How Did SNGLRTY Register It’s Patent

A while ago Daniel and Steve were being interviewed and they recalled the journey they went through in applying for the patent that SNGLRTY is based on.  Like all these things it was a journey of struggle but through determination they were ultimately successful.

Here Is The Story In Their Own Words: 

Steve:

It’s like everything we did. We just started off with an idea, where we wanted to get to and through, maybe, a little bit of stubbornness and bloody mindedness we got there.

But then, as far as the patent itself is concerned, you know it is a strange process when you look back and see the steps that we went through.

We had the idea scribbled on the back of the beer mat then we went away and spent probably two or three months actually doing our own research because for a while there, we thought, “Was it really new?” “Have we really achieved something that is groundbreaking and patent worthy?” The more and more work we did, it became more obvious to us that, yes, we had achieved something.

Get The Lawyers Involved

So, as soon as we realized that it was off to the patent attorneys. I can’t remember now but I think there were 28 close to 30 pages of applications that we submitted. It is a very exciting day when you submit your own idea to be patented. 

It is  full of excitement, but equally trepidation because you don’t know what is going to come back and it is a long process.

Rejected!

I think it took us about nine to twelve months before we got the response. It was a pretty comprehensive rejection. It just returned rejected, and they cited lots of conflicts. I remember looking at it in the inbox of my email.

I printed out the letter we received and printed out all the conflicting patents that have been cited to show that what we had to put forward what was not new. I remember printing them out and I thought you know what I am not going to look at them. I’m just going to set them on the side of my desk.

Co-founders
Steve and Daniel The Founders of SNGLRTY

They sat there for about a week or two, maybe even longer, because I was like, oh, we’ve spent so much time on this. We were already so emotionally invested in it, in what we were doing.

I think we had started to do some of the engineering work and we had started to think about how we were going to achieve the mechanical requirements to deliver our display of time. 

Time To Roll Up Our Sleeves

I think about two weeks later I thought OK, all right, I’m going to have to look at this. I picked up the letter and it was all in a very technical legal language and I read the letter once. I scratched my head and I was thinking to myself “Is this guy even talking about a single-handed display of time?” and, “What is this patent even examiner talking about?”

So I read the letter about three times and I scratched my head a little more and I thought to myself, “I do not think he really understands what our patent really does.”

Then I began to look at the conflicts he had cited and went through those in detail and there was no correlation except maybe there was some display of time and on a few of them there was one hand. Some of these patents were dated back over 200 years ago in some cases. I remember coming to an end of reading them all and I was thinking, “The patent examiner really does not understand what we have presented to him.” So the next day I had a call with our patent attorney and I had a chat with him and I said, “You know what? I read this rejection and I do not think the patent examiner really understands what we presented,” and thankfully our patent attorney agreed.

Time to Educate The Examiner

So we went on to make our case clear to them, to try and help them understand how it worked and this is why the different cases you have cited against us are not relevant.

I think it took us probably another six weeks to put that case together in detail. It is a very painstaking process. But again when we sent it in, it was all those emotions again, oh my goodness all those emotions all over again, here we go, we’re going to get it this time! 

Then we sent it in and then we had to go through a few more process as we were looking at patents in other countries and looking at conflicts there and subsequent to that that application we we looked at some potential conflicts in Europe and a few in Japan. We provided all this additional information through the process.

Success!

I think about six months later we just got this one line letter that basically said. “Patent Application Granted.”

We had it amazing!

 

You can read the whole patent HERE

SNGLRTY PATENT
PATENT FOR SNGLRTY WATCH

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Swiss Made

SNGLRTY was only possible because of all the watch innovators that went before us and the accumulation of their skills and knowledge in Switzerland. We celebrate their achievements by being proud that each of our watches is “Made In Switzerland” so you can be confident that it is engineered and assembled with longevity in mind.

30 Day Money Back Guarantee

We are so confident that you will enjoy Seeing Time Differently every single watch comes with our Money Back Guarantee so you can buy with confidence. If you have any concerns after your purchase, just let us know within 30 days of delivery and we will refund your money. After all, Daniel and Steve want everyone to enjoy wearing SNGLRTY on their wrist.

Free International Shipping

UPS will whisk your beautiful new SNGLRTY watch from Bern, Switzerland to your front door – and you will be able to track it every step of the way and reduce your waiting to the minimum.

2 Year International Warranty

Where ever you are, if there is a problem with your watch (and we seriously doubt there will be), we will make sure it is put right so you can buy your SNGLRTY watch without any worries, wherever you live.

Hour Numerals Color

I like to think the color of the hour numerals creates the personality of your SNGLRTY watch. We have the basics, black and white, but if you would like to have your watch glow in the dark we offer a range of colors in Swiss Super-LumiNova. We always use Grade X1 for the best luminous effect but the daytime colors do impact the ultimate performance of the Super-LumiNova. If you want the brightest possible luminous effect choose Swiss Super-Luminova White, and if you want more please contact us.

Color Of The Hour Ring

The hour ring is the largest surface area on the SNGLRTY watch face so sets the tone for the rest of your design.

Date Display

Each of our watches can be configured with a date display, or without. Due to the mechanics this is the first decision you need to make in your journey to create your SNGLRTY watch.

Comparison Ohi2 vs. Ohi4

The OHI movements, or One Hand Indication, are unique to SNGLRTY. During the development phase of the watches Daniel and Steve used this moniker before naming it SNGLRTY. There are two distinctive movements to choose from, OHI-2 and OHI-4.

The OHI-4 movement is built on the Decorated and Fully Adjusted SW-300 tractor movement from Sellita. On top of the tractor movement the SNGLRTY complication plate is assembled and incorporates the “reverse minute gearbox” that is available exclusively from SNGLRTY. Depending on your selection, the complication plate will also relocate the date wheel from the top of the tractor movement to the top of the complication plate. Relocating it in this manner increases the size of the date disc and moves it closer to the top of the watch face improving its readability considerably.
The OHI-2 movement is the same as the OHI-4 movement except that it is built on a standard execution Sellita SW-200 movement.

Finally, depending on the movement you select the watch case will have a different profile as the OHI-4 movement is thinner than the OHI-2 movement. The key differences are that the case for the OHI-4 movement has a double domed crystal and a flat caseback. The OHI-2 case has a flat crystal and a curved caseback. All the details are in the product page.