Patent limericks competition: now for the winner!

The previous post gave readers a sample of the entries received in the IPKat's Patent Limerick competition.  Now for the winner ...

The number of entries received was very large.  Getting on for a hundred submissions came in, from three continents and goodness-knows-how-many time zones. On reflection, the Kats should have spotted how easy it is to rhyme "Fred" with "bed", a factor that led to an easy descent to the sort of bawdy verse that the IPKat is (i) reluctant to confess to finding very funny when done well, but (ii) barred from posting on a weblog which, as is well known, is family reading material. Nonetheless, some limericks managed to slip through his filter and comply with most, if not all, of the rules for writing limericks. Some of the better ones are reproduced here.

A crafty inventor called Fred
Worked hard and went late to bed.
His invention brought him fame
But to standards he was lame
So his bank account's still in the red. (Jasper Groot Koerkamp)

A crafty inventor called Fred
Consistently fell out of bed
With attorneys and backers
And ended up crackers -
So now it's as well that he's dead.

A crafty inventor called Fred
Of whom people commonly said
"His ideas just won't fly"
Came along, passing by,
With a wave and a smile, overhead!

A crafty inventor called Fred
Tried his best to make silver from lead
With a downgraded stone
Which he happened to own
But he just got frustrated instead. (all three from Richard Gallafent)

A crafty inventor called Fred
Filed patent applications by the hundred
It was rather funny,
But none made him money,
So he became an attorney instead (Dr Michael Factor)

A crafty inventor called Fred
Is a cautionary tale, it is said.
He imbibed too much wine
Filed Form 2 not 9
And revoked his own patent instead. (Lucy Holloway)

A crafty inventor called Fred
dumped hardware for software instead
because it's easy, you know
with the USPTO
to get some maths trivia patented. (Gerry Gavigan)

A crafty inventor called Fred
Spent a long time in his shed
His clever idea
He sold to Ikea
Now his Kat is very well fed (Mary Smillie)

A crafty inventor called Fred
Held patents galore in his shed
'INJUNCTIONS!' - his goal,
But he got branded a troll,
So he licensed on FRAND terms instead. (Mark Daniels)

A crafty inventor called Fred
Built an aircraft entirely from lead
When they cried "Why Fred Why?"
"You know it won't fly!"
"Not obvious for patent" he said. (Chris Torrero)

In a field such as this, it was obvious that there would be problems in picking a winner, but in the end the Kat's preference went to a second entry by Lucy Holloway that reads thus:

A crafty inventor called Fred
Was sadly unable to wed.
Despite his Degrees
He spoke just ‘patentese’
And none could work out what he said.

For style, substance, insight into the real world of IP and sheer pathos, this was sheer poetry.  Please get in touch, says the Kat, so that your complimentary registration to next month's Standards and Patents Conference can be sorted out.