WhirlyGig Example

Here's a real world example in the mechanical field. A previous law firm filed a series of patent applications on a flying tube toy. When we took over the case after about five years of unsuccessful prosecution, two of the applications had already been abandoned and the remaining application included the following independent claim:

1. A free spinning gyroscopic flying device which is capable of flight due to interacting gyroscopic forces and aerodynamic lift forces comprising:

a cylindrical hollow body positioned about an axis and having a leading open end and a trailing open end, said hollow body having an inner surface and an outer surface;

a uniform, balance, annular rim attached to said hollow body at said leading end and disposed concentrically about said axis for generating gyroscopic forces when spun about said axis; and

the weight of said rim being more than 75% and less than 90% of the total weight of the flying device.

The problem was that the pending claim stood no chance of being allowed. The examiner had cited several prior art patents that taught flying tubes having weights at their leading ends , but still the prior attorneys persisted in their bankrupt strategy .

The answer was not to browbeat the examiner, but to sit down with the inventors and develop a whole new claiming strategy that expressly recited characteristics that enabled the device to fly better than the prior art devices. We did that, and secured the following new independent claim :

1. A free spinning gyroscopic flying device comprising a cylinder having an outer diameter and an overall length, leading and following open ends, an axial center of gravity positioned between the leading and following ends wherein the center of gravity is at least 70% of the distance from the following end to the leading end, and a weighted region having a wall thickness no greater than about 0.04 inches.

We also filed a divisional, and subsequently secured allowance of additional independent claims listed below{fn}U.S. 6048245 (Apr. 2000) "Gyroscopic flying device".{fn}. The key point is that the claims were issued because we accepted the examiner's rejections as being correct, and then figured out how to circumvent those rejections.

1. A free spinning gyroscopic device comprising a hollow body having leading and following open ends, an outer wall at the open end defining an outer perimeter, P, and having an average thickness, t, wherein P ≥ 600 T.

10. A free spinning gyroscopic device comprising a hollow body having leading and following open ends, the hollow body having an outer wall with a greatest thickness, Tg, and the open end defining an outer perimeter, P, wherein P ≥ 150 Tg.