March 3, 2001

2:38 PM

You thought Amazon's One-Click patentand following legal battle was bad... Have you had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich lately? You did not cut off the crusts and crimp the edges together, now did you? If so, you just have infringed on U.S. Patent 6,004,596 (currently owned by 'surprise' Smucker). From the patent: "The upper and lower fillings are preferably comprised of peanut butter and the center filling is comprised of at least jelly. The center filling is prevented from radiating outwardly into and through the bread portions from the surrounding peanut butter. " Michigan's Albie Foods just sued to have the patent removed. Let's hope they win, or pbjs soon may become an act of civil disobedience...
posted by noom (7 comments total)

*bangs head on table*..
posted by Dn at 2:43 PM on March 3, 2001

Oops... me stupid, me leaving the building. Guess you know when you are tired, when you confuse a link w/ a title. It should have been - You thought Amazon's One Click patent and following legal battle were bad ...

Sorry
posted by noom at 2:46 PM on March 3, 2001

Sorry, there's prior art. When I was a kid we had a gizmo we used when we went on vacation (we had a tent and would camp) which you'd stick a sandwitch on, and then close it and it would cut all the crust off. Then you could cook it on a fire and it came out sort of like a flying saucer full of melted cheese or PBJ. They were really good. But this was something my mom found in a thrift shop in the early 1960's.
posted by Steven Den Beste at 3:02 PM on March 3, 2001

Excellent point Steven. Actually the patent refers to prior art inherint in sandwich machines, like the one you described.

"While these sandwiches may be suitable for the particular purpose to which they address, they are not as suitable for providing a convenient sandwich without an outer crust which can be stored for long periods of time without a central filling from leaking outwardly. The prior art does not teach a sandwich without an outer crust which sealably retains an inner filling for extended periods of time."


posted by noom at 3:12 PM on March 3, 2001

We had those saucer things too--they had long handles so you could move them on and off the fire/stove. You could fill the insides with fruit filling and make a "pie".

We had no taste at all.
posted by rodii at 4:55 PM on March 3, 2001

geez, these ppl think about their pbj sandwich-making like waaaaay too much.
posted by ookamaka at 7:39 PM on March 3, 2001

Ron Popeil save us!

And what about the pickle matrix, people? What about the pickle matrix?????
posted by Capn_Stuby at 11:31 PM on March 3, 2001