Talk:Donald Duncan

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[edit] 2nd/3rd paragraphs sloughed and merged

Im removing this and replacing it with one paragraph, very similar in form to that which the article started with. the reasons are twofold: poor structure, and as-yet unverifiable information such as crediting duncan with the invention of the looped slip-string (an assertion found only at the duncan history page). popefauvexxiii 10:25, 8 September 2006 (UTC)

Duncan is often miscredited with invention of the yo-yo. He did not, considering the fact that the yo-yo is thought to be one of the world's oldest toys. In fact, Duncan never even held a patent on the toy, although the name Yo-yo was a trademark of his company. However, Duncan did create both the sliding loop, allowing the yo-yo to "sleep", and the butterfly shape, increasing the ease of catching a yo-yo. Both modifications increase the number of tricks that can be performed with a yo-yo.

In 1965, during an intellectual property case, a federal court of appeals ruled in favor of the Royal Tops Company, asserting that the term Yo-yo, had become a part of common speech. This ruling is now widely considered a miscarriage of justice, and if considered as a valid precedent, would imperil similarly successful trademarks, such as BAND-AID, Q-tip and Kleenex.