New small boat patent

[icetreader]

The USPTO published my patent #6871608 "Twin hull personal watercraft".
This invention offers improvements in stability, comfort, speed and versatility compared to canoes, kayaks, dinghies and other small boats.

Designers, builders and manufacturers are welcome to read it and email me their comments and questions.

http://www.USPTO.gov

Yoav

Yoav Rosen
WAVEWALK, INC.

[mackid068]

Bravo!!!!!

[Tim B]

hummmm, sounds to me like that's an attempt to patent a small catamaran. (obviously) but interestingly, it gives no clear limit on size. So is a fair-sized sailing cat whithin the range of this patent?

Sorry to be negative, but in this game patents really serve to slow down progress of the sailing world as a whole. By the time anyone infinges the patent you've generally moved on to better solutions, so what's the problem? Unless someone tries to commer******e the idea; in which case, why didn't you do it when it was new?

Don't want to put a damper on it,

Tim B.

[Tim B]

oh, apologies, I hadn't read the full thing. Evidently it does give a clear limit on size, so my first point is invalid. My second point stands, though.

Tim B.

[JEM]

As a novice patent reader, what I take away as the main innovation is constructing to allow having your legs inside the pontoons.

What I know about patent enforcement you could fit in a thimble.

[Robert Gainer]

Is this an idea that might be dangerous instead of an improvement? A small kayak can be rolled and righted in one move and this might be as stable upside down as it is rightside up. More then that, this looks like a catamaran. How is this different and why does it justify a patent.
Robert Gainer

[mackid068]

It's twin hulled SMALL watercraft ie TWIN HULLED Personal Watercraft.

[Robert Gainer]

mackid068,
OH, it's two hulls, like, in twin hulls, like, a catamaran. Did you read the patent and its comments about small boats? I read it to say this is a "safe or better" substitute for boats like a kayak. I question that and the originality as far as if its so new as to be patentable. I see a lot of catamarans going back at least to the mid 1800 and if you count Polynesian craft, twin hulls go back several hundred years. Can you sum up what it is that makes this craft unique and innovative?
Thanks for clearing that up for me,
Robert Gainer

[icetreader]

Originally Posted by Robert Gainer

mackid068,
OH, it's two hulls, like, in twin hulls, like, a catamaran. Did you read the patent and its comments about small boats? I read it to say this is a "safe or better" substitute for boats like a kayak. I question that and the originality as far as if its so new as to be patentable. I see a lot of catamarans going back at least to the mid 1800 and if you count Polynesian craft, twin hulls go back several hundred years. Can you sum up what it is that makes this craft unique and innovative?
Thanks for clearing that up for me,
Robert Gainer

Robert,
One can't expect to always understand a patent from first reading or without serious knowledge of patent laws as well as the details of prior inventions and products. This is why it is not a good idea to file a patent application without a patent lawyer or editor and a technical editor working as a team with you, and without doing a very serious research on "prior art":
1. The US Patent and Trademark Office examiners will reject your claims.
2. You might get a claim that has no merit allowed, which is worse for you in the long run.

The actual intellectual property is defined in the "Claims" section of the patent. This particular US patent (#6871608) mentions some 70 prior inventions and products in its introduction and discussion on "prior art"*.
Some of those inventions and products that are particulary relevant to understanding why this invention is "New, useful and can be actually applied" are discussed in detail in the patent itself, as required by the USPTO.
When applied in small paddle craft like kayaks and canoes this new technology (see "Claims" section) improves stability, comfort, versatility and speed, or shortly: hydrostatics, hydrodynamics, ergonomics and biomechanics.

This invention also allows most people to participate in a new family of paddle sports practiced in the standing position I.E. to paddle-ski in optimal conditions.

But these are just words with a limited power of explanation.
If you're really intetrested in understanding what makes small paddle crafts based on this invention better than traditional canoes and kayaks you'd better visit my website http://www.wavewalk.com where you'll be able to see many photos demonstrating those advantages, read the Q&A, and most recommended of all watch the demo movies: http://www.wavewalk.com/DEMO%20VIDEOS.html

When this boat invention is applied in other small boats (E.G. sailing boats) it offers similar advantages. You can find some photos and other information on these aspects of this invention in other parts of my website as well as in some threads on boatdesign.net (some with with drawings)

BTW-- I'm more than willing to discuss the comparative safety, ergonomics and speed of kayaks, canoes and W boats in a new thread dedicated to this subject.

Yoav

*After having gone through nearly 1,000 US and foreign patents in the field of small boats and watersports equipemnt I can't remember a patent that offers a longer list of "prior art" in this field than this US patent # 6871608.

[mackid068]

Good idea Yoav. How about a whole section of the forum devoted to boats under 20' LOA?

[icetreader]

Mackid, do you mean "MICRONAUTICS"?

I think a section would be great and furthermore, when it comes to really small, lightweight and low-volume boats for 1-2 persons there's a place for developing some "unified approach", "field of research" or "science".
The reason for that is that in many ways a PWC has more in common with a kayak than it has with a big motorboat for multiple passengers, and a moth has more in common with a windsurfing board than it has with a big sailing yacht.
It's not jsut size but the whole set of interactions between the passenger's weight, skills and abilities and the tiny craft.

Another analogy that comes to my mind is the relationaship between a motorbike and a bike: These two vehicles have more in common with each other than the motorbike has with big motorized vehicles.

The definition I have in mind is "Micronautics" -The study of the mutual relationship between small, personal water crafts and their users, and the application of this knowlegde in the design and manufacturing of such water crafts.

Yoav

[JEM]

I'm finding out reading various patents can get addicting! I came back upon this one and in reading it, a question popped into my head. Now keep in mind I know zero about patent law and am not looking to become an expert nor do I expect anyone on this board to be an expert.

Anyway, my question: In reading utility patents (this one and others), I get the impression that the concept is not what is necessarily being protected, but a specific shape and size of a concept.

In other words, and I'll use this patent for example purposes, the utility patent is not trying to claim protection rights to all tunnel hull shapes, but it is claiming rights to the specific size and shape listed in the patent.

Anyone know if this sounds correct?

[cyclops]

You are asking a Cyclops, with one good eye??

[marshmat]

I do like the boat, Icetreader. Would like to try piloting one sometime!

As far as patents go.... I'd advise also getting patents in other countries or internationally if you're up to it.... While US patents generally hold up in court, the USPTO lost some respect internationally after they allowed biotech companies to patent parts of the human genome (not just analysis techniques, but actual genes). So now there's questions floating around (some valid, some not) about how honest and ethical the USPTO is with regards to other types of patents. And it's always a good idea to cover at least your main marketing territories with separate patents in each country, just in case. They're cheap compared to the cost of getting your design ripped off.

[mackid068]

Internationally sounds like a good idea. But would an int'l pat. truly hold up int'nat'ly. L'o'l.