Weekly Worthless Patent

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Collapsible support

It was a tough choice this week. By the time I'd gone through 12 or 15 patents I had 3 candidates, a radio based model train switching system, an "automatic" cat litter box, and this portable table. I picked the table because it shows a clear case of inventor paranoia--either that or the patent practitioners that helped get the patent saw a real naïve soft touch coming--or both. Just what does the patent protect? Not a portable table but a portable table where, in the collapsed and erected positions, the parts fit just so. It's neat and it works. But will it take over the market? Or even get a share of the market?

And what about the inventor's paranoia? Notice the hole (presumably for holding a cup). It doesn't even figure in the claims except in dependant claims as "substantially smooth surface" (i.e., the deviation that converts "smooth" to "substantially..."). The last page of illustrations shows nothing but variants on the shape of that hole! And why so many illustrations, of which only a few with part of their descriptions are shown here? You understand the whole concept by the time you've seen the second illustration so 12 pages worth with most pages having only one illustration seems a fast waste of effort.

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