The Inventors
The Patents
Patent History
Bizarre Patents
Common Patents
100

Name all 3 patent inventors!

Saumya Tiwari

Mohit Jain

Jeramie Watrous

100

True or False: the patents includes a description of how a computer mouse can be used to click on stuff.

True

100

This scientist famously worked in a patent office

Albert Einstein

100

This quacky bathtime toy was patented in 1947

Rubber duck

100

Nissin Food Products currently owns this 1976 patent for a hyper-convenient food item

Cup noodles

200

This inventor attended graduate school at Boston University

Mo

200

For how many years are the patents enforceable?

20

200

Which was patented first - the dishwasher or the flying machine?

Dishwasher (1886) - 1906 for flying machine (Wright Brothers) - dishwasher was hand-cranked though!

200

That Titan submersible gets recent attention for being an invention that killed its own inventor - which other seagoing vessel also famously killed its designer about a hundred years before?

The Titanic

200

The patent for the iPhone is titled:

A) Electronic device

B) Smart telephone

C) A handheld device with integrated telephonic and informational functionalities

A) Electronic device

300

This inventor apparently got a 3.7 GPA in their MS degree at UCSD

Jeramie

300

How many drawing sheets are in the main patent?

A) 5

B) 10

C) 20

D) 30

D) 30

300

The first US Patent was granted on July 31, 1790, for a method of making potash. What is potash?

Any water-soluble potassium salt (useful as fertilizer or in many industrial processes, like soap-making)

300

There is a 1991 patent for a special type of watch which, instead of telling the current time, tells you:

A) the time until Christmas

B) how much longer you have to live 

C) whether any dogs are near you

B) impending doom (based on actuarial tables)

300

The common debate of rolling "over" or "under" is arguably answered by the figure accompanying the patent for this simple hygiene product

Toilet paper (over!)

400

The 3 inventors have appeared on many publications together - name both UCSD Departments to which the inventors are often listed as affilitated.

Medicine and Pharamcology

400

Which (non-trivial*) word appears most frequently in the full text of the patents?

*i.e. not "the", "and", "but", "to", etc

Signal(s)

400

The concept of the patent is generally accepted to have been first codified into law in this onetime maritime republic in the 15th century

Republic of Venice (they should have patented the idea to make a patent patent)

400

A 1908 patent attempted to make a "more ethical rodent trap" by inventing a device to do what?

A) snap a bell around a rat's neck so it runs home and scares its buddies

B) put a coat on the rat so it gets too hot and wants to go outside

C) cover the rat's feet in flour so its paths can be traced

A) neck bell

400

Philo Farnsworth patented this world-changing household device for "far-seeing" in 1927

Television

500

The first publication co-authored by all 3 inventors was published in 2019 - name the first author of that paper!

Edward Kantz

500

What is the title of one of the patents?

Adjustments of Mass Spectrometry Signals OR

Mass Spectrometry Retrieving of Stray Samples

500

Raytheon received US Patent No. 10,000,000 for a LADAR system - what does LADAR stand for?

Laser detection and ranging (radio detection and ranging is radar!)

500

British Railways in 1973 stepped a bit outside of their transportation comfort zone with a patent for this type of vehicle, typically reserved for ETs

A flying saucer/UFO (with a thermonuclear fusion reactor no less!) 

500

This common household appliance was first patented in 1945 under the title "Method of treating foodstuffs"

Microwave

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