PHOSITA® : Patents Part of the Madness in March

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March 18, 2005

Patents Part of the Madness in March

Since the NCAA basketball tournament is in full swing, I thought it would be fun to explore some patents related to "March Madness."

Patent number 6,669,565 (html)(pdf) is titled "Method of Conducting a Fantasy Sports Game."

A method of conducting a fantasy sports game is provided which includes increasing the points available for winning picks in later rounds and allowing participants to trade teams. The points awarded for picking the winning team may also be based on the Round of the tournament and the "seed" of the winning team. The number of trades available to participants may be decreased in later rounds, or discontinued in the final round. The game is also applicable to Internet based fantasy sports competitions.

Patent number 6,443,838 (html)(pdf)is titled "Method for Defining Outcomes of Ensembles of Games Using a Single Number and Without Reference to Individual Game Wins."

The invention is a method of defining the outcome of a plurality of games involving a plurality of participants by a single value. Seed values are assigned to all of the participants. The outcome of each individual event is defined by the seed value assigned to the participant who wins the event. The outcome of all of the events is defined by the sum of the individual seed values of the winning participants of all of the individual events. In one embodiment, the possible single values representing all possible permutations of outcomes are generated. Bettors are permitted to place bets upon particular values. Winners of the betting event are determined by comparing values selected by betters to the actual single value resulting from the outcomes of the games. In one embodiment, the method is applied to a tournament of participants, the tournament having at least one first round including a plurality of games and at lease one second round including a plurality of games.

Patent number 6,092,806 (html)(pdf) is titled "100 Point NCAA Basketball Tournament Game."

A 100 point NCAA basketball tournament prediction game consisting of 4 primary elements: 1) A contestant entry form, 2) a scoring system with 100 points available overall to contestants, 3) data processing means for determining contestant game scores, and 4) means for notification of results to contestants. Contestant enter which teams they believe will prevail as vicorious in each of the NCAA tournaments 63 slots. 100 game points are available to the contestants. Point values for each of the tournaments 63 slot matchups are dependent on which of the 6 rounds of competition that the slot occurs. The overall point formula for correct predictions varies between rounds based on a mathematical function that is discontinuous in nature. Data processing equipment is utilized to calculate contestant game scores during and at the conclusion of the tournament. Contestants are ranked in terms of performance, and prizes are awarded to top performers. Top performers with equal scores may need to depend of implementation of a tie breaking formula based on game point predictions to distinguish exact overall placement. This game advocates but does not restrict itself to communication to and from contestants across the internet system.

With all this madness about watching grown men play with a ball, wives often feel left out. For them, there is patent number 5,933,869 (html)(pdf). "Sports Headgear With Widow's Veil"

The present invention discloses sports headgear with an attached widow's veil which covers part or all of the face of the wearer. The headgear is designed to worn by a woman wanting to humorously express her "sorrow" at being displaced by a man's exclusive interest in a sporting activity. The preferred headgear is a peaked baseball cap with the veil attached to the front of the cap. The veil is of fine mesh and has wide interstices so that the face of the wearer, (and her expression), may be clearly seen, and the preferred color of the veil material is black. It will be appreciated that the juxtaposition of a sporting element (the cap) and a badge of sadness (the widow's veil) when worn together, communicates a woman's feelings of being left out of the fun in a wry subliminal manner. Other embodiments of the invention include the baseball cap and veil, with an inscription "WIDOWWEAR" on the crown at the front of the cap along with an icon representing the sport being targeted, e.g. a basketball, baseball, football. As a third embodiment, the cap does not have the veil but has the inscription "WIDOWWEAR" on the crown along with the sports icon.