Patents Are For All Ages!

While the average person may only consider reading patents when they have difficulty sleeping, U.S. Pat. No. 6,368,227 ("the '227 patent") proves that anyone can be an innovator and that patents can occasionally be an amusing read. The patent is directed to a method of swinging on a swing, developed by (at the time) five year old Steven Olson.¹ Conventional swinging, according to the '227 patent, involves either "forward and back" movement "defined by oscillatory motion of the swing and the user along an axis that is substantially perpendicular to the axis of the tree branch from which the swing is suspended" or "twisting the seat around repeatedly so that the chains or ropes are wound in a double helix [and when] allowed to unwind, the swing spins quickly, which can be entertaining to the user."²