Playground Patents

I can't decide whether this is absolutely unbelievable, or the inevitable result of current legal trends:

(extract from a c|net article)

Patent turns playtime into pay time By Reuters April 17, 2002, 4:55 PM PT

A 7-year-old Minnesota boy has patented a method for swinging side to side, meaning he could conceivably take playmates to court if they try his new trick without permission. U.S. Patent #6,368,227, issued April 9, describes a method for swinging "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."

People have up until now only swung in a back-and-forth motion, or sometimes have twisted the chains so that the swing spins when unwound, the application says. But by pulling on the chains one at a time to induce a rocking, back-and-forth motion, "the present inventor has discovered certain other improvements in the art of swinging on a swing," the application says. "Licenses are available from the inventor upon request."

St. Paul attorney Peter Olson said he filed the application two years ago to teach his son Steven about the patent process. One rejection and $1,000 in fees later, Steven is a certified inventor.

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