Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2013 December 28

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December 28

out of curiosity, what could inventors do who didn't have enough funding for full patent application around the one-year mark after filing a Provisional Patent (which expires after one year)?

On Shark Tank (TV show where entrepreneurs pitch) I saw some inventions that weren't protected because a provisional patent application was filed but the inventor didn't have funding for a full application around the (I think) one year time when the provisional expires. Is there anything the inventors could have done in this case, like request an extension or file a provisional patent, or whatever else? That is, assuming that they would eventually complete their prototypes enough to raise funding for it, and use some of the funding to file full patent application - but just assuming this doesn't happen within the window of the first provisional patent, i.e. maybe they only get money 6 months later. I'm curious if they knew this ahead of time whether they still could have gotten a patent somehow. Curiositycatz (talk) 01:27, 28 December 2013 (UTC)

Assuming this refers to the USA, our relevant article is United States patent law, which states that the time limit is 18 months, extendable "under certain circumstances for an additional fee." This is referenced to this page from the US Patent Office, which is a copy of the actual statute (and therefore not particularly comprehensible to a non-lawyer). Tevildo (talk) 15:51, 28 December 2013 (UTC)

the term of an obsessive dealing with beauty

I'm looking for the term of the people who have obsessive dealing with their beauty. (for example, I know that people who have an obsessive to deal with their health, they are called hypochondriac people.) 5.28.159.192 (talk) 03:02, 28 December 2013 (UTC)

The best I can find is just plain extreme narcissism (not Narcissistic personality disorder, which is just a newer term for megalomania, according to that article). Clarityfiend (talk) 03:40, 28 December 2013 (UTC)

Celebrities. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 10:35, 28 December 2013 (UTC)

Sufferers of body dysmorphic disorder are obsessed with appearance, but in a negative way. Sjö (talk) 09:38, 29 December 2013 (UTC)

Names of Rome

Apparently, the Roman Emperor Nero wanted to rename the city of Rome as Neropolis. Similarly, Commodus wanted it to be renamed Colonia Lucia Annia Commodiana / Colonia Lucia Aelia Nova Commodiana or Colonia Lucia Aurelia Nova Commodiana. Also, apparently, Ataulf wanted to abolish the very name of Rome and wanted what was called Romania to become Gothia. Considering the long history of Rome and the large amount of megalomaniacal and eccentric rulers (for example Julius Caesar, Elagabalus and Domitian), were there any other similar plans? --151.41.224.243 (talk) 13:49, 28 December 2013 (UTC)

The name under the Etruscans was Ruma, see this for associated forms. The meaning is unclear. If Etruscan is related to PIE, it may come from *(s)reu-mo-, cognate to English stream. μηδείς (talk) 01:52, 29 December 2013 (UTC)

After a search for "rename Rome" across web, books and scholar, I didn't find anyone other than Nero and Commodus mentioned as trying this specific feat. However, there are plenty of other cities named after emporers; see Grenoble (from Gratian), Augsburg (from Caesar Augustus), Cologne (from Claudius) anbd many more at List of places named after people; you'd have to check which were done during their lifetimes. 184.147.128.82 (talk) 15:15, 29 December 2013 (UTC)