People often assume the Ouija board patent protected the “spirit communication.” NO! A utility patent (like the original Ouija patent US446054) only protects the functional parts of an invention: how it works, how it’s made, or what it does.
The Ouija patent protected the specific arrangement of the letters and the moving indicator as a game device. It had nothing to do with the claim of contacting the deceased.
An invention must be capable of working as described and can’t be an abstract concept. You can’t prove the paranormal is behind the functioning, so the paranormal part can’t be given a patent. You can patent the machine, but not the magic.
What specific scientifically provable mechanism or process is unique about your invention? That’s where the value and the protection lie!
The legal horror stories I’ve seen almost always follow the same plot: someone built something valuable and didn’t protect it, or signed something they didn’t understand, or waited until the damage was already done. You don’t have to be in that kind of story.
I help entrepreneurs, creators, and small business owners across the U.S. make smart, legally sound decisions about their IP: patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets. For Illinois clients, I also handle business formation and transactions.
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