NEWS FLASH: October is Intellectual Property (IP) Month! Of course, October is also known for Halloween. There is a spooky trail of patents showing that creativity and IP rights underlie Halloween’s most important traditions. While this holiday is an annual one, that should not deter a client from protecting its Halloween-related innovations via patent, trademark and/or copyright. Thousands of patents have been granted for products that enhance the celebration of Halloween, from pumpkin carving accessories to tricks and treats. These patented products are economically impactful and provide valuable assets to their owners.
Pumpkin Carving Kit (U.S. Patent No. 4,828.114) was issued in 1989 and covered kits for carving decorative designs in the fleshy shell of a pumpkin. This patent provided the exclusive right to its owner, Pumpkin Masters, to exclude others from making, using or selling such kits. The owner of this patent still sells these kits today under the PUMPKIN MASTERS trademark (U.S. Trademark Reg. No. 1,912,503). Although this patent expired in 2007, this entity secured several trademark registrations for its PUMPKIN MASTERS trademark that remain in force.
Device for Collecting Treats (U.S. Patent Number 6,419,541) was issued in 2002 to a California inventor for a device for collecting Halloween candy that was designed to spook treat givers on Halloween. The device had a handle that could be pulled by the trick-or-treater which would quickly inflate a toy rat or snake, thereby startling the treat giver.
Illumination and Halloween Costume (U.S. Patent No. 6,854,131) was issued in 2005 and covers a costume representative of a character or object recognizable by a consumer. The patented costume has a flashlight configured, dimensioned and decorated so that it conveys information about the costume and makes the wearer more visible at night. One popular example of that is an illuminated skeleton costume where the bones are lit to emphasize the shape of the skeleton.
Spider Web Maker Gun (U.S. Patent No. 7,866,276) is directed to a “spiderweb maker” that uses an air pressurized glue gun to form spiderwebs. A Nebraska family-run small business with a strong Halloween presence owns this patent. One of the family employees came up with this innovation for which the patent was granted in 2011.
Fangs and Application Thereof (U.S. Patent 5,547,381) issued in 1996 for a removable tooth cap that is secured to a real tooth without any adhesive. Instead, a malleable thermoplastic is used so that the fang-shaped tooth cap attaches easily to a wearer’s tooth – and can even be used when eating or talking. These fangs are still sold today and are frequently referred to as the original custom-fitted vampire fang teeth (also now sold as Zombie teeth as well!). A trademark for this product – DRACULA FANGS – is also registered at the U.S. Trademark Office, by a different Nebraska company.
When it comes to copyright, the general rule is that clothing items (including costumes) are treated as useful articles and are not eligible for copyright protection because they serve a dual purpose of clothing the body and portraying their appearance. While an entire costume may not be copyrightable without additional original, creative features aside from the functional clothing aspect of the costume, the individual parts of the costume may be protected by copyright, as well as distinct visual designs (e.g., superhero logos, icons, etc.). A copyright registration should not be overlooked as an option for IP protection!
Startup companies that have IP protection are much more likely to be successful in raising funding for new product development and expanding production than such companies without IP protection. According to an Article published in The Journal of Finance (Farre-Mensa, et al., Vol. 75, Issue 2, April 2020), a patent used as collateral has been found to increase venture capital funding by more than 75% over three years; and after five years, a new company with a patent increases its sales by a cumulative 80% more than companies that do not have a patent. Are your clients failing to protect their IP? Now that is a real Halloween fright!
