Intellectual Properties

Automated Package Delivery

Trademarks:

• There appear to be six trademarks filed with the USPTO, three of which are considered dead.

• The three remaining trademarks have been filed for the word marks "DRONE DELIVERY CANADA.COM," "DRONE MAIL DELIVERY POLE," and "DRONE DELIVERY BUTLER."

• The first is registered to a company of the same name, and it is for their logo containing the previously mentioned marks as well as a drawing of a drone on adjacent to the words on either side. Under goods and services there are mentions of printed publications, clothing, unmanned aerial vehicle software, security products, and electronic publications.  

• The second is registered to an individual as well as a company named Empire Unmanned Aircraft Systems Receiving. The trademark only appears to be for the the words themselves, and not a particular logo of any kind. This link from eight years ago is the only other information able to be found about the company or the trademark. 

• The final trademark is registered to an individual in California, and not a company of any sort. Similar to the second trademark, the mark is only for the words drone delivery butler, and not any specific logos, font style, or color. This link is the only additional information able to be gathered about the trademark.

Copyrights/Licenses:

• A participant must prove their concept of drone delivery to the Federal Aviation Administration, then it needs to be certified by the FAA's existing Part 135 certification process. This certification allows the user to conduct their services in their area depending on thier license, however the operator will also need to obtain airspace authorization and other operating certification. Currently, there are four types of licenses of Part 135 Operations:

  • Part 135 Single Pilot. A single-pilot operator is a certificate holder that is limited to using only one pilot for all part 135 operations.

  • A Single Pilot in Command certificate is a limited part 135 certificate. It includes one pilot in command certificate holder and three second pilots in command. There are also limitations on the size of the aircraft and the scope of the operations.

  • A Basic operator certificate is limited in the size and scope of their operations. Maximum of five pilots, including second in command. Maximum of five aircraft can be used in their operation.

  • A Standard operator holds a certificate with no limits on the size or scope of operations. However, the operator must be granted authorization for each type of operation they want to conduct.

• So far four companies, Amazon, UPS, Wing Aviation, and Zipline, have been the only companies so far to receive this license. 

Patents:

• Amazon has multiple patents filed that are related to a drone delivery system. These 65 patents have been filed since as early as 2013 when CEO Jeff Bezos first brought up this idea. The first patent filed in 2013 and approved in 2015 was a broad overview of the delivery system. Then, in 2017, Amazon introduced the idea of multiple drones working to deliver their package based on their location relative to where the package needs to be delivered. Additionally, another patent in 2017 described a network of drones that are connected to each other to help identify where each drone is.

• There have also been multiple drone design patents filed by Amazon. The first design patent was filed when the idea surfaced in 2013 and is described as a boxy multirotor system. Other designs are described as foldable multi-rotor drones, foldable fixed-wing drones, and tri-wing configuration drones. Amazon noted that they will be using multiple of these designs in their drone delivery system as different drone types could be utilized for specific package types. For example, for packages that contain fragile contents, Amazon has filed a design patent for a drone that uses sensors to analyze the contours of the landing surface and then adjust the length of each of its legs according to this data so that the drone is horizontal when it settles on the ground and lands smoothly.