Method of swinging on a swing

U.S. Patent 6,368,227 · 2002

Inventor

Steven Olcott (age 7 at filing)

Assignee

Peter Olcott (the inventor's father, also the patent attorney)

Filed

2002

From the abstract

A method of swinging on a swing is disclosed, in which a user positioned on a standard swing suspended by two chains from a substantially horizontal tree branch induces side to side motion by pulling alternately on one chain and then the other.

Note

Filed by a patent attorney to demonstrate his son's inventiveness — and to expose, the family later said, the absurdity of how easily the USPTO grants patents. Granted April 2, 2002. The director of the USPTO ordered re-examination two months later under public pressure. Cancelled July 2003.