Fairhope Inventor’s Boat Trailer Patent Clears USPTO After 483 Days
The USPTO approved a Fairhope inventor's lighted guide post assembly for boat trailers after 483 days, the city's only patent that week.
A Fairhope inventor has won federal approval for a lighted guide post assembly designed for boat trailers, capping a review process that stretched 483 days.
Jonathan Reynolds filed the application on April 20, 2021, and the United States Patent and Trademark Office approved it on Aug. 16, 2022. It was the only patent credited to Fairhope in the week ending Aug. 20.
Context: Patents Are Only the First Step
Granting a patent does not guarantee a product reaches the market. Dennis Crouch, co-director of the Center for Intellectual Property & Entrepreneurship, has observed that roughly half of all patents expire prematurely because of the costs involved in maintaining them.
Reynolds’ design adds to the growing list of marine-related inventions developed along Baldwin County’s waterfront communities, where boating is central to daily life and commerce.
The USPTO issues new patents every Tuesday, and the time from filing to grant, known as pendency, varies with the technology area and the back-and-forth between the applicant and the patent examiner. Once granted, the patent’s protection generally runs 20 years from the original filing date, provided the owner keeps up with required maintenance fees.
