# People you may not know have a patent **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 24, 2019, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-you-may-not-know-have-a-patent/842250 "2019-10-24T19:01:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-you-may-not-know-have-a-patent/842250/1 "2019-10-24T19:01:42Z")
Michael Jackson: > **[Michael Jackson, Patented Inventor?](https://invention.si.edu/michael-jackson-patented-inventor)** > > While the moonwalk is not actually a patented dance move, musician Michael Jackson does indeed hold a patent. Dennis ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-you-may-not-know-have-a-patent/842250/2 "2019-10-24T19:08:01Z")
[Hedy Lamarr](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedy_Lamarr#Inventor) ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-you-may-not-know-have-a-patent/842250/3 "2019-10-24T19:08:48Z")
> [@74westy](#): > > [Hedy Lamarr](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedy_Lamarr#Inventor) Um, read the article in the link in the OP? ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-you-may-not-know-have-a-patent/842250/4 "2019-10-24T19:16:34Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > Um, read the article in the link in the OP? Of course not! That would be cheating. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-you-may-not-know-have-a-patent/842250/5 "2019-10-24T19:23:35Z")
Paul Winchell, a well known ventriloquist in the 50s and 60s patented an artificial heart among other items. [From Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Winchell#Medical_and_patents): > [@](#): > > He invented an artificial heart with the assistance of Dr. Henry Heimlich, inventor of the Heimlich maneuver, and held an early but not the first U.S. patent for such a device. The University of Utah developed a similar apparatus around the same time, but when they tried to patent it, Winchell’s heart was cited as prior art. The university requested that Winchell donate the heart to the University of Utah, which he did.[citation needed] > > There is some debate as to how much of Winchell’s design Dr. Robert Jarvik used in creating Jarvik’s artificial heart. Dr. Heimlich states, “I saw the heart, I saw the patent and I saw the letters. The basic principle used in Winchell’s heart and Jarvik’s heart is exactly the same.” Of course Jarvik denies any similarity in the devices. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-you-may-not-know-have-a-patent/842250/6 "2019-10-24T19:29:40Z")
[Abraham Lincoln](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln%27s_patent) ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-you-may-not-know-have-a-patent/842250/7 "2019-10-24T19:39:10Z")
Me. Kinda. Well, me and the rest of the team. Dates back to my time as a lab worker. Named as inventor on the patent and given a ceremonial one pound note\* (which I probably still have somewhere, and which I think related in some way to my formally handing over all intellectual property rights to my employer. Though I think they owned them anyway.) j - - yep, that long ago. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-you-may-not-know-have-a-patent/842250/8 "2019-10-24T19:57:05Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > Michael Jackson: > > [https://invention.si.edu/michael-jackson-patented-inventor](https://invention.si.edu/michael-jackson-patented-inventor) > > Dennis In my haste to trumpet my own achievements I had not read the article about Michael Jackson and his “specially designed shoes that gave the illusion of his leaning beyond his center of gravity.” Interesting. [This video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFB4oHajwGw) claims to date from 1900. Believable, as it’s subject died in 1928. Incidentally, it’s from Little Titch that we get the words titch, titchy etc (at least according to Stephen Fry on QI). j ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-you-may-not-know-have-a-patent/842250/9 "2019-10-24T20:06:08Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > In my haste to trumpet my own achievements I had not read the article about Michael Jackson and his “specially designed shoes that gave the illusion of his leaning beyond his center of gravity.” > > Interesting. [This video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFB4oHajwGw) claims to date from 1900. Believable, as it’s subject died in 1928. > > Incidentally, it’s from Little Titch that we get the words titch, titchy etc (at least according to Stephen Fry on QI). > > j I don’t know how many magicians and other entertainers have used such gimmicks, some even closer to Jackson’s patent, but they may not have used that trapezoidal wedge design for the cleat. Or like many patents, it wasn’t original but no one ever patented it or challenged whoever did. I imagine Jackson’s patent offers very limited protection for the same design, not the same results. I suppose titch and titchy are more well known in the UK than here in the US. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-you-may-not-know-have-a-patent/842250/10 "2019-10-24T20:13:23Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I don’t know how many magicians and other entertainers have used such gimmicks, some even closer to Jackson’s patent, but they may not have used that trapezoidal wedge design for the cleat. Or like many patents, it wasn’t original but no one ever patented it or challenged whoever did. I imagine Jackson’s patent offers very limited protection for the same design, not the same results. I suppose, as well, if that was recorded in 1900, it may just be the case that Little Titch is the first performer of that type of act to have been filmed. Who knows how far back this sort of act goes. > [@](#): > > I suppose titch and titchy are more well known in the UK than here in the US. I’ll buy that. Means quaintly small. j ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-you-may-not-know-have-a-patent/842250/11 "2019-10-24T20:34:42Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > [Abraham Lincoln](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln%27s_patent) According to a poster published by the UP Patent office, Lincoln is the only president to hold a patent. You’d think that Thomas Jefferson, who invented several items, would have at least one, but apparently he wanted to make his inventions free. **Mark Twain** has a couple of patents [https://www.uspto.gov/about-us/news-updates/mark-twain-granted-his-first-patent-december-19-1871](https://www.uspto.gov/about-us/news-updates/mark-twain-granted-his-first-patent-december-19-1871) > **[Mark Twain’s Patented Inventions for Bra Straps and Other Everyday Items](https://www.openculture.com/2015/11/mark-twains-patented-inventions-for-bra-straps-and-other-everyday-items.html)** > > Much has been made of Mark Twain’s financial problems—the imprudent investments and poor management skills that forced him to shutter his large Hartford estate and move his family to Europe in 1891. > **[Mark Twain's Inventions Include Some Surprises](https://www.thoughtco.com/what-were-mark-twains-inventions-740679)** > > In addition to being a famous author and humorist, American writer Mark Twain was also responsible for inventions like the adjustable bra strap. He patented a _Bra Strap_ ! ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-you-may-not-know-have-a-patent/842250/12 "2019-10-24T20:35:42Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > Me. Kinda. > > Well, me and the rest of the team. Dates back to my time as a lab worker. Named as inventor on the patent and given a ceremonial one pound note\* (which I probably still have somewhere, and which I think related in some way to my formally handing over all intellectual property rights to my employer. Though I think they owned them anyway.) > > j > > - > - yep, that long ago. I hold four patents, myself. And have applied for a couple more through my current employer. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-you-may-not-know-have-a-patent/842250/13 "2019-10-24T20:39:00Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > > [@74westy](#): > > > > [Hedy Lamarr](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedy_Lamarr#Inventor) > > Um, read the article in the link in the OP? Threads like this seem to be intended to solicit contributions from others. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-you-may-not-know-have-a-patent/842250/14 "2019-10-24T21:04:03Z")
Former NFL kicker (and member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame) Jan Stenerud patented a design for a kicking tee (and marketed that tee) in the early 1980s, specifically constructed to be easier to use for soccer-style kickers. The tee had offset pegs for holding the ball, with a lower peg on the side of the tee where the kicker’s toe would be swinging past (the lower peg kept the kicker from striking the tee itself with his toe). [Picture of the tee](https://img.letgo.com/images/c6/11/82/2d/c611822daf81c9833d2f528df3d9e249.jpeg?impolicy=img_600) [The patent itself](http://www.freepatentsonline.com/4418910.html) ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-you-may-not-know-have-a-patent/842250/15 "2019-10-24T21:29:50Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > In my haste to trumpet my own achievements I had not read the article about Michael Jackson and his “specially designed shoes that gave the illusion of his leaning beyond his center of gravity.” > > Interesting. [This video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFB4oHajwGw) claims to date from 1900. Believable, as it’s subject died in 1928. The idea behind Jackson’s shoes was that they were completely hidden and did not hinder normal walking and dancing. When needed, the singers lined up along a faint line on the stage and slid the shoes into the fixed cleats, all as part of the choreography. They all leaned forward together and the audience was astonished at the result. Dennis ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-you-may-not-know-have-a-patent/842250/16 "2019-10-24T21:38:44Z")
My name is on a patent, but it’s one of those company-owned patents which has the name of a more or less random selection of engineers who worked on the related project. I was amused to discover that once you have a patent, you receive a whole new class of junk mail, from scammy companies that want to sell a framed copy of your patent or some useless “certificate”, printed on genuine cardboard. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-you-may-not-know-have-a-patent/842250/17 "2019-10-24T21:41:18Z")
According to [this](https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/entertainment/music/sdut-tom-scholz-of-rock-band-boston-interview-2014jul20-htmlstory.html) article, Boston Guitarist Tom Scholz “…has nearly 36 patents to his name.” ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-you-may-not-know-have-a-patent/842250/18 "2019-10-24T21:47:56Z")
Apparently Julie Newmar has three patents, one for a type of “brassiere” and two with the identical title “Pantyhose with shaping band for cheeky derrier relief”. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-you-may-not-know-have-a-patent/842250/19 "2019-10-24T22:03:36Z")
[Konrad Adenauer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konrad_Adenauer), first chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, was a hobby inventor and had, among others, patents for a [soy sausage](https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidebanis/2019/07/25/the-bizarre-story-of-the-friedenswurst-the-soy-sausage-cooked-up-during-ww1/) (very prescient!) and a bread for “time of need” (Notzeitbrot), baked with maize. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-you-may-not-know-have-a-patent/842250/20 "2019-10-24T22:06:36Z")
Heavyweight boxing champion Jack Johnson [patented a type of wrench.](http://www.datamp.org/patents/displayPatent.php?pn=1413121&id=16731) And while I don’t think there was ever a patent, aviator Charles Lindbergh helped develop (along with Nobel Laureate Alexis Carrel) an [early perfusion pump](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfusion), which was designed to keep organs alive outside the body. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-you-may-not-know-have-a-patent/842250.md?page=2)