US inventor patents ‘thermometer of the future’
An American inventor has patented a new thermometer design he says will allow the taking of temperature readings without physical contact at live events such as concerts and sports matches.
The patented design, for a ‘method and device for measuring subject’s body temperature’, combines a hands-free temperature reading device with a clear face shield, allowing venue staff to take the temperature of patrons while still keeping 6’ (2m) social distance. Public venues in many countries take patrons’ temperature on entry, as as a fever or high temperature is one symptom of Covid-19.
Jacob Gitman, who is credited as co-inventor of the thermometer device, tells Coach & AD: “Previous non-contact thermometers are problematic in this world of social distancing, as it is necessary to get close enough to take a reading. The face shield also provides extra protection for the operator, while the hands-free element means passing between multiple users can be done more safely.”
Current thermometers rely on operators getting well within 2m of the person being tested to ‘fire’ the temperature gun at their head. With the Gitman design, the operator aims their head-mounted pointer at the subject’s head, whereby the temperature is measured and appears on the operator’s display.
“Previous non-contact thermometers are problematic in this world of social distancing”
The device is just one of 18 patents held by Gitman, who also owns Florida-based logistics company Faster Freight.
He tells the Saturday Star that “after conducting comprehensive market research throughout the event industry, we found that demand for such an invention was very high. We bring together the world of data and detection and the worlds of event production, sports and even law enforcement.”
According to Gitman, the new thermometer can be “used at the entrance to absolutely any venue: event halls, airports, hospitals and educational institutions, just to name a few.”
He and his business partner, Victor Lander, began development on the device shortly after the coronavirus outbreak in early 2020.
This article forms part of IQ’s Covid-19 resource centre – a knowledge hub of essential guidance and updating resources for uncertain times.
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Look what you made her do: T-Swift in new TM blitz
Taylor Swift has filed a slew of new trademark registrations ahead of her impending fifth concert tour.
The US superstar, who is selling the first batch of tickets via Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan rewards programme, is expected to hit the road again next year in support of upcoming album Reputation (pictured). Swift’s last tour, the 1989 world tour, grossed more than US$250 million between May and December 2015, according to promoter AEG/Messina Touring Group.
New United States Trademark and Patent Office (USPTO) trademark/servicemark applications by Swift’s Nashville-based TAS Rights Management company include character marks for “LOOK WHAT YOU MADE ME DO” and “THE OLD TAYLOR CAN’T COME TO THE PHONE RIGHT NOW” – both phrases from her record-breaking new single, ‘Look What You Made Me Do’ – and the word “REPUTATION” itself.
All applications apply to a range of tour-ready merchandise, including men’s and women’s clothing, accessories, jewellery, stationery, homewares, beach towels, guitar plectra and more.
Swift embarked on a similar run of new registrations in advance of the 1989 tour, applying for some 37 new marks, in what one trademark lawyer called the singer “marking her territory”.
Kiss frontman Gene Simmons in June abandoned a USPTO application to trademark the devil’s horns gesture – specifically “a hand gesture with the index and small fingers extended upward and the thumb extended perpendicular” – for use in concerts.
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Simmons abandons devil’s horns trademark bid
To the surprise of absolutely no one, Gene Simmons has dropped his bid to trademark the ‘devil’s horns’ gesture for use on stage.
Simmons (pictured) filed an application with the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) earlier this month to register “a hand gesture with the index and small fingers extended upward and the thumb extended perpendicular” for “entertainment, namely live, performances by a musical artist.”
The Kiss frontman claimed he was the first to use the sign of the horns – which is also “I love you” in American sign language – as far back as November 1974.
However, the application has now been withdrawn after USPTO received a “letter of express abandonment” on 20 June.
Most legal experts considered his bid to trademark the gesture to have little chance of success, with the gesture most associated with the late Ronnie James Dio.
Simmons’ Gene Simmons Company has owned a total of 173 trademarks, including the ‘money bag’ symbol with a dollar sign and the phrases “$#it girls say” and “I want to marry a millionaire” for use on clothing.
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Gene Simmons tries to trademark devil’s horns
It’s a hand gesture familiar to metalheads across the world – but if Gene Simmons has his way, the sign of the horns could soon his trademark.
In a new application to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), the Kiss frontman is seeking to register “a hand gesture with the index and small fingers extended upward and the thumb extended perpendicular” for “entertainment, namely live, performances by a musical artist.”
The would-be trademark is pictured below:
The trademark application, serial number 87482739, was filed on 9 June and accepted on Tuesday. It is expected to be assigned to an examiner within three months of filing.
Various musicians claim to have invented the sign of the horns (or devil’s horns), with the late Ronnie James Dio usually credited for popularising the gesture.
The application says Simmons (real name Chaim Witz) has been throwing the horns since “at least as early as 14 November 1974” – a date that corresponds with Kiss’s Hotter than Hell tour – although use of the gesture by figures as diverse as John Lennon (on the Yellow Submarine cover), Black Sabbath’s Geezer Butler, Frank Zappa, George Clinton and Gautama Buddha all predate Simmons’s claim (the Buddha’s by quite some time).
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