Holy Google Patents, Batman! Post your homestead findings here.

[The Biss]

So I'm knocking about in Google Patents... when on a whim I type in "rabbit hutch". OMG... plan after plan after plan for rabbit hutches can up, most dated from the 20s and 30s, but still viable today. Then I typed in "pole barn". Wow! Plans WITH COMPLEX DIAGRAMS about building pole barns.

Granted, you can't use patented ideas for sale, but what's to stop you building some of this stuff for use on your homestead? When someone files an idea with the patent office, it had better be well conceived and illustrated, all the better to use for your farm or garden.

Let's post our favorite "homesteading type" patented items to this thread. I'll start:

Pole Barn with cool foldout hay loft

Wort chiller for your rabbits

[steader]

Never would have thought about searching patents for ideas of things to build around our property, thnx.

[jessepona]

Wow, I did not know this feature existed... ah I love the internet!

[Pony]

Oooooh BOY!

Gonna forward the link to Nick.

Great timing for us. Thanks for posting the info!!

Pony!

[farminghandyman]

I believe the Patents only protect the idea for a few years, and after that it is basically public domain (the idea is to give the inventor protection to get the idea launched developed and a business started,

How long does patent protection last?

-------

For applications filed on or after June 8, 1995, utility and plant patents are granted for a term which begins with the date of the grant and usually ends 20 years from the date you first applied for the patent subject to the payment of appropriate maintenance fees. Design patents last 14 years from the date you are granted the patent. No maintenance fees are required for design patents.

Note: Patents in force on June 8, 1995 and patents issued thereafter on applications filed prior to June 8, 1995 automatically have a term that is the greater of the twenty year term discussed above or seventeen years from the patent grant.
http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/iip/patents.htm

another page of basic information
http://library.findlaw.com/1999/Jan/1/241479.html

[michiganfarmer]

pretty neat. Thanks!

[booklover]

I didn't know you Google had a patents search. I just googled my husband and it came up with all 7 of his patents. He's a computer scientist, so it doesn't help anyone here, but it was cool to see that Google found all of his patents!

[KCM]

I LOVE learning new things (even if its about old things). Thanks a bunch!

[farminghandyman]

one thing to remember
Just because some one patented an idea once, it does not mean it is a good idea, it jsut means the idea was once or is currently protected intellectual property.
not that it is safe, or that it is practical, or even is a workable idea, or even a good idea. it was or is a protected idea,

watch the TV show "American Inventer" some time,