US PATENT CLASS 446
Class Notes
Current as of: June, 1999
Click HD for Main Headings
Click for All Classes
DEFINITION
Classification: 446/
This class is a specific class under the broader class of Amusement and Exercising Devices, and includes patents relating to devices of the type whose principal purpose is for the amusement or recreation of children, wherein there is some physical interaction between a person and the device.
(1) Note. Some devices, although referred to as toys, are classified in other classes on the basis of analogous structure or function. Also, working models or toys which would be operable devices if made of sufficient size, are generally classified with the operable device. See the search notes below.
(2) Note. This class provides for toys combined with or convertible from other devices.
REFERENCES TO OTHER CLASSES
SEE OR SEARCH CLASS
40, Card, Picture, or Sign Exhibiting, appropriate subclasses for display devices, changeable exhibitors, etc., for attracting and holding the attention of a child or other person, but not intended for physical interaction between the device and viewer.
42, Firearms,
54+, for detonating toy firearms such as cap pistols.
84, Music, 1+, for a musical instrument, i.e., a sound-producing device which may be manipulated to play music. Class 446 takes
devices which are capable of producing different tones, but are not intended to play music.
104, Railways, appropriate subclasses for miniature or toy railways. Class 446 takes toy railways wherein the energy for moving the rolling stock is supplied by the child, such as a wind-up toy, or where a feature peculiar to Class 446 is claimed, such as a toy building or accessory, or an animate simulation. Toy combinations including road surfaces without structure for engaging and physically guiding a vehicle are classified in Class 446 rather than Class 104.
105, Railway Rolling Stock, appropriate subclasses for miniature railway rolling stock. See particularly
1.5, 29.1 and 157.2 for toy rolling stock. Class 446 takes claimed devices which include structure not suitable for a full-scale device, as well as all illumination features, per se, of toy railway vehicles (subclass 438).
116, Signals and Indicators, appropriate subclasses for mechanical signals, including alarms. Class 446 takes visual and audible devices whose purpose is for amusement or recreation.
124, Mechanical Guns and Projectors, appropriate subclasses, for mechanical missile projecting and throwing devices, including bows and arrows. Class 446 devices, other than toy guns, combined with or functioning as missile projectors are generally classified in Class 446.
213, Railway Draft Appliances,
75, for toy couplers, except for claimed couplers which include a feature not suitable for a full scale device.
221, Article Dispensing,
24, for an article dispenser not otherwise provided for in which the dispenser or supply receptacles are so formed or shaped as to simulate some object.
249, Static Molds, appropriate subclasses, particularly 55, for a toy-like mold, per se.
273, Amusement Devices: Games, for an amusement apparatus or device which tests the skill of a person in accomplishing some result or which provides means by which a contest of skill or chance may be engaged in among two or more players. See particularly
108+, for game apparatus (other than a game projectile, per se) in which a game projectile is intended to travel over a playing surface at all times in its course or for an implement or device for projecting such a projectile for movement upon a playing surface, and subclasses 317+ for game
apparatus (other than a game projectile, per se, or a projector, per se) in which a game projectile is projected into the air.
368, Horology: Time Measuring Systems or Devices,
106, for a toy watch having a cheap or partial movement.
434, Education and Demonstration, appropriate subclasses for educational toys.
463, Amusement Devices: Games, for subject matter relating to the type of amusement, recreation, or play activity commonly known as a game, wherein one or more players or participants engage in a competition or contest involving skill, ability, strategy, or chance, against either another player or players or against a device which is intended to function as a competitive player or players, in order to achieve an objective defined by a rule or rules specified for a particular competition or contest; whereby the ultimate outcome of said objective in such a competition or contest can be determined or indicated according to said specified rule or rules; the exception being that a game which includes or utilizes a tangible projectile, other than a propelled racing game or a chance device, classified herein is classified elsewhere.
472, Amusement Devices, particularly
6+, for a powered toy roundabout.
473, Games Using Tangible Projectile, for a device or apparatus for a game or sport in which a tangible projectile is used and which tests the skill of a person in accomplishing some sought result or which provides a means by which a contest of skill or chance may be engaged in among two or more participants, whereby the results of the contest can be determined by rules defined for the contest. See particularly
52+, for a ball used in the game of billiards or pool, subclasses 125+ for a ball used in the game of bowling, subclasses 351+ for a ball used in the game of golf, subclass 413 for a ball used in the game of croquet, subclass 414 for a projectile used in the game of hopscotch, subclasses 422+ for a projectile (or a simulation thereof) used to practice or train for play of a playing field or court game, and subclasses 569+ for a miscellaneous projectile used in playing a game, in general (e.g., a dart, arrow, quoit, horseshoe, boomerang, flying disk or saucer, hockey puck, beach ball, baseball, football, basketball, etc.). Class 473 will also take (a) an implement or device, per se, for projecting a game projectile such that it travels upon a playing surface at all times in its course, (b) a centrifugally or mechanically operated device for projecting or launching a game projectile into the air provided only that it is claimed in combination with at least one other game component (e.g., combined with a game projectile, a playing surface, tennis net, lacrosse goal, etc.), (c) a player held and powered implement, per se, for striking and thereby projecting a game projectile into the air, and (d) an implement or device for both projecting a projectile into the air and catching a projectile moving through the air.