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How Nintendo’s D-Pad Patent (US 4,687,200) Dominated the Game Industry for 20 Years: A Complete Claim Analysis

Every time you tap a D-pad — on a Nintendo Switch, a PlayStation controller, o​r a TV remote — you’re interacting with a...
2026.03.22 パテント探偵社 編集部
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Patent Explained

How Spotify Pays Artists: Copyright, Neighboring Rights, and the Royalty System Explained

Every time you stream a song on Spotify, a financial transaction takes place in the background — but the mechanics of th...
2026.03.22 パテント探偵社 編集部
Patent Explained
IP News

USPTO’s March 2026 Design Patent Guidance: AR, VR, Holograms, and Projections Are Now Protectable

On March 13, 2026, the United States Patent and Trademark Office published what is arguably the most significant update ...
2026.03.22 パテント探偵社 編集部
IP News
Patent Explained

How Drug Patents Work — and Why Generic Medicines Are So Much Cheaper

A new drug reaches a patient's hands after an average of 10 to 15 years and billions of dollars in research and developm...
2026.03.20 パテント探偵社 編集部
Patent Explained
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Post-it Notes: How Weak Adhesive Built a Billion-Dollar Empire of Stickiness

Post-it Notes: How Weak Adhesive Built a Billion-Dollar Empire of StickinessThe most transformative adhesive technology ...
2026.03.20 パテント探偵社 編集部
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Dyson’s Cyclone Patent: How 5,127 Prototypes Built an Intellectual Property Empire

Dyson's Cyclone Patent: How 5,127 Prototypes Built an Intellectual Property EmpireIn the autumn of 1979, James Dyson, a ...
2026.03.20 パテント探偵社 編集部
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The Golden Arches: How McDonald’s Turned Architecture into a Global Trademark

The Golden Arches are among the most recognized commercial symbols worldwide. In 1952, architect Richard Dorner designed...
2026.03.20 パテント探偵社 編集部
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The $35 Logo That Became the World’s Most Recognized Trademark

In 1971, a graphic design student named Carolyn Davidson was paid $35 to create a logo for a startup shoe company. The r...
2026.03.20 パテント探偵社 編集部
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The Kikkoman Bottle: How One Soy Sauce Dispenser Earned MoMA and a Trademark

There's a bottle most people recognize without being able to name it: the small Kikkoman soy sauce dispenser. Octagonal ...
2026.03.20 パテント探偵社 編集部
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Apple vs. Samsung: What the Seven-Year Patent War Was Actually About

In 2007, Apple launched the iPhone and, with it, an implicit claim: we invented this. The touchscreen swipe, the icon gr...
2026.03.20 パテント探偵社 編集部
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