Is it patentable?

You be the patent examiner.

Case #3 - How many inventions are entangled in these footlights? 

There may be something patentable in these footlights. But it’s probably not where you think.

An examiner would most likely point to headlamps used in nineteenth-century coal mines. He’d also observe that running shoes often have reflective strips to provide visibility. He would then say it would have been obvious to improve the running shoes by replacing the reflectors with a lamp because this would provide visibility even when no cars are present.

Nevertheless, even a simple device like this can have many inventions entangled within it.

Consider the clip that joins the light to the shoe. It has an asymmetry. Asymmetry is a signal. After all, humans are drawn to symmetry. Just look at things like the Parthenon and Stonehenge. So if you see asymmetry, it’s there for a reason.

The clip also fits into the most symmetric shape imaginable: a circle. The plot thickens.

You might speculate on why the asymmetry exists. And you might even come up with a good answer. But you still had to think about it. It didn’t just leap out. This means that the problem wasn’t so obvious. And if the problem isn’t obvious, you’re halfway there. An examiner might still think of a separate (and obvious) problem with the same solution. But that can be difficult.

There is lots of prior art for footlights. As for the light’s asymmetric foot, that could be a different story.

Disclaimer:

The O&R “Is it patentable?” blog is educational and provides general information about patent law.  It provides no legal advice or conclusions.  O&R uses publicly available information about the products described in these posts and has no relationship with the manufacturers, sellers, or distributors of these products.  Reading this blog and participating in voting on the case studies does not create an attorney-client relationship between the reader and O&R.