Ostrich Pillow — An example of a successful idea commercialization

The Ostrich Pillow is a pillow that is shaped like a hollow bean bag, meant to enclose the human head and present a soothing napping environment for its users.

From its KickStarter website: “OSTRICH PILLOW offers a micro environment in which to take a comfortable power nap in the office, travelling or wherever you want.” The Ostrich Pillow was successfully funded on 18th October 2012.

When interviewed by In Bed With Designers, the inventors said: “We have been overwhelmed with the positive response and delighted to be able to fulfill the global need for napping.” The idea came about when they observed, “…subsequent to the invention of the light bulb people are sleeping less and less.” The idea they hit upon was “mobile napping”.

The Ostrich Pillow was also covered by CNN and Huffington Post, in 2012. Yes, I have been away…

The design patents for the Ostrich Pillow are here:

Source – USPTO

Source: USPTO

Thanks to Justia Patents for the lead information. Apparently, both design patents were filed in 2013 (March and October, respectively), after the success of their KickStarter campaign. Both were issued on 21st October 2014. Which is fairly recent, if I may so observe.

It makes sense, because why would you want to spend money on a design patent unless the commercial viability of the product is validated?