KnightCase Origins in Road Warrior Hotel Life

Soon after being medically discharged from the US Marine Corps 6-weeks after 9/11, Scott was in Upstate New York, while working for the New York State Office of Homeland Security, and had the common cold.  He was coughing and sneezing into the hotel pillow, just like we all do; but the thought hit him, “Who has done this before me?”  Yep, a nasty thought.

Since he was working at Homeland Security, he tabled the idea until he retired in 2016.  Scott could not believe that no one had addressed the fact that all of us, at one point or another have coughed and sneezed into a pillow while sleeping at a hotel.  So he took a weekend class at the Rice University library, which has a working relationship with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, to learn how to do prior art searches (seeing what other patents may already have been awarded to do this thing).  Surprising there were not pillow covers that addressed the virus and bacteria concerns.

Having worked in Homeland Security, Scott knew there were fabrics that existed to block the passage of viruses and bacteria (also known as blood borne pathogens).   

So, Scott took a couple hour class at JoAnn’s fabrics, since he had never sewed more than a button back on a shirt.  At the end of a couple hours, Scott had produced his first prototype.  But it wasn’t exactly what he wanted.  Sherry, a widow from the church he attended, was a seamstress, and loved the idea.  As a professional, she knew how to fix the issues that the novice Scott couldn’t fix....and thus, KnightCase was born.

Scott took the prototype, his outlined business plan, and his prior art search to SCORE, which is a group of volunteer mentors through the Small Business Administration, and chatted with a couple professionals to steer him in the right direction.  One lady in particular, an attorney, knew that the South Texas Law School (STLS) had a patent/trademark class that liked well thought out ideas, veterans, and prototypes, to use as cases for the class to work on.  Working with five different sets of students, STLS submitted the patent applications, and worked through the “office actions”.  Three years later, Scott was awarded his utility patent on February 4, 2020.

How fortuitous that it was awarded at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.  So, Scott has quickly brought KnightCase to market to protect travelers from the hazards that exist in the hotel pillows.

Truth is, since Scott has spent his entire career protecting folks, this just seems to make sense as the next step.

Scott lives in Houston, TX with his wife, and pair of Maltipoos.  They occasionally get to see their 4 adult children, and spoil their grand-daughter as much as possible.

Scott graduated from Trinity University in San Antonio, TX with degrees in Business Administration: Accounting & Finance and Computer Science.  He worked at Arthur Andersen & Co. (way before Enron), before joining the Marine Corps as an Infantry Officer.  His last major project with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security was the project lead for the rebuilding effort of the World Trade Center regarding Chemical, Biological, and Radiation detection and response.