Welcome to April!

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A Mr. G. Aharonian holds the patent on a holiday boardgame that includes the fine American holidays of April Fool’s Day, Tax Day and Arbor Day. (U.S. Patent No. 4,915,391).

Abstract: A board game whose gameboard design is composed of an endless path of purchasable blocks representing the major national American holidays. . .

I wonder if the inventor has any relation to the famous G. Aharonian?

In other April First news, the IPO, as expected, has called for “more patents and fewer courts.”  From the press release:

Today IPO announced its 2005 legislative program. Key objectives are to quadruple the number of U.S. patents granted each year and to automatically enforce all patents without costly litigation. To this end, IPO called for eliminating the jobs of the 5,000 patent examiners at the USPTO and abolishing all PatentlyOImage009federal courts that have offended IPO members by denying or refusing to enforce patents. Money saved by cutting these unnecessary government jobs can be used to create a federal program to subsidize businesses known at “patent trolls,” in order to increase patent licensing income and strengthen the U.S. economy.  (IPO April 1 Special Report).

Just to be clear — this press release is a joke.