plated, corkscrews today can even featureair-injection and Swiss precision.

Indeed, some of winemaking’smost interesting innovations have been inthe advancement of corkscrew design.From simple to sublime, corkscrews havetwisted and turned into an art form all theirown.

Join us inside this edition of AsymptoteReview as we spotlight some of thecreativity demonstrated in corkscrews overthe years.

From levered anddouble-levered toscrewless and chrome-

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A publication of

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Patents, Trademarks &Copyrights

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In this issueThe Technology of Wine ........... 1, 2, 3The Art of Wine ...............................1, 2Carolina Wine Takes Off .................... 3Interesting Wine Websites .................. 3The Rhyme of Wine ............................ 4Who We Are ........................................ 4

Published by Adams, Schwartz & Evans, P.A.

2002, Vol. 10 No. 1

Asymptote®

An Entertaining Excursion Into Intellectual Property

The Technology of Wine

TBy W. Thad Adams, III

(See ‘Technology Aged’ on page 2)

The Art of Winedomestic wine-growing regions. Inside we

offer a smallcollection of trulyunique labels fromacross the globe.

With thousands of labels to choose from, a trademark and label design that stands out oncrowded shelves is important to a winery’s success. Below are labels from three different

growing and harvesting grapes, ferment-ing the juice and in various relatedprocesses, but wine is still made about likeit was made three thousand years ago. Inan age when many technologies becomeobsolete less than a generation after theirinvention, it is refreshing to consider thatwhen we consume a bottle of wine we aresharing in a technology practiced forthousands of years. Why is this?

First and foremost, wine production isessentially a natural process. We don’tknow, of course, exactly how wine first

he fact is that the technology ofwine has changed very little overthe millennia. Yes, there have beenimprovements in the efficiency of

came to be known to man. But we canimagine a shepherd tasting grape juice thathad been stored too long in a skin,wondering about the difference in tastefrom the usual sweetness, and a fewminutes later marveling at the pleasantglow creeping throughout his body.

Also, something about wine clearlydistinguishes it from brewed beverages

such as beer and distilled spirits. Perhapsit is the close relationship between thetaste and quality of the grape and theresulting wine, but history has treatedwine in a completely different way fromother alcoholic drinks. It cannot be anaccident that Jesus turned water into wineinstead of gin or beer, and this feature of

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Asymptote Review

Christianity is carried forward to this dayin Holy Communion where, depending onthe denomination, wine is symbolic of orliterally the blood shed by Jesus on the Cross.

So, wine is made today about like it has alwaysbeen. The grapes are grown to maturity, picked,crushed, the juice fermented, the resulting winebottled, and, perhaps, aged, and, in due course,consumed. With a process so simple, how could itbe improved? A recent search in the United StatesPatent Office disclosed only a few hundred wine-related patents issued since the mid 70’s. Forexample, a search using the term “viniculture”resulted in only 22 patents, most of which relate toinsecticides, pesticides, or harvesting equipment. Abroader search directed to “wine making” or“winemaking” found 283 patents, including somereally interesting ones. For example, “SyntheticClosures”, U.S. Pat. No. 6,355,320; and “Continu-ous-Flow Wine Champagnization Process”, U.S.

Pat. No. 4,265,914. How about “Ion ExchangeTreatment of Grape Wines”, U.S. Pat. No.4,156.026, or “Bung Hole Plug”, U.S. Pat. No.5,740,935?

One particularly interesting patent is a recently-

Figuralcorkscrews, such as“The Crosby Pup” dachshund, arepopular novelty items. Germany’sGraef and Schmidt introduced“Lady’s Legs” in the early 1900’s,and Gumps of San Francisco gaveus the unicorn corkscrew.

Technology aged to perfection(Continued from page 1)

Left to right: A classicwaiter’s corkscrew, a simple-but-functional fold-up corkscrew bow, a modern air-injectionmodel, and James Heeley’s patented A-1double-lever, introduced in England in 1880.

(See ‘Winemaking’ on page 3)

Tdomestic and foreign wineries. With so

many labels tochoose from, atrademark and

The Art of Winehousands of brands of wine aresold in the United States, andhundreds of new brands enter themarket each year from both

label design that stands out from thecrowd shelves are critically important.Much effort goes into the selection andmarketing of wine brands, and a trade-mark which is easily remembered is avaluable asset.

It cuts bothways, though. If

the wine inthe bottle isno good, acatchytrademarkreminds thepurchaserwhat not toselect thenext time. Some clever anddistinctive wine labels areshown here.

Some of the more interesting wine labels to catch our eye are shared here.

For example, while the wine may or may not be dry enough for one’s pallet, onecan certainly appreciate a New Zealander’s dry humor captured with the aboveLondon (NZ) label – Cat’s Pee on a Gooseberry Bush.

We like Canoe Ridge’s fanciful imagination, and the clever marketing ploysbehind Santa’s Reserve and SinZin.

As for Tug Boat Red, we just like it’s uniqueness. And the French Rasteau featuresa braille label – introduced by Chapoutier winery in 1997.

Got a cool label you’d like to share with our readers? We invite readers to mail or e-mail us their favorites(wta@adamspat.com). We’ll pick the best, and include them in next issue’s Back Page.

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Asymptote Review

issued patent, U.S. Patent No. 6,378,419, formaturing wine by using one or more cored oakslabs inserted into an airtight container wherecontrolled oxidation of the wine occurs andimparts a taste allegedly similar to that of wineaged in oak casks, but with less loss of winevolume. This is reminiscent of a much olderpatent that described burning a stick or two ofwet wood in an electric barbeque oven tocreate the illusion of barbeque cooked over awood fire. I leave to the reader any judgmentabout whether this is “progress.”

Regrettably, inventors have also found itnecessary to devise methods of detectingadulterated wine. For example, U.S. Patent No.416,794, issued in 1889 to two Frenchmenfrom Algeria, discloses a chemical process for“detecting coloring matterderived from coal-tar orfrom cudbear or cochinealdye in wine, all of which areinjurious to health.” Theinvention involved dyeing atuft of silk in the wine andsubjecting the dyed silk tothe action of a reagentconsisting of a solution ofneutral acetate of leadacidulated with nitric acid.Readers familiar with thebarrister Horace Rumpole ofthe Bailey may recall hiscourtroom victory when heexposed a crooked winemerchant who had bottled

cheap Algerian wine in bottles carrying thelabel of an expensive vintage Cheval Blanc,and then had the wine “stolen” so he couldmake an inflated insurance claim. Somethings – and people – never change!

Safely extracting the corkfrom a wine bottle has beenthe subject of a large numberof patents. The first knownpatent directed to a cork-screw was issued in 1795 toSamuel Henshall. This was asignificant developmentwhich dramatically increasedthe use of bottles instead ofkegs or casks for storingwine – greatly increasingportability of the finishedproduct. Driving a cork intothe neck of the bottleprovided an airtight sealwhich prevented spoilageand permitted aging, a

practice unknown since Roman times.The Henshall corkscrew had a flange

between the screw and the shank. When thescrew had penetrated the cork, the flangecompressed the cork, making it rotate in thebottle and thus easier to remove. Between1795 and 1908, 350 corkscrew patents wereissued in Great Britain alone, and many morein France, Italy, Germany, Sweden and theUnited States – perhaps 3000 altogether. Thesegenerally fall into several categories – double-action corkscrews that penetrate and then ejectthe cork, straight-pull or “T” corkscrews,folding and pocket corkscrews, levers, andrack-and-pinion corkscrews with wings whichare depressed to extract the penetrated cork.

A very clever and useful cork pull is the“Champion”, patented in 1897 by MichaelRedlinger. A forward pull of a handle removesthe cork, and a rearward push of the handledeposits the cork in your hand or re-corks thebottle, if desired. This pull is still made andsold by Rogar International Corporation.

The wine industry in NorthCarolina is growing rapidly.While still quite small incompar-ison to the large wine-growing states, the 20-pluswineries located in all parts ofthe State offer a wide variety ofhigh quality wines. We invite

you to give them a try!

Full addresses anddirections can be found atthe website of the NorthCarolina Grape Council,www.ncwine.org.

Carolina wine takes off

Winemaking technology endures test of time

Useful & InterestingWine Web Sites

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco andFirearmshttp://atf.treas.gov

Professional Friends of Winehttp://www.winepros.org

Sonoma State University WineBusiness Programhttp://www.sonoma.edu/programs/Winebiz

Wine Label Galleryhttp://mkellstrand.com:81/winelabels/

Unusual Wine Labelshttp://geocities.com/winelabels

(Continued from page 2) Here’s a sampling of some elegantmodern corkscrews we found atwww.cooking.com.

Left: The oxymoron: ascrewless corkscrew.

Middle: The stylishBlack Wing Handledcorkscrew – a first

cousin toHeeley’s 1880 predecessor.

Right: The ultramodern Chrome Elegance pump and lever twins.

Wine merchants depicted in acenturies-old illustration

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Adams, Schwartz & Evans, P.A.2180 Two Wachovia Center301 South Tryon StreetCharlotte, N.C. 28282

Who We AreAdams, Schwartz & Evans, P.A.,

specializes solely in patent, trademarkand copyright law, and the related areasof unfair competition and trade secretlaw. The firm’s practice within thisspecialty is diverse, including prosecutionof patent and trademark applications inthe United States Patent and TrademarkOffice, litigation in Federal and StateCourts, and domestic and internationalpatent, trademark and copyrightlicensing.

Many of the firm’s clients filecorresponding patent applications inEurope and Asia. The firm has reciprocalrelationships with intellectual propertyfirms in many foreign countries.

The firm is also United States patentcounsel for a number of foreigncorporations, including many that havefacilities in the Charlotte, N.C., area. Thefirm also assists both foreign and domesticcompanies and individuals in planningand executing overall patent andtrademark strategy.

Asymptote Review is publishedby Adams, Schwartz & Evans, P.A.It is not intended to provide legal advice,which can be given only afterconsideration of the facts of a specificsituation.© 2002, Adams, Schwartz & Evans, P.A.

On the Lighter Side: The Rhyme of WineThere aren’t too many poems abouteither spirits or beer. Somehowthese alcoholic drinks just don’tinspire the poet. An exception isthe poetic advice on the art ofseduction: “Candy is dandy, butliquor is quicker.”Wine, on the other hand, hassent poets, and prose writersfor that matter, into literaryrapture during all of recordedhistory. Here’s a sample of wine-inspired poetry and epigrams.

O, for a draught of vintage! that hath beenCool’d a long age in the deep-delv’d earth,Tasting of Flora and the country-green,Dance, and Provencal song, and sunburnt mirth!Oh, for a beaker of the warm South,Full of the true, the blushful Hippocrene,With beaded bubbles winking at the brim,A purple-stained mouth;That I might drink and leave the world unseen,And with thee fade away into the forest dim.

— John Keats

Feast on wine or fast on waterAnd your honor shall stand sureIf an angel out of heavenBrings you something else to drink,Thank him for his kind attentions andGo and pour it down the sink.

— G. K. Chesterton

“Champagne for our real friends and realpain for our sham friends.”

— A toast

On one occasion someone put a verysmall amount of wine into a glass, andsaid that it was sixteen years old. “It isvery small for its age,” said Gnathaena.

— Athenaeus, The Deipnosophists,XIII, 47 (c. A.D. 200)

Drink wine, and you will sleep well.Sleep, and you will not sin. Avoid sin,and you will be saved. Ergo, drink wineand be saved.

— Medieval German saying

“Come quickly, I am tasting stars!”— attributed to Dom Perignon

upon his discovery of Champagne

We hear of the conversion of waterinto wine at the marriage in Canaas of a miracle. But this conver-

sion is, through the goodness ofGod, made every day before our eyes.Behold the rain which descends fromheaven upon our vineyards, and whichincorporates itself with our grapes, to bechanged into wine; a constant proof thatGod loves us, and loves to see us happy.

— Benjamin Franklin

No nation is drunken where wine ischeap, and none sober where thedearness of wine substitutes spirits as thecommon beverage. It is, in truth, the onlyantidote to the bane of whiskey.

— Thomas Jefferson

Wine can of their wits the wise beguile,Make the sage frolic, and the serioussmile.

— Homer, Odyssey (9th c. B.C.)

And finally, this,from the Devil’s Dictionary, 1911:

CONNOISSEUR, n. A specialist who knowseverything about something and nothingabout anything else. An old wine-bibberhaving been smashed in a railwaycollision, some wine being poured on hislips to revive him. “Pauillac, 1873,” hemurmured, and died.

Hello, AgainWe’ve heard from many readers

wondering where Asymptote Review was,and, quite simply, it had to take a backseat to the needs of our clients. The pastyear has been a very busy one. Inaddition to the usual patent and trade-mark prosecution and litigation matters,we have had to integrate files fromseveral large new clients into our file anddocketing system, and this has requiredsignificant time and effort.

We have always tried to makeAsymptote Review interesting and topical,and have refrained from simply buyingmaterial from outside sources and puttingour name on it. We intend to keep oncreating Asymptote Review “in house”,even if we publish less often than wewould like.

As always, we appreciate the compli-ments we receive, and always take theminto account when we write and edit thenext issue. Upcoming issues will includearticles on Winston Churchill’s inventions,the history of antibiotics, “dead end”inventions, women inventors andperpetual motion machines. We hopeyou enjoy them.