The second silly patent I want to talk about is the Hands
Free Towel Carrying System. Here is a brief description:
“A towel of a generally rectangular configuration comprised of
an absorbent material has a loose end, a parallel coupling end, a pair of side
edges and a generally cylindrical neck loop comprised of an elastomeric
material.”[1]
Here are some images:
On the patent, it says that the reason (or more
appropriately, motivation) to have a hands free towel carrying system is to
prevent loss, theft, and contamination. I feel that perhaps this invention
could be useful for someone who goes swimming regularly, and doesn’t want to
lose his or her towel. And I do also understand the contamination problem,
since a large towel is used to wipe all areas of the body and you definitely do
not want to share your towel with a stranger! But I do think that there are
other easier ways to solve these problems! For example, you can just get a
really unique towel with an interesting color pattern. That would also make
your life less bland J
And personally, I would get annoyed of having a towel hanging around my neck
like that, because I would imagine that it would get kind of heavy after a
while. Plus, when would one need this? Definitely not at one’s house. Maybe at
the beach or swimming pool? I am not sure if there would be a social stigma of
carrying a towel like that at the beach. I feel that all these factors need to
be taken into account, because there is no point in inventing something if
nobody is going to use it. This patent also talks about prior art as if the
inventor is attempting to prove that this exact system has not been invented
before. Also interestingly, this patent was published in 2004—wow! I can’t
believe it took so long for somebody to come up with such a simple system. [1] Let’s
look at the criteria now:
Non-obviousness: Hmm…personally, I found this pretty
obvious. Normally, if people want to carry their towel with no hands, they just
throw it around their neck. This is doing something similar, but with something
that looks more like a necklace.
Novelty: I think this could be debatable. I’m sure something
similar must have been thought about before. In fact, in the top picture, it
almost looks like a dress! (some dresses are designed very similarly).
Enablement: I honestly just can’t see a lot of people
buying this, because there isn’t a huge need for this. Even during the time I
was a swimmer, I haven’t heard too many people complain about losing their
towels or worrying about contamination.
Usefulness: Yes, it is useful because it does what it
says it does!
[1] https://www.google.com/patents/US6718554?dq=6718554&hl=en&sa=X&ei=g2JlU8amF8fI8gHhooC4Dw&ved=0CDUQ6AEwAA
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