Wasilla man wins a federal design patent for his fish bonker after a 3½-year wait

Wasilla inventor Cody Christopher won a federal design patent Tuesday for his fish bonker, the short club anglers use to finish off a fish once it's landed.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued the patent more than 3½ years after Christopher applied in January 2023. It protects the bonker's look for 15 years. A design patent covers how something looks, not how it works.

The patent's single claim is to "the ornamental design for a fish bonker, as shown and described." Eight sheets of drawings show a club with a flared head and a wrapped handle from every side, plus a close-up of the handle end.

Before approving it, the examiner weighed earlier designs going back to a 1987 design patent, along with an Amazon listing for a camouflage "fishing priest," another name for the tool.

Christopher isn't the only Wasilla inventor with a new design patent this year. On July 7, the office issued one to Jason Kollander for a tourniquet holder, nearly four years after he applied in August 2022. Both used the same attorney, Kevin Keener of Keener and Associates.

In September, a Delta Junction woman won a design patent for a sports bra with a built-in neck guard.