THE IPKAT PATENT OF THE MONTH, JANUARY 2004: A CHIP OFF THE OLD BLOCK

Is your intellectual property practice taking over your life? Do you find that you don’t have time to sit down to the four-course meals to which you were formerly accustomed? Luckily the IPKat has come to your rescue with his patent of the month, which will enable you to combine your entrée with your dessert. The patent, granted for frozen dessert finger food, is claimed for

“a frozen dessert such as ice cream that simulates the shape and color of french fried potatoes. The dessert is produced in elongate sections that have a small cross sectional area. Each section is coated on its exterior surfaces with an edible coating that serves to enhance the flavor of the dessert and to act as an insulating barrier. The coating permits a consumer to handle the individual sections with their fingers to enable consuming the dessert. The color of the coating simulates the color of french fried potatoes”.

The reason for the invention is to provide an alternative to conventional methods of ice-cream consumption. As the applicant points out

“A problem of such forms of "finger food" is that the bars are provided as a full portion and the consumer has to sequentially bite off bite-size portions and sinking one's teeth into a thick section of frozen ice cream is not always a pleasant experience.”

The IPKat however isn’t keen and has decided to give this invention the cold-shoulder, not to mention an icy reception.

Unusual ice-cream flavours here, here, here and here
Interesting experiences with ice-cream here, here, here and here
What ice-cream flavour are you?