Baseball Inventions - Patents and Trademarks with J.D. Houvener

10/13/22 • 31 min

J.D. and Matt batted around some awesome conversations about baseball and intellectual property! We looked at three areas of baseball. The first was the baseball we see on TV and commented on the advertisements, the slogans, the logos, and all of the trademark and trade dress that shoes up on-screen. J.D. pointed out the technology of computer graphics and overlays including the batter-box, and some images that are shown on the mound (only on TV - and are not actually there). Second, J.D. and Matt commented on a post-game interview and how prominently a bottle of gatorade was sitting right there next to the coach. Taking it one step further, we critiqued that even though the bottle couldn't be seen (the "Gatorade" word wasn't visible) the orange cap was, and Matt explained that Gatorade has likely owned any beverage with a distinctive orange cap. Lastly, the two of us critiqued the Rich Eisen show and the massive amounts of logos, hats, trophies, books, and memorabilia, posters, and images of famous athletes that show up on-screen. We also answered a few live questions and 3 pre-loaded questions from Avvo.com.

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Everything discussed on this podcast is for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice.

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Previous Episode

Sports and Games: Patents, Trademarks, and IP Related Issues for Sporting Goods

J.D. and Matt brought on a Bold Patents client, Terry Vance, owner of Blitz Lures and inventor of the "Live Foot" independent sonar transducer which solves the problem of not being able to see fish or look the way you want because all other transducers are dependent on the direction/facing of the trolling motor.
Terry walked the audience through his journey to get his patent and was happy to explain that he's invested in his patent portfolio by filing a child/continuation patent that is still pending. PLUS he's found an infringer and has begun enforcing his patent against them and they are using the pending application as leverage to cover a broader invention that more closely aligns to the infringers patent!
The three of us then critiqued a basketball ball net/retrieval system that was pitched on Shark Tank. The "Grind" product helps basketball players work on their shot by catching missed/made shots and returning the ball to the player instead of the player having to go get the rebound and waste time. JD briefly discussed that a utility patent is what he'd recommend going for, but it didn't see like Grind or any inventor had filed for the protection. Matt Kulseth couldn't find a trademark filing either - so the product looked good, but his IP was shallow or empty, not a solid footing to be on.

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Next Episode

USPTO Patent and Trademark Office Action Rejections and Objections!

J.D. and Matt talk patent and trademark office actions! J.D. talked through a flowchart showing the various steps that a typical utility patent application takes and how 2-3 office actions is fairly typical. Matt talked about the trademark office action process a bit and explained some key differences there.
The team took a Bold Bite out of a Shark Tank episode from GeoOrbital an electric bike add-on for the front wheel. J.D. was a harsh critic and busted their statement that they have a "patented product", where J.D. showed off that they actually have an Abandoned patent that never responded to a USPTO office action back in 2017. J.D. showed just what the rejection said and the reasons for it on the novelty and obviousness front and some of the grounds for rejections.
Matt showed the registration for GeoOrbital and the 2+ year path it took for them to get their trademark granted.

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