Footnote: In 1998, a woman in Saline, Michigan received a patent for a Decorative Penile Wrap...The patent included three pages of drawings, including a penis wearing a ghost outfit, another in the robes of the Grim Reaper, and one dressed up to look like a snowman.

Mary Roach
About This Quote

A patent is a legal document given to an inventor after they have invented something new. It gives them exclusive rights to make and sell it for a limited time. In this case, the woman who received the patent on the Decorative Penile Wrap was granted exclusive rights to make and sell them for a limited time. However, she did not receive the rights to any of the drawings in the patent. In other words, although she received a patent for her invention, she did not receive any royalties from it because someone else created all of those drawings prior to her receiving the patent.

Source: Bonk: The Curious Coupling Of Science And Sex

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