Teacher Answer Key for Frick Scavenger Hunts
Teacher Answer Key for Frick Scavenger Hunts
Scavenger Hunt #1: Patents, Trademarks and Copyrights
Savenenger Hunt#2: Inventors and Inventions
1. Receiving a patent for your invention allows you to have the right to make, sell, import an invention for up to ____ years.
The answer is: 20 years
2.What are the 3 types of patents awarded by the U.S. Patent Office?
a. ______________ b. ______________ c. ______________
The answer is: Design, Utility, Plant
The Patent Office pages provide much information about the actual application process as well as the types of patents. Their home page is located at http://www.uspto.gov/
http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/design/definition.html#elements This source discusses the differences between design and utility patents and the elements needed to file a design patent application which might be helpful for going into more depth about the patent process. Links to other areas of the patent application are located on this page.
3. What is the difference between an utility patent and a design patent? Explain in complete sentences.
The answer is: A utility patent covers the useful processes, machines, articles of manufacture, and compositions of matter. Examples: fiber optics, computer hardware, medications.
The look of an athletic or basketball shoe, a bicycle helmet, and the Pokemon characters are all protected by design patents.
Give an example (name and type of product) of something that received an utility patent and a design patent.
Utility: ______________________________________
Design: ______________________________________
The answer is: Accept any answer which fits the definitions above. The Patent Trivia Calendar provides many examples of patented items as well as Trademarks and Copyrighted ones and gives the date each received its award.
4. A copyright is different from a patent because it registers things that have been authored such as works of art, music and things which have been written. Where would you find copyrights registered? How long does a copyright last?
The answer is: Copyrights are registered in The Library of Congress. A copyright lasts the author's life time plus 70 years.
Examples of items that are copyrighted are: Gone With The Wind (the book and film), Back Street Boys' recordings, and video games
5. What do we call the type of protection used by businesses and organizations which protects words, names, symbols, sounds, or colors that distinguish goods and services?
The answer is: Trademarks. Trademarks can be renewed forever as long as they are being used in business. Patents are only granted for 20 years. Things that would qualify for a trademark include sounds such as the roar of the MGM lion, the pink color of the insulation made by Owens-Corning (who uses the Pink Panther in advertising by permission from its owner!), and the shape of a Coca-Cola bottle.
IDEA: Create a class list of "famous" trademarks. Challenge students to list as many as they think may qualify and then discuss their findings as each offers a trademarked item to add to the list. Or, take all of the suggestions, plus a few of your own (some of which are not trademark items) and challenge them to circle those that they think are or would qualify to be trademarked.
6. About how long has the patent process operated in the United States to protect inventors?
The answer is: 200 years
IDEA: Use this question as a jumping off point for a discussion about why the patent process is an important one and how it contributes to the economy of our industrial nation.
In the introduction of the Patent Office web pages they state the following: "For over 200 years, the basic role of the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) has remained the same: to promote the progress of science and the useful arts by securing for limited times to inventors the exclusive right to their respective discoveries (Article 1, Section 8 of the United States Constitution). Under this system of protection, American industry has flourished. New products have been invented, new uses for old ones discovered, and employment opportunities created for millions of Americans. The PTO is a noncommercial federal entity and one of 14 bureaus in the Department of Commerce (DOC). The office occupies a combined total of over 1,400,000 square feet, in numerous buildings in Arlington, Virginia. The office employs over 5,000 full time equivalent (FTE) staff to support its major functions--- the examination and issuance of patents and the examination and registration of trademarks. The PTO has evolved into a unique government agency. Since 1991-- under the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA) of 1990-- the PTO has operated in much the same way as a private business, providing valued products and services to our customers in exchange for fees which are used to fully fund our operations. The primary services we provide include processing patents and trademarks and disseminating patent and trademark information."
7. Where is the US Patent Office located?
The answer is:There is only one Patent Office, and it is located in Arlington, Virginia, which is just outside of Washington, DC.
8. What type of patent did Fred Frick receive for his Electric Program Clock? (Utility, Design or Patent)
The answer is: Utility Patent
9. Are Frick's patents still protecting his invention today? ____________
The answer is: No, patents only protect your rights for 20 years. Frick's patents were granted in 1895.
Scavenger Hunt #2: Inventors and Inventions
1. Who received a patent for "dry scouring of clothes" and may have been the first African American inventor to receive a US Patent?
Thomas Jennings received patent in 1821 for "dry scouring of clothes". He may of been the 1st African-American inventor to receive a US patent.
Patent Trivia Calendar provides information for every month of the year on interesting inventors and inventions.It tells when items received patents, trademarks or copyrights.
HINT: Use these next questions to help students understand how to use the two different types of database resources provided as resources- one is alphabetical by inventor and the other is by invention.
2.What did George Washington Carver receive patents for?
"Agricultural chemist George Washington Carver developed
crop-rotation methods for conserving nutrients in soil and discovered hundreds
of new uses for crops such as the peanut, which created new markets for farmers,
especially in the South"
The answer is: his patents were awarded for the development of cosmetics,
stain, paint and process for producing them.
IDEA: Have students use the databases to research inventors and create their own scavenger hunts, word finds and crossword puzzles. Challenge groups to select an inventor from the database and defend why their invention was important or more important than those selected by another group.
3.This inventor didn't invent the elevator, but did invent what led to the elevator being safe to use in tall buildings? Who was it and what did he invent?
The answer is:Elisha Graves Otis invented an elevator brake to make elevators safe and skyscrapers a reality.
4. This inventor has over 300 patents to his credit. He is responsible for inventions which led to the modern day Television. Who is he?
The answer is: Philo Taylor Farnsworth
5.Who may have received the very first US patent? What was it for?
The answer is:The first US patent was granted in 1790 to Samuel Hopkins of Philadelphia for "making pot and pearl ashes"-a cleaning formula used in soapmaking.
6. This woman invented a machine that made the brown paper bags we all have used. She received the patent in 1871. She had other patented inventions credited to her as well. Who is she? ______________
The answer is:Margaret Knight
IDEA: This web page lists 6 women inventors. Take this opportunity to discuss the role of women and how their contributions have been important to our way of life and economy. Early women inventors were often not able to patent inventions in their own names and sometimes their husbands or others males had to get patents for them. Here are some other related web sites which discuss women inventors:
http://www.stsci.edu/stsci/service/wsf/current/inventions.html
http://www.ohio.com/bj/fun/family/1999/005478.htm
http://www.si.edu/lemelson/centerpieces/ilives/womeninventors.html
http://web.mit.edu/invent/www/inventorsA-H/AAweek3.html (Discusses African-American Women Inventors)
http://www.girlscouts.org/girls/Why/scitech/mothinv/mothinv.htm
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HINT: Try setting up a page of URLs to help students locate information on this topic. You can place resources as bookmarks in your browser or can create a file which can be opened in the browser to display the URLs they are to use. Most browsers now have a place to "compose" a page which can be used to do this.
URLs students can use to use for help:
http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ahrpa/opa/kids/kidprimer.html (US Patent
Office Kids Pages)
http://www.uspto.gov/web/menu/intro.html (US Patent Office)
http://www.invent.org/book/index.html (Inventors Hall of Fame)
http://www.invent.org/book/book-index.html (Database of inventions in alphabetical order)
http://www.invent.org/book/book-text/indexbyname.html (Database of inventors by name)
The US Patent Office Trivia Calendar offers month by month interesting facts about trademarks, patents and copyrights which were issued.