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Those who know me well will know I have a bit of a soft spot for cats. There, I said it and I said it on the internet so it must be true. And I've taken more than a little shit in my life for being a heterosexual male who much prefers cats to dogs although I never quite understood why.
Oh wait, I forgot: Cat lovers can be some of the oddest people on Earth. See Exhibit A to the right.
Now I don't claim to be unveiling a long kept secret here, but cats fucking love cardboard boxes like dogs love chasing after balls you throw into a lake. I have absolutely no explanation for it, but it has been true of every cat I've ever known (not "known" in the Biblical sense).
And as someone who makes a lot of online purchases, my cats are always rich in cardboard boxes of every imaginable size and shape. This is the point where one would expect me to provide a link to my companion, cat-based blog "Feline 1" which recounts in unending detail the lives of my two cats, Benito Meowsolini and Eva Purrón, but I am not going do that because no such blog exists and anyone who tells you otherwise is a God damn oath-breaking liar that you should never trust under any circumstances ever.
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The drawings are my personal favorite, as usual. Click on the images to the left for a larger copy. It's simple enough that very little elaboration on my part is necessary. It's a cardboard box with a hole in the top and sides, and the sides have a carnival-esque character portrait cutout that the cat sticks its head through. Cat goes in box and hilarity ensues.
What is interesting on a more detailed level is what the patentee regards as their "invention" in this case. I've highlighted it in the image to the right. What has been changed from a cardboard box with holes in 5 of its 6 sides to warrant the issue of patent protection? Does drawing or painting on an existing object alter that object sufficiently to be warranted being called something different? What does simple embellishment create? Thank you for your time and please Exit Through the Gift Shop.
The legalese here must really be respected. A "rectilinear configuration" with a "front face, left face, right face, and rear face." Yea gods, man: you've invented a cube! But wait, these faces have "indicia" and "motifs" on them. But the question remains: does changing the design of an object render it an invention patentable under US law? The question is not one I can voice an opinion on (damn you ethical restrictions! *shakes fist at sky*) but the fact remains that once an application issues as a patent, there is a "strong assumption" that it is valid. That means that it is much harder to invalidate an issued patent than to prevent something from issuing in the first place. But it's also important to remember that a patent is only worth something once you enforce it against someone (read: sue someone), and the courts may disagree with you. So it's always a tricky proposition in the end.
