My Ninth Patent Granted

I’ve just had my 9th patent granted (4 are also pending with claims allowed at the patent office, so it should be 13 granted in the not-too-distant future).

This one focuses on the Illuminated Power Band™ of Discshine™ (the next-generation shoe polisher that I’ve invented, designed, and patented). It’s the second US patent granted for Discshine™, and the fourth in total in the UK and US, with one more pending in the US.

It hasn't been published yet on Google Patents, but when it has, I'll update this page and include the link.

The patent focuses on the unusual inter-communicative lighting system (shown below), and gives surprisingly broad protection, not even limited to shoe cleaning devices. (It protects all ‘cleaning devices’, such as electric toothbrushes).

This is one version of the Illuminated Power Band™ (seen at the base of the housing) that is protected by this patent. The Power Band lights up when you pinch Discshine™ (which activates the motor/device), which has the effect of Discshine™ coming ‘alive’. It may also flash when Discshine™ needs charging, and may light in a special sequence when Discshine™ is charging. In essence, the Illuminated Power Band™ is what lets Discshine™ communicate with you, and tell you how it feels.

The Patent Protection

I used 4 different independent claims in this patent, and there’s some very good all-round protection.

1st and 2nd Independent Claim

The first two independent claims focus on the circular (or close-to-circular) configuration of the Power Band (see the image of Discshine™, above, to see a basic rendering of the circular Illuminated Power Band™ at the base of the housing). I had to overcome one piece of prior art (FERBER et al.), which was an electric toothbrush, which had a lighting system around it, but on a perpendicular axis to the cleaning element (ie the brush). I was able to overcome that and get perfect patent protection of the concept of the circular lighting band being oriented on an axis the same (or substantially the same) as the angle at which the cleaning element of the device is pointing. This got rid of the prior art, without doing much damage at all to the patent or protection.

This part of the process (dealing with prior art that’s blocking your claims, whilst getting the best possible (or ‘perfect’) patent protection) is a part of the process I specialize in. It takes creative, but also technical, thinking. You should be careful if you hire a patent attorney/agent to prosecute your patent for you, because I’ve seen some, faced with a situation like this, just default to getting one of the dependent claims on file patented, rather than looking at the situation closely, playing it on its merits, and forming a new independent claim (possibly with features not previously included in any of the dependent claims). This is often the best way forward to get the best patent protection for the inventive concept.

3rd Independent Claim

The third independent claim doesn’t limit the lighting system to being circular, and draws upon other features to differentiate it from any prior art. This particular claim is limited to protection for shoe cleaning devices. The opportunity to get this claim granted came after I saw the examiner’s first report. It’s an interesting claim in that, whilst I believe the circular design for the Illuminated Power Band™ is superior in several ways, this claim could damage competitors who would have otherwise tried to compete with NON-circular lighting systems that otherwise copied much of the functionality of the Power Band. In many cases, this claim will now prevent them from even being able to do this.

4th Independent Claim

The final (fourth) independent claim is again not limited to protection for shoe cleaning devices, so could protect the inventive concept when used with other cleaning devices. It defines an interesting aspect of the Power Band which forms part of the preferred embodiment I’m moving ahead with- the fact that the Power Band lights up in a circlic sequence when it recharges. Whilst this may seem like a fairly unimportant feature, Discshine™ has quite a meditative effect when it recharges, and the circlic recharging sequence, allied to the circlic shape of the Power Band, is both elegant, and stylish. This concept is now protected on this, and other, cleaning devices.

Let me help!

If you want to get a PERFECT PATENT on your invention, let me help. I have a 3 step system for doing this. Not only is it an elite set of services, but it's also extremely inexpensive (possibly saving you up to $10,000 or more) and extremely quick- with the ability to get your patent claims allowed at the patent office within as quick as 2 months (as opposed to the 2-3 years it often takes at the USPTO). Click the link to find out more.