Say what you will about patent trolls, an excess of patents does have one completely positive effect on the world; it creates an excess of weird patent art. Now that things like software and video games are one of the main driving forces behind innovation, many patent drawings try to illustrate things that are fairly abstract. This has the bonus of making them hilarious and bizarre out of context, something the Tumblr Context-Free Patent Art has been doing, and to great effect.
The Tumblr focuses mainly on game-related patent art which tends to be especially zany. The blog describes its collection this way: “Art from people who aren’t artists, randomly culled from a wealth of video game-related patents.” Ranging from the overly intricate to the insanely minimalist, the drawings are definitely good for a chuckle and a bout of head-scratching.
See even more at the blog proper.
(Context-Free Patent Art via Buzzfeed)
- Patent on micro-transactions
- Patent on tweeting in public, apparently
- Patent on a smiley-face button
