Task · part of 3. Intellectual property, patents, and a patent number off your own kit
3(c). Find a patent number on camping gear YOU HAVE USED, and read the patent
Required Often forgotten
Examine your Scouting gear for a patent number, look the patent up online with your parent or guardian's permission, then compare the finished item against the claims and drawings and report what you learned. It needs gear you have actually used.
Notes and warnings
Warning. THIS ONE NEEDS USED GEAR TOO. "Examine your Scouting gear and find a patent number on a camping item YOU HAVE USED." Together with requirement 5, that is two of the nine requirements on this badge depending on the Scout having actually been camping: on a badge that otherwise looks entirely indoors.
Note. USE THE SAME ITEM FOR REQUIREMENT 5. Nothing stops the stove whose patent you look up here being the product you recommend improvements to at requirement 5, and doing them in that order is much the better way round, because you will be writing your recommendations having just read what the original inventor claimed and drew.
Where this step comes from
- Inventing Merit Badge Requirements (Merit Badge Hub, last modified 2025-12-31), Requirement 3(c)