POPQuiz #2: Powers of V – Vlad the Impaler, The Vampire Index, and Vivid Imaginations

What will strange things will you find in the shadows?

Image based on original photo from sam8927, Pixabay.

POPQuiz #2: Powers of V – Vlad the Impaler, The Vampire Index, and Vivid Imaginations

“The truth is out there...but so are lies.”

— Dana Scully, The X-Files, "E.B.E"

We don’t care if they’re lying or Delusional. What’s their V.I.?

This week’s POPQuiz is inspired by a little visitor we’ll call Vlad.

One of our Patent Olympiad organizers, Guido, is spending a little time enjoying the company of some local wildlife – a little bat that’s taken residence inside his cabin.

And since your organizers have been thinking a lot about Romania, given the location of Patent Olympiad 2019, his thoughts naturally turned to vampires. To Transylvania. Dracula. Bram Stoker. Vlad the Impaler.

Romania: Home of flying saucers – And legendary vampires

We probably don’t have to tell you too much about vampire legends, or their association with Transylvania, the historical region that is now part of central Romania. According to the Lonely Planet, modern day Transylvania is lovely, and described by some as ‘the last truly medieval landscape in Europe.’

Bram Stoker’s novel, Dracula, published in 1897, was inspired by the real-life Wallachian prince and hero of the region, Vlad III, also known as Vlad the Impaler, and Vlad Drăculea (son of Dracul [the Dragon]). While the history and legends surrounding Vlad III are extraordinary (and rather gruesome), the powerful thrall of Stoker’s fictional character has extended across the centuries and genres.

Even patents aren’t immune to the power of Dracula’s bite.

So that brings us to the subject of today’s POPQuiz.

POPQUIZ #2: The Challenge

This week, we are looking for Dracula-inspired patents that maximize a highly arbitrary score we’ll call the VI, also known as the Vlad Index, or Vampire Index.

In this challenge, we’re not looking for an answer we already think we know. Instead, we want to know what you can find.

The Search Parameters
1. We are interested in patent and patent documents that relate to the acquisition of vampire-like superpowers (non-limiting examples: shapeshifting, mind control, levitation, immortality or extraordinary longevity). You may find this compilation on Wikipedia a helpful reference.

2. We wish to find patents and patent documents on the subject that maximize the VI – that is, the document’s connection to the themes that inspired this challenge. These may include, but are not limited to, Vlad the Impaler, vampire legends, and of course, the vivid imagination of Guido Moradei, who saw a bat and could not help but look for patents inspired by Dracula. Connections to Romania count, as do mentions of the word vampire, the character Dracula, or even inventor names or company names that evoke the Vampire connection.

We have found some patent documents that seem to have a reasonably high VI, but we think you, our readers, can do better.

Can you?

HERE’S HOW TO PLAY

1. Craft a search (or searches) that you think will capture a patent document relating to the acquisition of vampire-like powers while also maximizing your VI.

2. Share your best findings with us and your colleagues by

   • posting your answer in the comments below (you can do so anonymously, or give yourself a nickname), or

   • by replying directly to @patentolympiad on social media when we post the challenge to Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Use both the hashtags #patentolympiad AND #POPquiz2 so we can find your answers.

3. Ideally, your answer should include:

   • a link or an image your patent document

   • a short note about why you think your finding has a high VI

You can post more than once. You can like and comment on responses from your colleagues, and social responses may help us decide which posts have the highest VI.

Note that this challenge does not have a private Surveymonkey form for answer submission. You may, however, use the comment box below this post. >>UPDATE: Now it does. Here’s the link.<<

You have until >> 23:59 AoE time on SUNDAY, August 26, 2019 <<UPDATED to share your answers . We won’t guarantee that we’ll look at answers posted after that time, as we want time to go through the answers received before the deadline.

The following week, we will post a gallery of result highlights from POPQuiz2, as well as some of the items we found.

AND…

Just in case you need a reminder, here’s how the POPQuiz works:

• anyone can play

• there are no prizes

• you can play along silently, or submit your answers to us so we see them by our deadline.

Check this post for the full details.

Let the Unearthing Begin!