Intellectual Property

Thank A Lawyer For Helping To Patent The Basketball

Without lawyers, we wouldn't have March Madness.

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Around certain times of year, I sometimes have a great idea for this column. In November, I might think, “Wouldn’t it be interesting to see what patents were granted related to Thanksgiving dinner?” In February, “Who invented popular Valentines Day candy?” Or, in the midst of March Madness as we are now, “What patents have been granted that led to the basketball?” As it turns out, my “great ideas” have usually already been done before. Enter Smithsonian Magazine.

Smithsonian Magazine publishes a wide range of interesting articles, covering current events to little-known historical stories. Occasionally, they also publish patent-related articles, which covers both the history of the particular invention as well as the patents behind the modern-day item.

Take March Madness for example. D. Lawrence Tarazano of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office discusses how the game of basketball was invented in 1891 and was originally played with a soccer ball. A.G. Spalding was then asked to develop a basketball in 1894, but in 1929, George L. Pierce was awarded the first “basket ball” patent using a different lacing design that “decreased stress at the seams and produced a ball with better balance and resilience.” Tarazano mentions other basketball design patents before covering the invention of the basketball hoop. Tarazano writes, of the modern day hoop:

Alvie E. Sandeberg, of University City, Missouri invented a number of different goal improvements. On February 24, 1936, he filed both a design patent application and a utility patent application for his new “Basketball Goal;” the two patents were issued a week apart in September of that same year. Prior to his invention, nets had to be tied or laced on to the hoop. But thanks to Sandeberg all one needs to do is take loops from the net and hook them over the connectors circling the ring. This method is so effective that we could not think today of attaching the net by any other mode.

Back in November, Tarazano also covered the various patents that were granted related to pumpkin pie, including the pie pan, pastry shell, and filling. In case you’re wondering what patents could possibly be related to the pastry shell, Tarazano covers the gristmill (turning wheat into flour), solid vegetable shortening (i.e., Crisco), and a rolling pin.

Perhaps one of my favorite Smithsonian Magazine patent-related articles is the one covering the invention of sliced bread, something that people use every day. We’ve all heard the phrase, “The best thing since sliced bread,” which I always thought was a sort of silly expression given how ubiquitous it is today. (Also, I don’t really like sandwiches, so sliced bread isn’t high on my list of favorite foods.) But apparently sliced bread was a big deal because when bread-making moved from the home kitchens to factories, the commercially produced bread was too soft to properly slice at home without a bread knife. Otto F. Rohwedder, formerly a jeweler, holds numerous patents related to sliced bread including the bread-slicing machine itself, a bread-wrapping machine, a cardboard bread holder, a retail display rack for bread, and an improved conveyor belt for getting the bread out of the slicer. Ultimately, a bakery on the verge of bankruptcy took a chance on the machine and “Bench’s bread sales soon skyrocketed by 2000 percent, and mechanical slicing quickly spread around the country.

I always find it interesting to think about how many things we use today build upon past inventions, and Smithsonian Magazine has some great patent retrospectives. You can check out the history of patents behind an incredibly wide range of items such as the childhood favorite cereal Lucky Charms, or Valentines Day candy like conversation hearts, or the modern day tape measure, or accidental inventions like bubble wrap.

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Krista L. Cox is a policy attorney who has spent her career working for non-profit organizations and associations. She has expertise in copyright, patent, and intellectual property enforcement law, as well as international trade. She currently works for a non-profit member association advocating for balanced copyright. You can reach her at kristay@gmail.com.

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