Guitar legend Eddie Van Halen died yesterday, and while all GenX'ers know his legendary guitar solos with Van Halen, you may not know that he was a patented inventor. Van Halen was an inventor on 5 US Patents, including one that was filed just a few years ago.
One of his patents includes what must be the greatest patent drawing in the history of the USPTO. US Patent 4656917 ("Musical Instrument Support") is a device to allow a guitar player to hold the guitar parallel to the floor for their thrashing guitar solo. In my mind, the conversation with his patent agent goes something like this: "No, no, no, that's not it. You've got the drawing all wrong. Hang on....Here, it looks like this...":
Brilliant. They even got the hair right. And people say patents are boring.
RIP, Eddie Van Halen.
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