Fairhope Inventor Granted Patent for Multifunctional Leisure and Entertainment Device

Federal patent officials approved one new patent originating from Fairhope in the week ending July 16 — a multifunctional leisure, vocational, and entertainment device filed more than two years earlier.

The application was filed on May 27, 2020. It marked an increase of one patent over the previous week for the city.

Patent Activity in Context

Patent approvals nationwide climbed steadily from roughly 225,000 in 2009 to more than 285,000 in 2019 before dipping slightly in 2020. Industry observers note that a grant is no assurance of market success: Gene Quinn of IPWatchdog has argued the system beneath patents has become unwieldy, particularly for medical innovations.

The Fairhope grant adds to a steady stream of patents issued to Baldwin County inventors, whose work spans marine equipment, consumer products, and industrial technology.

Patents are published in the USPTO’s weekly Official Gazette, as new grants issue each Tuesday, which is why local patent tallies are often reported week by week. The approval of a patent gives its owner the right to exclude others from making, using or selling the invention in the United States for the patent’s term, generally 20 years from the filing date.