Peculiar Patents

Microsoft made waves with its latest patent filing: electroshock clothing that jolts the wearer upright, ostensibly to correct bad posture. But Microsoft is not the only major company harboring unexpected innovations (which may or may not become commercially available).

PEPSI’S 3-D-PRINTED POTATO CHIPS

In an effort to offer unprecedented crunch, “we have patents on the design, the cutter [and] the mouth experience,” Dr. Mehmood Khan, PepsiCo’s chief scientific officer, has said.

GOOGLE’S LIFELIKE TEDDY BEAR

This sensor-laden toy, whose patent was awarded in May, has eyes that can track a user’s movement and ears that perk up when she speaks. It can also take verbal commands and send them to media devices like TVs.

AIRBUS’ BULLET PLANE

Per a patent awarded in August, this craft would be an “ultra-rapid air vehicle” that hurtles passengers to a top speed of 1,300 m.p.h. (2,090 km/h), or roughly twice the speed of sound. Engineers will have to work fast, though: the patent expires after one year.

–Dan Kedmey