Did you say there was IP under my Christmas Tree?

Americans spend around $53 million a year on holiday decor, and while the holidays don’t necessarily scream “innovation” there’s market share to be won where products can increase their longevity, safety, and, possibly most importantly, their “wow” factor. While some styles never change, the technology that comprises them is constantly evolving.

Patents in Holiday Decor

As many holiday decorations are manufactured in China, filing patents to protect intellectual property hasn’t traditionally been an area of focus. Yet, for individual inventors making truly unique products, a patent can make all the difference. In fact, a majority of these patents are currently owned by individuals or small companies.

 

Top Classifications for Holiday Decor

 

F21S4 10 – with light sources attached to loose electric cables, e.g. Christmas tree lights	**
F21W2121 00 – Use or application of lighting devices or systems for decorative purposes	122
Y10S362 806 – Ornamental or decorative	102
F21Y2115 10 – Light-emitting diodes [LED]	81
F21W2121 04 – for Christmas trees	53
H05B37 029 – a plurality of lamps following a preassigned sequence, e.g. theater lights, diapositive projector	45

 

When expanding this search to include all patents with the above CPC codes, we can see a much larger set of assets owned by household names like Philips, Osram, LG, Cree Inc, and Koito Manufacturing (JP). In the United States, Philips may be the most well-known brand in holiday lights, and just a quick survey of Target’s website reveals that Philips has more than 206 products listed as holiday decor.

 

Chestnuts Roasting…. Near an Open Flame

Safety is a fairly important measure when it comes to holiday decor; on average, 950 yearly home fires are a result of trees and decorations catching fire during the holiday season, resulting in property damage, injury or even worse. In other circumstances, lights and other electrical devices can cause injury. Since many keep decorations on through the night and when away from the home, it is important to make sure decorations are in keeping with the most up-to-date safety technology. For example, this tree is grounded for added safety for pets, children, or unsuspecting tree-water refillers.

 

Grounded Christmas tree

Safety and efficiency aren’t just reserved for classic Christmas decor, this inventor has patented a Menorah for the modern era–one more efficient to fill with oil and less likely to topple over.

 

Buy it for Christmas…. Keep it for years to come

Traditional decoration and lighting brands tout their product’s longevity as people tire of dishing out cash for the same items year after year when they break. One company is trying to break our use of outdated plug-in light strands and replace them with a fully customizable, battery-powered tree that should save you time and money on powering lights.

Modular options for artificial trees take the hassle out of set up and allow a customer to have control and even replace individual lights. The average Christmas tree will set a customer back $50 or more per year, while also cashing out for new lights and ornaments to replace worn sets or those pesky single bulbs that go out.

Save some time next year by implementing a permanent, yet hideable, LED light display.

 

Deck the Halls with….Displays that Dazzle 

Since the holidays are all about sparkle, classic holiday decor is taken into the modern era with solar-powered fixtures, 3-D images, and year-round installations. Who needs real candles when you can produce a three-dimensional holographic flame? Fake flickering candles are going to be a thing of the past.

In the future, instead of wasting hours each year putting up the same decorations, custom projections and light shows will become the new holiday standard

Of course, cars have been seen to zip around with reindeer antlers, Christmas trees, and anything fixable to your car. Ever wanted to vertically mount a Menorah or a Christmas Tree to your roof? Recently published US20180134227A1 has you covered.