’Tis the (football) season but they’re trying to ring less bells on the head injury front. Amazon drones on, while WalMart seeks to improve your shopping experience. Since it’s also close to the start of the holiday shopping season, we’ll start there.
WalMart Patent for RoboCart
If you’ve been seeking that hands-free shopping experience with a cart that follows you around the store, it may be coming soon to a WalMart near you. They applied last year for a patent for “a robotic device that would create self-driving shopping carts, giving customers free hands while they shop.” This device would respond to voice commands and use scanners to note and report inventory issues. WalMart will utilize “motorized transport units” attached to the cart bottom, a central computer, video camera, Wi-Fi, and other components.
As the cart will always be with the customer and answers basic questions about the store, inventory, and stock, there will be no need to search for employees for help, decreasing labor costs and issues as well as improving the overall shopping experience.
Amazon’s Parachute Shipping Label
File this under fun and interesting. As Amazon continues to push forward with their drone delivery and Prime Air, they’re developing an “Aerial Package Delivery System” which is basically a shipping label with a built-in parachute. With the sheer volume of orders Amazon fills every day, every element of the packaging needs to be efficient. The label includes a self adhesive backing containing “a plurality of parachute cords, a parachute and breakaway cover.” Sensors can also be incorporated for feedback on landing accuracy and even a shock absorber.
The delivery process includes placing the shipping label on top of the package, the drone dropping the package (which eliminates the need for the drone to descend, subjecting it to increased power costs and potential damage), the parachute label deploys and the package lands at your door. Larger packages may require additional labels, of course. Word is, Amazon is also considering patents on technology to move the package after landing, such as landing flaps and air canisters.
Football Helmet Technology, Concussions, and CTE
With the current persistent discussion of concussion and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) in football players, and the National Football League promising $100 million for research and development of new technologies to prevent head injuries, it’s not surprising to see new patents concerning said technology. Bill Gates and twenty other investors, most of them associated with Intellectual Ventures, have filed for a patent on a high-tech football helmet that has sensors and a processing circuit to help minimize head trauma injuries that can occur while playing and training for the game. The helmet is structurally designed to reduce the severity of injuries due to forces, torques, and accelerations to the head during on-field collisions while also recording and assessing those impacts according to a predetermined impact and damage threshold. This allows trainers and doctors to immediately know the severity of a hit to the head.
With $100 million research dollars from the NFL in play, more open discussion about the potential long-term effects of concussions and CTE, and the fact that football in America is not going anywhere, we only expect that innovation and technology will improve. Look for new patents and continuing interesting developments in collision, impact, and head injury prevention in the future.
Other football helmet patent news concerns the two largest manufactures of such helmets in the United States. Kranos Corp, operating as Schutt Sports, filed suit against Riddell for patent infringement of three different helmet designs earlier this year. The two have a history of facing each other in court dating back to 2008 when Riddell sued Schutt for patent infringement. After two years of litigation, Riddell won $29 million and eventually Schutt was forced to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy before being bought at auction by Platinum Equity. In 2016, Riddell again sued Schutt for patent infringement, and Schutt responded by coming back at Ridell with the same accusation. Robert Erb, president and CEO of Schutte stated that Riddell was making a desperate attempt to attack the market while it faces a myriad of challenges within the business. Both suits are ongoing in both federal court and with the Patent Trial and Appeal board.
Keeping up with the latest patent news can help drive your innovation. Knowing what technology and intellectual property is being developed helps you see the future--and avoid potential infringement litigation. Want to know how our innovative approach to innovation works? Give us a call!
