In 2017, Indonesian people especially children start to like toys like propeller, Fidget Spinner. But did you know if it turns out this toy is not found by Indonesian people, but women from Orlando, Catherine Hettinger.
Reported by Bloomberg, Hettinger claimed not to be involved with toy companies to make popular toys. Initially, he got two patents making a placemat that could help people bring food. In 1993, he filed a patent in the form of a circular device formed from a piece of plastic and spun on the fingertips.
Hettinger's patents were granted in 1997 and he started making devices in his laundry room by using the machines he bought from the producers and selling them at art exhibitions. Hettinger went to a toy convention and installed a spinner to Hasbro Inc., he was praised by the public.
Hettinger allowed his patent to be interrupted in 2005, because the patent holder had to pay periodically to keep it. For more than a decade, 2016 generations now play the spinner fidget. But it turns out the toy does not have in common with Hettinger toys.
When someone opens a Wikipedia page, it will be written that Hettinger is the inventor. Hettinger says that he assumes that one of his friends has developed it.
In addition to the Wikipedia page, Hetinger confesses that there is no direct connection between his plastic toys with the popular spinner fidget nowadays. He does not know whether his patents will apply to those who developed his invention or not.
This is not to say that small companies always lose, especially when creating products like toys that are easy to copy and distribute relatively easily. Now Hettinger has just done a Kickstarter campaign to help him pay for his spinner making, he will make it a classic.
The inventor of this suddenly popular toy has collected 6.4 million dollars through Kickstarter, but recently he decided to license his patent to a company called Zuru.