from Bloomberg News- The U.S. Supreme Court wants no part of slippery sex toys.
The justices Monday turned away an appeal from two Florida men who sought a patent on a “lubricious” sexual device made from a material similar to Corning Inc.’s Pyrex. A federal appeals court rejected the patent, saying it didn’t cover a genuine innovation.
Floridians Steven D. Ritchie and H. David Reynard, owners of Know Mind Enterprises, argued unsuccessfully that borosilicate glass had been around for more than a century before anyone thought to use it in a sexual device. Traditional glass sex toys use soda-lime, the most common form of glass.
Glass with boron oxide is smoother than soda-lime glass. That means it becomes slippery with less lubricant, according to the lower court decision.
The high court rebuff is a victory for Vast Resources Inc., which sells sexual devices under the name Topco Sales. Ritchie and Reynard sued the company for patent infringement in 2006.
The justices made no comment, rejecting the appeal as part of a list of orders released today in Washington.