Sports & Entertainment Beat

Well-known musicians and other entertainers often identify opportunities for innovation in their industry and are able to obtain patent protection for such inventions.  Some obtain patent protection for improvements to musical instruments or to new approaches to their craft.  Here we highlight three well known performers who were each granted one or more patents.

We often hear about Tommy John surgery for baseball players, and it may be becoming more commonplace.  For example, several pitchers for the New York Yankees have undergone the procedure in recent years.  In general, Tommy John surgery is a medical procedure to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in the medial elbow.  Before the procedure was developed, the injury was considered career-ending. These days, talented pitchers who undergo the surgery often become top flight pitchers once again.

As the surgery has become more commonplace, so too have patents and patent applications referencing the surgery or the injury it was designed to treat.  Various types of businesses have been able to identify opportunities related to UCL tears and surgical repair of the injury, many of which are ancillary to the surgery.