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<br /> 14 ilivewitors axid W I I, OIC THE BUSINESS JOURNAL I twincities.bizjoumals.com August 16,2002
<br /> Inventions reflect innovation, •
<br /> patience, even humor
<br /> ; power to cool rather than heat,"said Walker. Patent office spokeswoman Brigid Quinn said
<br /> it is against office policy to discuss patent merits.
<br /> Sa : } 4 , mreilly@IViumals.com I(612)288-2110 Local patent attorneys also were hesitant to
<br /> """�" a -. discuss this particular patent,not wanting to
<br /> -� -- '` upset officials at the USPTO.
<br /> t�k � s Childhood lesson teaches patent issues "The office needs to be a little more careful
<br /> : � BY JIM MARTYKA in how they do their work," said one local
<br /> CONTRIBUTING WRITER patent attorney who asked to remain anony-
<br /> E' ` ,k ,�. .�� 5 Warning to little children on playgrounds mous."Patents like this make for a pretty big
<br /> �� p , everywhere:when playing on a swing set,do egg in the face."
<br /> ik not swing side to side.That method of swing- Still, Olson said the process was satisfying
<br /> g ing has been patented.,,, ,,,i‘l
<br /> because it helped teach his son about patents.
<br /> w , . -;' a" Really.What started as a parent/child lesson And the patent language shows this was
<br /> a : `
<br /> ,„ s y x -. s , in the patent meant to be as fun as swinging itself.
<br /> ,�.r „ � , ,i -5,1,t. process has "p "The swinging method of the present inven-
<br /> x , :t I 4 ., ', resulted in �� tion may be referred to by the present inventor
<br /> k x " s ' :, patent and his sister as'Tarzan'swinging,"the patent
<br /> .:.-44.1-1.-,--.A-:.,°,..-2.: '°7i, 6,368,227 for reads."The user may even choose to produce
<br /> ,� , f ,.- , 4 ,s
<br /> 6-year-old St. _ — a Tarzan-type yell while swinging in the man
<br /> ` 1* Paul native ner described, which more accurately repli
<br /> Steven Olson, cates swinging on vines in a dense jungle for-
<br /> x ,,-- • . i est.Actual jungle forestry is not required."
<br /> k -y o I METHOD Q1011111NGING
<br /> � 'Qi i. A k ON A SWING Ten-year process pays off
<br /> si
<br /> �' . Descri tion:A method of swinging side to side in Sometimes the right packaging requires
<br /> p 0 g g P g g q
<br /> �',' -; z� ' M which the user pulls alternately on one chain and patience.
<br /> ��>t.. �, y then'the other. Henry"Buck"Huot Jr.of St.Paul based Huot
<br /> �._ :° 1 j Patent holder:Steven Olson,age 6,St.Paul Manufacturing, spent the better part of the
<br /> 4. Patent granted:April 2002 '90s designing packaging for drill bits—pack-
<br /> „tet
<br /> - ~' aging that would eliminate several protective
<br /> *�k ”' layers that can be costly and damaging to the
<br /> - ,, ; , relating to"a method of swinging on a swing. environment.He has spent the last
<br /> s ;, The boy's father,Peter Olson,said children two years attempting to .
<br /> - _.".u:`._r ` �` ; ''''" 3° ''''.2 -- '-' i I should rest assured that his family won't be patent the product, £ �
<br /> r
<br /> DIANA WAITERS I THE BUSINESS JOURNAL enforcing the patent.However,other industry dubbed Securitab,which .� 1 '
<br /> Robert Walker became interested in the Bixby heater when energy prices rose. officials said as humorous as this story is, it he said will change how ;! , ,
<br /> could set a dangerous precedent. his company does
<br /> BY MARK REILLY "It was simply a matter of teaching my son a business.Just this pasts
<br /> SENIOR REPORTER , = BIOMASS-BURNING little about the process and it made it ,L
<br /> Two innovators are spearheading a push to ; SPACE HEATER through," said Olson, a patent attorney for t
<br /> build a market for home-scale biomass stoves : Description:Biomass-burning space heater,us- Maplewood-based 3M Co."I cant believe the &
<br /> SECURITAB
<br /> that burn shelled corn waste for energy. 1 ing a mechanism that regulates flow of oxygen. attention it has drawn and not all positive." 1 Description:A hard,one-layer reusable plastic
<br /> The company, Bixby Energy Systems Inc., fi Also developing biomass"pellets"for fuel. For that reason,the elder Olson is hesitant 1 packaging case with a locking tab
<br /> rolled out its first product, a moderate-sized ° Inventor:Marion Mast to talk about the experience.However,he has J Patent holder:Henry Huot Jr.,president of Huot
<br /> space heater, last fall.Officials plan to build -t Patent granted:pending said in previous articles that he was extremely Manufacturing
<br /> ilarger units that could generate electricity and Company:Bixby Energy Systems Inc. , surprised that the idea made it through the ; Patent granted:Summer 2001
<br /> heat water for homes — all at a lower cost - Top executive:Robert Walker,CEO patent process,and at not too high of a price. 1 Customers:The manufacturing industry(also
<br /> than conventional energy. I Price:$2795 The whole process ended up costing only I" working on variations to be applied to medical,
<br /> Other corn-burning stoves have been l 4 about$1,000,and the family only saw the idea 1 electronics and retail industries),
<br /> unveiled,but Bixby's stoves include a propri- rejected once. Patent experts said a patent 1 Cost:Varies with each agreement.Huot its licens-
<br /> etary technology that regulates oxygen intake Corp., Plymouth. The Bixby partners share request, especially for a method, can some- t ing the product,and each deal is negotiable.
<br /> and yields roughly 25 percent more energy rights to the biomass-burning space heater, times take years and end up costing thou- 1 Factors such as quantity,type and even color de-
<br /> with the same amount of fuel, officials said. for which a patent is still pending. sands in fees. termine cost.
<br /> They also hope to broaden the technology to The leap from air-filled bed to corn-fed The patent itself is for a method of swinging
<br /> other forms of biomass. stove may seem a large one, but Walker said that involves the user alternately pulling back
<br /> "There have been corn-burning stoves the two companies share many elements: and forth on the chains of a swing so that it ,, j.
<br /> =i
<br /> before,but they were so uneconomical [that] Both took an existing idea and refined it with swings side to side, instead of, or in ,t,;f v4' i year ,
<br /> they only made sense if you were an environ- technology then aimed the products at a larg- addition to, going backward and for- ,},'i`'t 4 t,8 ' ` t- Securitab
<br /> mentalist," said co-founder Robert Walker, er market. ward.The patent is quite unique,often !i e`t- 4 i�4 , received
<br /> "Ours makes economic sense to operate." Walker saw Mast demonstrate a concept ver- filled with humorous language and } ,, ' ' �t p a t e n t
<br /> Corn provides one of the lowest-cost fuels sion of the stove in 1999,then watched as ener- detailed descriptions on methods of � � \ approval
<br /> per BTU(British Thermal Unit),according to gy prices skyrocketed during the next winter. swinging,which"although of consider- t_ i • a n d
<br /> the U.S.Department of Agriculture. He decided that a biomass stove would appeal able interest to some people, can lose - became a registered
<br /> According to a report by trade magazine to consumers tired of high energy costs. their appeal with age and experience." trademark.
<br /> Hearth&Home,quoted byWalker,to generate 1 Using the current generation of heater as a Not everybody finds it humorous,however. "It was a lengthy process, difficult and
<br /> million BTUs of heat,it takes more than$26 of foundation, Walker plans to build Bixby by When the patent was granted in April, intel- expensive, but it was rewarding," said Huot,
<br /> electricity, $11 of natural gas, or$6 of shelled marketing special biomass fuel pellets. The lectual property experts blasted it and the U.S. president of the 76-year-old, family-owned
<br /> corn. company has been working with the Patent and Trademark Office,saying it showed company,which manufactures storage units
<br /> The company, based in Elk River, is the Agricultural Utilization Research Institute to how overworked the patent office had for cutting tools."We're already getting posi-
<br /> product of years of research by engineer develop the pellets, which are made from a become. The patent office, which patent five feedback on the product,and we're look-
<br /> Marion Mast of Bixby,who hit on the current variety of biomass material. attorneys have for years described as under- ing forward to seeing what it will do for the
<br /> design in 1996. "We're even building an air-conditioning unit funded and understaffed, issues more than company's future."
<br /> Mast found a business partner who shared for the southeast, using extra heat to power a 187,000 patents a year.The less staff,the less Securitab is a one-layer packing system for
<br /> his vision in Walker,founder of Select Comfort compressor ... we spend more on generating likely patents such as this are challenged. INVENTORS PAGE 20
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