Somewhere in storage I've got a plaque with my name on a design patent. As part of a design team I was only given partial credit, and the object—a structural package design for a bottle—was something once commonplace on supermarket shelves, but now it sadly seems to be obsolete as I haven't spied one in a while.

The corporation I was working for at the time handled all of the patent stuff; I just remember signing a bunch of documents on a floor full of lawyers. But maybe some of you independent designers or inventors are thinking about patenting something of your own? If so, don't let the complicated procedure scare you off; get a start by watching this video of John J. Doll, the former Commissioner of the United States Patent & Trademark Office, explaining the basics. (Warning: At no point will you mistake this five-minute video for a Michael Bay trailer.)