. The entire process to obtain a US patent can cost as little at $7-10,000 or as much as $30,000 or more. It all depends on the luck of the draw of the Examiner at the government office (USPTO) that examines the patent application, the prior art references the Examiner finds, and other factors. Sometimes individual inventors can do quite well, but it is often difficult to find a large company to license or take an assignment of the patent.
Years ago, I came up with a unique product/idea that used something that was public domain so I couldn’t go with a patent and had to go with copyrights.
I did get them into about 100 or so stores. I want to say it cost me about $2500 to get the copyrights
Do copyrights ever expire? Curious.
I rarely touch copyright. Depends on when you obtained it. Used to be something like life of author plus a number of years, but need to look here:
How Long Does Copyright Protection Last? (FAQ) | U.S. Copyright Office
Brief answers to questions about duration of copyright, and renewal of copyright.
www.copyright.gov
Yes, they were able to commercialize their inventions. They founded a business and, after the uncle's death, it was sold at a price high enough to make my aunt very prosperous.
Very cool! Glad you were able to find it. I actually found one that my brother had filed and when I searched his last name it also showed one that our uncle had when he worked for Allied Chemical back in the 60s.
I have screen doors, I have that very invention on one screen door and a cheap replacement on the other door that never lasts all that long. My house was completed in 1956.
I almost think that they made latches like this prior, but never patented it, and your uncle patented it.
Thanks for sharing. I found all my uncle's patents. He was an engineer in the sewing industry.
Singer? We have a person in our office who worked in their patent group, I think in Elizabeth.
Yes. My uncle worked for Singer in Elizabeth and then Denville until he retired. In fact I had a good number of relatives that worked there as well (including my grandfather and father at one time). I still see the old factory building when driving down the Turnpike.
Oh, that's really cool. Wonder how many they employed at the Elizabeth location. Will ask the person in our office. Wonder if she knew any of your relatives.
This was cool. Sadly, it confirmed that no one in my family has ever invented a single damn thing worthy of a patent.
If she is close to retirement age, she probably may have known my uncle. He is still alive at 96 and sharp as a tack. He still fixes the older Singer Sewing Machines for friends. Looks like they had 5K employees at max and 1K when it closed in the early 80's. I think he moved to the Denville office (aerospace division) around 1982.
Singer Factories - Elizabethport, New Jersey
The Singer factory at Elizabethport, New Jersey
Yes they do. I think Knight Shift posted where you can get the general information. How Long Does Copyright Protection Last.
Note that you do need to register a copyrighted work to enforce those rights in court.
I'm going to have to go back to find my old paperwork. I have a binder in storage so will have to check it.
Binder- OK Grampa!!! 😜
All of our "binders" were literally lost int he flood of either Sandy or Irene (2004?). This followed a fire in 1999, where we lost a bunch of other crap that, quite frankly, we would have never looked at or gotten rid of. Nature did us a favor and forced their early demise so that we did not have to deal with them when we were much older, or worse yet, foist it upon our children.
She is in her mid 70s, and shows no desire to retire. She likes the office atmosphere and making bucks. She is a solid performer, and we are happy she continues to work.If she is close to retirement age, she probably may have known my uncle. He is still alive at 96 and sharp as a tack. He still fixes the older Singer Sewing Machines for friends. Looks like they had 5K employees at max and 1K when it closed in the early 80's. I think he moved to the Denville office (aerospace division) around 1982.
Singer Factories - Elizabethport, New Jersey
The Singer factory at Elizabethport, New Jerseywww.singersewinginfo.co.uk
My mother had a very old Singer sowing machine (probably 1940s/50's era. When we were in Krakow, Poland in 2018, we saw a really cool sewing machine shop that had really old Singer machines in the store window. Singer was a great product, and I had not realized that they were local.
I did a little reading up on I. M. Singer: he was quite prolific, having 26 children by several wives and mistresses.
Well, that piqued my interest. Here's his picture. There's hope for ugly men!
Also, from Wikipedia: "In 1839, Singer obtained his first patent, for a machine to drill rock." The man obviously liked to drill more than rock!
"With this financial success, he opted to return to his career as an actor. He went on tour, forming a troupe known as the "Merritt Players", appearing onstage under the name "Isaac Merritt", with Mary Ann Sponsler (one of his mistresses)"
"In 1830, at nineteen Isaac Singer married fifteen-year-old Catherine Maria Haley"
Isaac Singer - Wikipedia
Good for her. If you love what you do, keep working. In some respects the only reason I am alive and in NJ is due to Singer. When my great grandfather immigrated to the US from Germany around 1870, he lived in Braintree & Mt. Holyoke MA. When Singer built the plant in Elizabeth, he and a lot of workers moved to NJ for jobs. It's a shame what happened to the company in the 1980's but that impacted a lot of industries (and helped to inspire the Wall Street movie).
I think you are mistaken. You in ented a walker for old farts in the mosh pit. You brought it to A New Level.
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