Blowing out the candles on a birthday cake is a grand tradition to celebrate the passage of life and hopes for its future. But it's also somewhat unsanitary. It's done with the breath of the celebrant and therefore conta...

In 2001, an Australian man named John Keogh designed a "circular transportation facilitation device." He patented it through his nation's intellectual property register. Since that time, this marvelous invention has beco...

Since 1936, the Wienermobile has graced the roadways of the world, advertising Oscar Mayer's meat products and occasionally taking kids to the prom. The first design had a 13-foot hot dog and could be seen on the streets...

We’ve moved from desktop to laptop to tablet computers. The trend is toward mobile computing, especially computers that you can wear. That’s the premise of Google Glass and its competitors.Here’s Sony&r...

On Thursday, Google’s Motorola Mobility division filed a patent claim in the U.S. It’s for a very thin electronic device that attaches the skin of a user’s throat—what the inventors call an &ldquo...

Strangely, this clever invention by Benjamin Oppenheimer never became popular. It looks like an excellent way to escape a burning building. The system consists of a parachute strapped to the head and padded shoes to ease...

Plenty of brilliant and not-so-brilliant minds have worked on the idea of preventing shark attacks. This list of patented products range from the sensible to the ridiculous. Most sensible is a chemical pack attached to l...

As we near the end of a glorious Movember, remember that we did not always have this special month. In a lost, golden age, every month was Movember. Manly facial hair was the norm, not the exception. In the old days, mou...

The blogger behind Context-Free Patent Art cul...  ...r behind Context-Free Patent Art culls video game patents for curious illustrations. Perhaps they make sens...

I don't know about you guys, but I'm a sucker...  ...ou guys, but I'm a sucker for articles with funny patents and this Life article quickly drew me in with the...