OT: "Pat Pending"

When I was a boy I used to see "Pat. Pending" written on everything from consumer electronic enclosures to those triangular rubber blocks you put on pencils to keep them rolling off the desk and I thought "Who IS this Pat Pending? He must be some kind of engineering genius his name is on all sorts of stuff. I gotta meet this guy."

Reply to
bitrex
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Yeah, smart, but never made much on any of those inventions. That's why he keeps trying and trying.

--

  Rick C. 

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Reply to
Ricketty C

Not a 'he'. It's short for Patricia.

Reply to
Pimpom

Didn't Pat Pending appear on the Batman and Robin show way back when, too ???

Reply to
boB

Can be short for Patrick! No shortage of male "Pats" where I grew up around South Boston.

also commonly heard elsewhere around here as short for the New England Patriots. or in the local patios "Da Pawts."

Reply to
bitrex

No he was a character in Whacky Races, Prof Pat Pending

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It was more fun when there was a patent number as well since you could then examine how things had been done. Many pat pendings were bluffs.

--
Regards, 
Martin Brown
Reply to
Martin Brown

I admit though I am a product of my staunchly patriarchal culture and the thought that a lady could have invented all that stuff didn't occur to me at age 8.

Reply to
bitrex

Hong Kong Phooey, Rocky & Bullwinkle, Grape Ape, and Whacky Races were still in the 6 AM weekday timeslot sometimes on my local OTA station back in the mid 80s but that character I don't recall. I have some familiarity with the classics though

Reply to
bitrex

He went bad, fell in with Bill Posters and Lou Knee.

--
Cheers 
Clive
Reply to
Clive Arthur

Not Terry Wrist or Al Kider? No problems with Nick Teen or Al K. Hall?

CH

Reply to
Clifford Heath

The Pending family had an average IQ of 200 but never became rich because, as with many geniuses, they had no talent for management.

Reply to
Pimpom

I miss BBC radio's "I'm Sorry I haven't a Clue" (ISIHAC) and their "Mr and Mrs and their Son/Daughter etc etc" round...

Mike.

Reply to
Mike Coon

The Uxbridge English Dictionary is a good approximation :)

Reply to
Tom Gardner

Nah, he was the guy on Laugh In who was always running for president.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

--
Dr Philip C D Hobbs 
Principal Consultant 
ElectroOptical Innovations LLC / Hobbs ElectroOptics 
Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics 
Briarcliff Manor NY 10510 

http://electrooptical.net 
http://hobbs-eo.com
Reply to
Phil Hobbs

IANAL but I work with them a fair amount.

Over here there's a marking requirement: the item has to have the patent number (or "patent pending" before issuance). Otherwise in general you can't collect damages arising from sales before you notified the infringer about your patent.

"Patent pending" doesn't provide that benefit, but does at least notify your competitors that they should do their due diligence. (In NY, it's surprisingly hard to use "due diligence" in a sentence without it sounding like "doo-doo".) ;)

There's a useful article on marking at

Cheers

Phil "It's pronounced 'dyoo'" Hobbs

--
Dr Philip C D Hobbs 
Principal Consultant 
ElectroOptical Innovations LLC / Hobbs ElectroOptics 
Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics 
Briarcliff Manor NY 10510 

http://electrooptical.net 
http://hobbs-eo.com
Reply to
Phil Hobbs

Pat Paulsen

Reply to
Michael Terrell

Yeah, that's him.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

--
Dr Philip C D Hobbs 
Principal Consultant 
ElectroOptical Innovations LLC / Hobbs ElectroOptics 
Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics 
Briarcliff Manor NY 10510 

http://electrooptical.net 
http://hobbs-eo.com
Reply to
Phil Hobbs

Bill Sender gets more packages then anyone else in the world

Reply to
bulegoge

And who is that Bill Sender guy who supplies me with all sort of goodies from Mouser? He might be a good friend of your Patrick Pending, methinks.

Best regards, Piotr

Reply to
Piotr Wyderski

When my kids went to school they always told me about their two new best friends : Art and Jim.

Reply to
blocher

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