Most countries have patent laws … including Japan.
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The U.S. just grants patents on things that many other countries wouldn’t, like drilling a hole through a piece of plastic and tying a string around it, for instance.
We also grant more patents than almost every country (just Japan I think). Per Capita there are a few ahead of us but given that the U.S. has very little manufacturing infrastructure these days there should be quite few patents. Japan and South Korea grants tons of patents per capita but they also manufacture way more products than the U.S. does. We’ve moved “beyond” being a manufacturing society.
Here’s an interesting map that shows country size by number of patents granted, not actual size. Some countries are far larger than they should be, like the U.S., Japan, Germany, France, and Italy. Anyway, the point is that in certain nonindustrial societies patents are granted far too easily.
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^^^^
A brilliant visualization of the issue.
A thousand words could not convey the meaning in the above visual.
… where is Africa? 
Africa, Central America, South America, the Caribbean, Oceania, the Middle East. It’s like they and their ideas/inventions don’t exist, not legally. Just the U.S., West/Central Europe, and East Asia.
The patent map is eerily similar to a map of countries resized by GDP…
I just wanna point out one obvious oversight in this thread:
CLYW is technically an American Company. Canada = North America.
Their stuff is machined primarily in the US or Canada as well as their return top anodizing. I’d say that when people think about american yo-yoing, CLYW should be a company that comes to mind.
Strictly US speaking though, One Drop all the way.
Between the two, I’d still go One Drop. I like that they design, manufacture and anodize everything locally, all while supporting other members of the community via charities, string endorsements and they sponsor almost every contest on the planet.
The only oversight is your failure to understand the correct meaning of the word, ‘American’.
American, is a word most often meant to identify Citizens of the United States.
Canada is in North America. And, the Citizens are North Americans. They are not ‘Americans’.
If you are not concerned with the ‘North aspect’, then you might as well says that people from: Brazil and Argentina and the rest of the South American Countries are also ‘Americans’. <>That would be totally silly, right?
Just about as silly as calling Canadians, Americans.
Most people that can(and are willing) to actually grasp what they read, knew exactly what the OP was asking.
What American Company would you identify as the Symbol of American Yoing?
Not, what Company in North America.
I really enjoyed your ‘oversight’ angle. Just a slight distortion of reality.
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Where do you find graphics like that?
And is the whole red section on the right Japan?
Anyways that pretty cool. In response to yoyodoc, am I ignorant for stating a fact?
The YYJ patent does hinder other companies. I was not taking a shot saying its immoral, I was just stating that YYJ’s patent exemplifies a typically American phenomenon.
My main issue with the patent is that YYJ is outputting extremely similar seeming models, and I feel that without a patent American yoyo companies could push the weight ring to more innovative places.
I wouldn’t say its “typically American” so much as typical of industrial free trade. Yes, is is common in the US, but not limited to the US. Either way, I like to see it as more of a positive and think that it will push other companies to develop their own good ideas instead of just riding the coattails of an existing concept.
Yeah the whole section on the right is Japan! Pretty crazy huh? Their population is about 40% that of the U.S. but they do have huge technical and manufacturing sectors we don’t find in the U.S. so it’s not really surprising to me at least that they lead the world in patents granted. We don’t really make stuff in the U.S., with small scale exceptions like yoyoing. We’re a postindustrial society with little economically but finance and the service sector. So we should be issuing relatively few patents IMO.
As for the maps, I believe they’re both originally from worldmapper.org. You can get all kinds of interesting maps that show the distribution of various resources in a visual manner. Brilliant site.
I agree with what you’re saying about patents. They were invented to give incentive to inventors and help new ideas but flourish, but today they’re largely used by larger corporations to beat down smaller ones and stymie the free expression of ideas and inventions. I mean just look at the pharmaceutical industry. Shudders
Yoyojam and Duncan are great examples of companies whose trivial patents being granted have slowed the development of the entire mini “industry” of yoyoing.
Rosenberg I could spend an hour or so telling you why your views are naive but I haven’t eaten all day and hunger trumps…whatever this is 
Naive not so much. I deal with patents regularly. It’s easy to pick at all the negative B$ but there’s no point really. The company I work for has successfully challenged several and we aren’t that large.
Oh crud, I thought I was the symbol of American yoyoing…
Nevermind! 
But seriously, in my opinion, why should there be a symbol of American yoyoing? If I had to chose, I would most definitely pick One Drop because of how much they have done for the yoyo community. They have innovated the way people look at yoyos and have brought many smiles to the community. I am thankful for them for that achievement. I’m also not ignoring the fact that other companies from the us have made a vast improvement in the yoyo world. In all honesty, I agree that this is a rather interesting subject to talk about. I look forward to hearing everyone’s thoughts!
Oh, and hurrah! I’m back! 
Your presence has been missed 
If we’re talking about the American lifestyle pertaining to yoyoing, I would also say One Drop because their team is made of yoyo players that are mostly not known for their competitive success, but other things such as being close to the community and possessing beautiful styles that may not be competitively favorable.
So for a fleeting moment or so, let me sideline words like ignorance and things of that nature.
I am going to provide you with a view on American Patents. The words come from a person that has studied Patents and Patent Law, for decades.
It seems that a few of you, just can’t seem to grasp what Patents are about.
It seems that a few of you, might be more comfortable, living in some Country,where ‘All ideas are Property of the State’.
It seems that a few of you, feel it is unfair for a person to capitalize on their own ideas. Seems the people that get the Patents, are very discouraging to ‘others’ that want to ride their coat tails to the Bank.
…Even though most of us would probably agree, that we would Love to come up with something amazing and make a profitable venture out of it.
And that is ‘OK’, right?
Yet if somebody else comes up with an idea worth some money; they are looked at as greedy, growth stunting individuals.
So, here is the Challenge. Here is a very concise view of ‘Why there are Patents’.
"As a person living in an emerging market they should be the most relieved that the patent system exists. If they have a brilliant idea the patent gives them a short period of protection which allows them to develop their idea and hope to profit from that idea before relinquishing the idea to the public domain and used freely for the good of all mankind. The patent also stands as a record of your contribution to humanity.
Patents aren’t forever, that’s the beauty of the system".
…If you can have a mental epiphany, and grasp a reality, diametrically opposite of your shallow, short-sighted opinions; then you will prove that your heads are screwed on Straight.
This is not a timed test. Remember that, “ignorance” does not mean a person is Stupid. Ignorance is simply lack of sufficient knowledge of a matter or matters at hand; to allow an individual to be part of a solution, as opposed to being part of the problem.
Factual information is the Gateway to Understanding.
If anybody cares to respond; your words will indicate your placement in the food chain.
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I agree, and a beautiful system it is. The United States has a system, and if you want to do business in the United States, you work within the system. I think that some people are so self defeating and want to make a patent an excuse why they can’t move forward sufficiently with business. Options include:
- Create a different idea and get your own patent;
- Hold onto the idea and update it, to be ready when the patent expires. When the opportunity does arise, knock the ball out of the park.
- Do business elsewhere.
- Pay for use of the idea with a licensing fee, spin off of it with permission, and make your money.
There are too many options available for people to complain so much. I just listed four. No matter who says what, or what the stats show around the world, it is what it is. It sounds like a perfectly reasonable system to me. It starts to sound like comapnies are saying “I’m upset, but I’m too lazy or cheap to put up a fight.”
I wouldn’t care how many patents we have relative to how much we manufacture. If I get a patent, I may not choose to manufacture things here, but I have just as much right to make money in business licensing to others, or have my items manufactured overseas. Think outside the box. If we don’t manufacture here, how much buying power do we have here in the U.S.? So, it’s not necessarily about the “manufacturing” but the licensing value, buying and selling. We file for patents because we want to make money…and we do here in the U.S.
I decided to join in on the fun, but has anyone noticed that the OP never asked anything about patent fairness? We’re all off topic, so unless you’re lobbying for patent reform on some serious level, I see no real point in bringing it up here on the toy forum. Whether you like it or not, YoyoJam got a patent, on a legal basis, something they paid for, and they are exercising their rights. Done deal.
I proudly wave the YoyoJam flag.
To me it just seems a waste that YYJ is the only company in the US that can use weight rings like that. Id love to see what One Drop could do with weight rings. Maybe something like SEs.
steve brown…
mgodinez
clear…
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Since this has turned into a patent-war thread, I think this is applicable… the top patent holders, as of 2013.
http://www.popsci.com/article/technology/top-patent-holders-us-infographic?src=SOC&dom=fb
They are not the only company that can do so, that is a misconception. One Drop could make a yo-yo with weight rings, they would just have to license the patent from the current patent holder. The license could be as simple as some one from One Drop asking YYJ if they can and YYJ giving them their blessing or it could mean paying some sort of fee to use the patent.
As for the YYJ patent itself, if I remember correctly it is more about how the rings are placed and attached versus just using weight rings. If it were just about the weight rings then yo-yos such as the Rally and most of the YYF 'Star line would be in violation.
No back on topic, I would have to give the nod to both One Drop and General-Yo when it comes to companies that symbolize America.
Its like weight rings placed in the catch zone right?
If I remember correctly, it is any material that is heavier than the main body placed OVER the outer rims of the yo-yo. I am not 100% sure, I am having a hard time finding the actual patent on the internet.