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 John Bardeen's father was an inventor. Paul Bardeen invented among other things a pumpkin carving kit. The father passed away in 1983 and the son joined continued the pumpkin carving tradition and got involved in the family business founded by Kea Bardeen in 1986 and named Pumpkin Ltd.
Let's not get confused here. The John Bardeen in question here is not the Wisconsin born John Bardeen Nobel Laureate who invented computer transistors along with William Shockley, and Walter Brattain.
The John P. Bardeen of this Freaky Pumpkin Suit story comes from Denver. In 1989 John P. Bardeen received a patent (US 4828114) which was filed in 1987 for the rights and ownership of the carving tool kit.
Pumpkin Masters® advertises itself the following way on their website.
...creator of the world's first pumpkin carving kit that makes it easy to create intricate, decorative pumpkin designs.........we are deeply committed to upholding our reputation as America's Trusted Halloween Brand™
History of the Bardeen business to 2001
- 1983 - father Paul dies and Pumpkin Ltd is formed by family
- 1986 - pumpkin carving kit is introduced in Denver
- 1987 - patent is filed by Kea
- 1989 - patent US 4828112 is granted by US patent office
- 1994 - Pumpkin Ltd forms Pumpkin Masters trade name
- 1999 - company expands into Europe
Pumpkin Masters® had filed lawsuits before against stores like K Mart and Kraft General Foods. This time it was a freaky pumpkin suit against Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. The lawsuit for infringement was filed just before Halloween in 2002 and was dropped a few days later leading some people to question the merits of such criminal intent claims.
The question raised by one account is that just maybe Pumpkin Masters play a game with the media in order to attract attention towards their product.
The reason why the infringement lawsuit was dropped remained undisclosed.
And that was a case for a freaky pumpkin suit.
What was the point ? The point is that inventors sometimes need to use the courts to defend their patent rights.
Great inventions are worth fortunes when the right marketing strategies are supported with the right legal contracts.
References
Funding Universe - Pumpkin Ltd .
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