US 7051379 B2: Protective Head Gear (2006)
To me, this patent just seems like it's talking about a helmet for only the back of the head. Why would anyone pick this over a regular helmet that covers your entire head? And what sport or activity that people usually need head protection for guarantees that you will only fall backwards? I just don't know why anybody would use something like this. And since helmets existed before this, I think it might be using similar ideas in terms of protecting the user's head. This patent just focuses on protecting the back of the head. So the novelty of this invention is questionable, in my opinion.
US 6313371 B1: Flatulence deodorizer (2001)
It's basically a patent for a fart smell absorber. It's a simple invention consisting of activated charcoal cloth to be taped inside the user's underwear. The patent claims the inventions to be "a safe, effective, cost efficient, comfortable and least intrusive method of dealing with this embarrassing problem." My first question is - does it deal with the noise? I feel like the noise is honestly more embarrassing than the smell. This invention deals with the smell of farting, but I wonder if people would really be willing to spend money to take care of their fart smell problems. I guess, it could be useful for people who are concerned about this issue, but I just think that this is a silly patent. If it works, though, I think it is a novel, an unobvious invention for a patent. It's still silly though.
US 5031161 A: Life Expectancy Timepiece (1991)
First of all, this this thing even work? What methods does it use to determine how much time a person has to live? Just the idea that it's trying to calculate a person's life expectancy seems pretty ridiculous to me. But it is unique in terms of an individual life expectancy calculator, novel, and unobvious.
These are patents that I found very silly, ridiculous, or just plain stupid. I can't believe the USPTO actually granted these patents, but they're actual, legal patents.
I'm generally going to focus on why I picked these patents (pretty much why they're stupid). And also share a little bit of my opinion on the validity of the patents as well.
US 5107620 A: Electrified Table Cloth (1992)
The patent says it's "an electrified table cloth for preventing crawling insects from gaining access to the consumer's food or drink"
The first thing I'm wondering is what if the person using the cloth gets electrocuted? They say it's low voltage, so a consumer who may come into contact with the cloth will usually not feel the current. But if it's that weak, then what good is it to repel the insects? And if it is strong enough to harm the bugs, I honestly think the person eating on the table will touch the tablecloth way more than any bugs can get on it. But yes, this patent is unique and not obvious, so it is a valid patent. I just think it's pretty useless and impractical.
US 6490999 B1: Collar apparatus enabling secure handling of a snake by tether (2002)
This is basically a patent for a snake leash. You can see the image that was provided on the patent here. Honestly... why would anyone even need something like this? Snakes don't need to be walked like dogs. There's absolutely no purpose for this invention. If you don't want your snake to run away, just keep it in a cage! If you want to play with it, you can play with it without a leash. If you want "secure handling" as the title suggests, that either means you don't know how to handle a snake securely yourself, which means you shouldn't be getting your hands on a snake in the first place. Dogs like taking walks, but I doubt snakes would. And even if they did, I bet the leash would deter their mobility, as snakes crawl, not walk. A question I have about novelty is whether or not this would infringe on prior patents for animal leashes. Because they do exist, and this patent could infringe on such previous patents that encompass leashes for all animals. But nobody would really find a need to put a leash on a snake, so I do think this patent is not obvious.
It's basically a patent for a fart smell absorber. It's a simple invention consisting of activated charcoal cloth to be taped inside the user's underwear. The patent claims the inventions to be "a safe, effective, cost efficient, comfortable and least intrusive method of dealing with this embarrassing problem." My first question is - does it deal with the noise? I feel like the noise is honestly more embarrassing than the smell. This invention deals with the smell of farting, but I wonder if people would really be willing to spend money to take care of their fart smell problems. I guess, it could be useful for people who are concerned about this issue, but I just think that this is a silly patent. If it works, though, I think it is a novel, an unobvious invention for a patent. It's still silly though. 
