Marriage Proposal Via Patent Application

Think of it as interpretive dance: what could be more poignant than using one fundamentally broken institution to propose engaging in another? Oh, wait...this is supposed to be a happy occasion.

This has nothing to do with the patent system. The invention is specific to Ryan and Ellie. Esoteric and fun, IMHO. I hope Ellie is a patent lawyer. It would be delicious.

[0045] In the ideal situation where Ellie accepts the diamond ring, Ryan should sign the patent application and deposit the patent application with the United States Postal Service. Preferably, the United States Patent and Trademark Office receives the patent application and, upon examination, issues a patent on the same.

[0046] In the drawings and in the specification, there has been set forth preferred embodiments of the invention and although specific items and methods are employed, these are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation. Changes in the form, timing and manner of events, as well as a substitution of equivalents, are contemplated as circumstances may suggest or render expedient without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as further defined in the following claims. Furthermore, nothing in the aforementioned description of preferred embodiment is to be interpreted as an admission by the applicant of prior art.

If you log into Public Pair (http://portal.uspto.gov/external/portal/pair) and look at the prosecution history (tab labeled "Image File Wrapper") you will see that the examiner denied this application, and that the application was abandoned by the applicant in Oct of 2007. The system seemed to work quite well in this case.

Disagree. He practiced his invention at least once.