Thanksgiving traditions are deeply rooted in American culture.  Ever since Abraham Lincoln first mandated Thanksgiving a national holiday in 1863, Americans have been rejoicing this popular national holiday on every fourth Thursday of November. 

Accordingly, the history of Thanksgiving evokes many great memories for many Americans.  Family and friends travel long distances to come together and spend quality time in each other’s company. As such, Thanksgiving is about spending time with family, watching football on television, feasting on traditional foods, shopping at malls, partaking in parades, volunteering at food drives, and taking naps.

Given this, many products and services contribute in helping American families come together to cherish these special moments, and invariably intellectual property is prevalent everywhere in them.

 

 Travel

Many Americans use different modes of transportation to spend quality time with their families.  They travel within their locale or traverse hundreds of miles to their respective destinations.  From planes, trains and cars, intellectual property has them all covered.

 Patent No. 821,393 for Flying Machine:  This patent was issued on March 23, 1903 to O & W Wright having claimed “a normally flat aeroplane having lateral marginal portions capable of movement to different positions above or below the normal plane of the body of the aeroplane.”

 

Patent No. 549,160 for an improved road engine: This patent was issued on November 5, 1895 to George Selden for an automobile having claimed, “a locomotive provided with suitable gear including a propelling wheel and steering mechanism with a hydrocarbon gas-engine of the compression type.”

 

Food

Food often is the main feature of Thanksgiving.  As such, traditional Thanksgiving food includes turkey, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, casseroles, pies and desserts.  Here is how Intellectual Property relates to them.

Patent No. 5,628,427 for a disposable cooking pan:  This patent was issued on May 13, 1997 to Thomas J. Hayes for a disposable cooking pan having claimed, “a disposable cooking pan formed from a single sheet of metal.”

 

Patent No. 4,942,809 for a cooking jacket:  This patent was issued on May 13, 1997 to Thomas J. Hayes for a disposable cooking pan having claimed, “in combination, a cooking jacket and a meat product, said meat product drippings when being cooked and having dimensions and weight characteristics which render it difficult to handle and manipulate by conventional kitchen utensils when being cooked in a conventional manner.”

 

Patent No. 7,227,107 for a safety shut off for a portable cooker:  This patent was issued on June 5, 2007 to John D. McLemore and Don McLemore having claimed “a gas flow shut-off system for use with an outdoor cooking apparatus with gas source and burner and cooking vessel support.”

 

 

Patent No. 7,227,107 for a turkey fryer with vertically stacking cooking racks:  This patent was issued on September 27, 2011 to Robert L. Boyer having claimed “a combination for deep frying food items in a cooking fluid.”

 

Trademark Registration No. 1151836 for Butterball mark:  This Trademark was registered on April 21, 1981 to Swift & Company for design and word mark Butterball in goods and services related to poultry and poultry parts including frozen dressed whole turkey, stuffed turkey and frozen turkey breast.

 

 

Trademark Registration No. 0949459 for Stovetop mark:  This Trademark was registered on December 26, 1972 for the word mark STOVETOP to General Foods Corporation in goods and services related to bread stuffing mix.

 

STOVETOP

 Trademark Registration No. 2150919 for OceanSpray mark:  This Trademark was registered on April 14, 1998 for the design plus word mark OceanSpray to Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. for dried fruit and fruit-based sauces.

 Desserts

Desserts after food are a must and certainly a compliment to savor after a huge Thanksgiving dinner.  Many Thanksgiving desserts include pumpkin pie, cheesecakes, cakes, ice cream, brownies, and other sweets and confectionaries. 

Trademark Registration No. 1,885,156 for No One Dosen’t Like Sara Lee mark:  This Trademark was registered on May 9, 1994 for the word work NOBODY DOESN’T LIKE SARA LEE to Saramar Corporation for rolls, pies, cakes, cheesecake, muffins and ice cream.

 

NOBODY DOESN’T LIKE SARA LEE

 

 Football

The concept of playing football on Thanksgiving day has been rooted in American tradition since 1876.  It is played at all levels and generally features certain professional teams playing each other every year.  As such, many American families enjoy their Thanksgiving holiday with delicious food and watching football on television, vehemently rooting for their favorite team. 

 

Patent No. 1,773,980 for a television system:  This patent was issued on August 26, 1930 to Farnsworth Philo for a television system having claimed “a method of television which includes forming an electrical image, and traversing each elementary area of the electrical image by an electric shutter at a velocity sufficient to cover the entire image with the optical period.”

 

Whether you are staying local or traveling distances, enjoy the traditions of Thanksgiving.  Happy Thanksgiving everyone!