The Stupidest Patent Idea Ever

A long time ago

About 18 years ago, I had an idea for an embedded tech idea that I wanted to patent. Having no idea how to write a patent, I was introduced to a company that would help me develop the idea and patent it - for a fee or maybe some ownership in the patent.

Instead of just going all-in with this unknown team, I decided to figure out whether this company was going to be a good partner - or if they were just looking for a quick cash grab.

So... I came up with the dumbest idea I could think of at the time. An umbrella that you could wear on your head and it had sensors and servos to automatically detect the direction rain was coming from and it would adjust to keep you optimally dry in the windy rain.

All I wanted to hear after pitching this idea was: "Ummm, are you SURE that's what you want to spend a ton of time and money to patent?".

I pitched the idea - waiting for a pause, laughter, a throat clear... Anything.

Instead, what I got was an excited series of questions that would make you think I had just come up with the next sliced bread.

Here we are 18 years later and I can finally envision what this catastrophe would have looked like using Dall-E... ... Except in 2024, it would have to be internet connected at all times, covered in digital advertising, and have ChatGPT integration.

Originally posted on LinkedIn in early 2024.

Disclaimer

I (obviously) used AI to make that drawing that I posted on LinkedIn because I wanted to really visualize (in higher fidelity than me drawing a bad stickman) how stupid an idea this really was. To the best of my knowledge, this is the only AI or LLM-generated content on my blog (though I haven't gone through all 150ish posts to confirm).