Cricket Labs, Inc. has won Swanson Reed’s patent of the month in the Zoos, Wildlife and Nature Preservation industry for the month of Feb 2026 because it is an outstanding invention in this industry. This innovation focuses on a newly patented device, titled ‘Vertically-oriented food maze for animals’. The patent describes a vertically-oriented interactive treat dispensing device designed to provide for storage of treats in a top portion, which then dispenses a treat through an input buffer into a middle portion with a set of adjoining ramps.
Interactive Animal Engagement
The treat is initially retained at a resting point at a top of each ramp before it is advanced down the ramps upon physical interaction between the treat and the animal via an interaction opening adjacent the resting point. Once the treat advances down the lowest ramp, it exits the device and can be retrieved by the animal. Additional features may include electronic dispensing of treats from the top portion, incorporation of the device into a play or animal house structure, the use of an interaction lever for advancing the treats, an access arm for accessing the interior housing, and specially-designed disc-shaped treats to roll easily through the device.
Meeting USA R&D Tax Credit Rules
To qualify for the Research and Development (R&D) Tax Credit in the United States, an invention must meet the IRS’s four-part test. The development of this vertically-oriented food maze demonstrates several key aspects of these rules:
- Permitted Purpose: The primary objective was to create a new, functionally improved interactive animal feeder, focusing on enhancing performance, reliability, and functionality over existing designs.
- Technological in Nature: The design process relies on the hard sciences, specifically mechanical engineering and physics, to calculate optimal gravity-fed mechanics, material friction, and kinetic movement.
- Elimination of Uncertainty: At the outset, there was technological uncertainty regarding the appropriate design of the interaction levers, the optimal slope of the ramps, and how to prevent treats from jamming.
- Process of Experimentation: The engineering team would have undergone iterative testing—building prototypes, testing different materials, and observing physical interactions—to evaluate alternatives and resolve design uncertainties.
3 Practical Applications Meeting R&D Tax Credit Rules
- Designing and Prototyping the Electronic Dispensing System:
Integrating an electronic dispenser into the top portion requires overcoming technical uncertainties related to motor control, sensor accuracy, and power management. Engineers would need to iteratively design and test various electronic hardware and software components to ensure a treat is dispensed reliably without jamming the input buffer. This systematic trial-and-error process directly qualifies as R&D. - Formulating Specially-Designed Disc-Shaped Treats:
Creating a treat that rolls perfectly through the device is not just a mechanical issue; it falls under food science. Experimenting with different edible formulations to achieve the precise density, weight, and structural integrity required so the treat doesn’t crumble upon impact or get stuck on the ramp constitutes a valid process of experimentation. - Optimizing Ramp Mechanics and the Interaction Lever:
Determining the exact angle, material friction coefficient, and spatial layout of the adjoining ramps and interaction openings requires extensive mechanical engineering. Developing 3D-printed or physical prototypes to test various interaction lever tensions—ensuring they are safe and operable by animals of different sizes—resolves fundamental design uncertainties through systemic engineering testing.
