Tag: Holiday

The candy cane is synonymous with holiday cheer — and they seem to be everywhere this time of year. With 1.76 billion canes sold in the U.S. annually (and 90% falling between Thanksgiving and Christmas), there’s deep technological efficiency and innovation keeping this festive treat in homes. Early History While today we know and love the crooked shape that gives the candy cane its name, the candy cane began as a straight, white sugar strike during the 17-18th century in Europe. These early renditions of the modern-day treat were peppermint or anise flavored, with candymakers mixing, pulling, twisting, and shaping Read More …

We all have those movies that we watch during the holidays. They make us laugh or cry or fill us with Christmas cheer and that warm, happy holiday feeling. And many of our favorite films, such as How the Grinch Stole Christmas, The Polar Express, A Christmas Carol, and It’s a Wonderful Life, were actually books, short stories, and novellas before they were adapted into movies. So, how does a piece of written intellectual property (IP) get turned into a movie? Copyrights and Wrongs When anyone creates an original work of authorship fixed in a tangible form of creative expression Read More …

Snow imagery often rings in the winter season, but not everyone gets to enjoy it. Even for those in northern climates, snow needs an ideal balance of weather conditions to form. Understanding that not everyone can enjoy the fun and excitement of this wintertime delight, researchers developed a solution: synthetic snow. A happy accident In the 1940s, a group of scientists in Canada aimed to study how ice could impact the productivity of airplanes’ jet engines. In their attempts to create ice by spraying water vapor in front of the airplane’s tunnel-like engine, the vapor was instead sucked into the Read More …

It’s the season of giving, so it’s time to search the vast expanse of online stores to find the perfect gifts! But browser beware: When you visit a website, you leave behind information about yourself. Those websites you visit may use this data to track your online activity and preferences, which can affect how you experience any given website across the internet. Here are a few ways technology impacts your holiday online shopping. Letters to Santa (…Or Searches on Your Browser) Many businesses try to increase their profit by optimizing their user experience, whether their customers shop online or at Read More …

Santa and his elves, Rudolph’s red nose, and the melodies of our favorite holiday songs: Many of us cannot imagine the holiday season without the array of familiar symbols we attach to it. However, behind the joy and nostalgia of these seemingly timeless traditions lies the often-overlooked world of intellectual property (IP) law. While these laws ensure creators receive the recognition they deserve for their work, they also play a surprising role in shaping how we share and celebrate the staples of the holiday season. Protecting holiday icons Take Santa, for example. While the character of Santa Claus, with his Read More …

What is the holiday season without its lights? The tradition of holiday lights – specifically in Christmas trees – was made popular by the 1848 issue of The Illustrated London News. The image of the candle-illuminated tree at Windsor Castle was published, inspiring the public and popularizing the idea of decorated Christmas trees. The British royal family was headed by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, both of whom had German heritage. The tradition of decorating Christmas trees is German, and the two introduced that tradition to Windsor Castle, the British public, and the rest of the world. From fire to Read More …

The holiday season is upon us yet again! We’re ringing in the most wonderful time of the year by celebrating inventions of all types – even some of Emory’s. We polled members of our office for their favorite inventions of all time – and then had a week full of voting to narrow it down! It was a true team effort to decide on the final 12 inventions. Happy Holidays from all of us at the Office of Technology Transfer. We hope you enjoy our 12 Days of Invents! He knows if you’ve been bad or good… so be good Read More …

The ball drop has become an iconic staple for New Year’s Eve celebrations worldwide. This is especially true in New York’s Times Square celebration. Despite the seemingly modern invention, the first iteration of the nearly twelve-thousand-pound ball was created back in the nineteenth century. Can you guess the surprising link between ship navigation and the New Year’s Ball Drop? Time balls originated in the early eighteen-hundreds. Since this was before there were time zones in America, most cities kept track of their own time based on the sun. The lack of centralized time made it difficult to know the exact Read More …

The most wonderful time of the year is officially here! You may usually count down the days until Christmas with an Advent calendar, but why not count down with an “Invent” calendar, too? Happy Holidays from the Office of Technology Transfer and these twelve days of festive inventions. It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas… with all of those twinkly lights strung up around the house! Would you believe that Christmas lights were actually invented by Thomas Eddison and his business partner Edward Johnson in 1882? The duo hand-wired 80 lights around Johnson’s revolving Christmas tree, but it didn’t Read More …

It’s the holiday season and what better way to poke a little fun at an important part of our profession—patents. Here are five of our favorite interesting, unique but certainly creative. Here are some of our favorites. Feel free to tweet at us (@EmoryOTT) with some of yours. 1. “Underwater Christmas Tree”. US4130161A Abstract: An underwater Christmas tree for controlling flow from an offshore well is disclosed as having a master valve which is controlled by fluid pressure within a flow-line extending from a production bore of the tree, and means for receiving and releasably retaining a TFL tool in the Read More …

On the first day of Christmas, my OTTer gave to me, A new disclosure form On the second day of Christmas, my OTTer gave to me, Two patent applications On the third day of Christmas, my OTTer gave to me, Three new blog posts On the fourth day of Christmas, my OTTer gave to me, Four featured innovations On the fifth day of Christmas, my OTTer gave to me, Five Licenses to sign! On the sixth day of Christmas, my OTTer gave to me, Six new start-up projects On the seventh day of Christmas, my OTTer gave to me, Seven Read More …

Dashing through the lab In my new lab coat Cleaning pipettes I go Can’t find my lab notebook Filling out the disclosure Making spirits bright What fun it is to laugh and sing A tech transfer song tonight … [Chorus] CER reports, CER reports Triage all the way Oh! What fun it is to write these Every single week CER reports, CER reports Triage all the way Oh! What fun it is to write these Every single week Dashing through the prior art Please no public disclosures First to file I go God please let it be enabled Useful, novel, Read More …