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Psychotic patients and patent applications

The mad scientist revisited?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

David V. James  and
Paul L. Gilluley
David V. James
Affiliation:
Camlet Lodge RSU, Chase Farm Hospital Site, The Ridgeway, Enfield, Middlesex EN2 8JL
Paul L. Gilluley
Affiliation:
Henry Rollin Unit
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Abstract

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The clinical observation that some psychotic patients were attempting to register their ideas as patents prompted a survey of published patents. The hypothesis was that, given supposed links between creativity and mental illness, the Patent Office might be a repository of psychotic ideas. Searches were made on specific topics suggested by our patients' applications. A survey was undertaken of unusual patents in the collection as a whole, and of authors with unusual track records. Bizarre and eccentric patents were identified, but patents of the sort that our patients attempted to register were absent. Possible explanations for this result are discussed.

Type
Original Papers
Information
Psychiatric Bulletin , Volume 21 , Issue 12 , December 1997 , pp. 764 - 768
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © 1997 The Royal College of Psychiatrists

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