Pumpkin Patents For Halloween

"All Hallows' Eve", or "Halloween", is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October. Traditional Halloween activities include trick-or-treating, apple bobbing, and carving jack-o'-lanterns. It is believed that the jack-o'-lantern originates from Ireland, where turnips or other root vegetables were hollowed-out to act as lanterns with horrifying faces (see a truly terrifying example here). Irish immigrants brought this tradition with them to the USA in the 19^th century, where they found pumpkins to be perfect fruit for carving. The pumpkin jack-o'-lantern was born! Since then, as well as forming an essential background to many a spooky Halloween party, these colourful lanterns have inspired patentable inventions around the world. We describe below two recent examples.