Forward of Ken Jacuzzi's Autobiography

Foreword

Candido was born in Italy in 1903 and immigrated to the United States in 1920. In 1925 he got married and had four children. His youngest son Kenneth, born 1941, developed rheumatoid arthritis as a toddler. When Kenny was about 6 years old, his doctor recommended hydrotherapy. Unfortunately, facilities for such treatment were located only in distant spas and in communal tubs in large hospitals, both of which posed a high risk of water-borne infections for Kenny.

Candido, who was already an experienced inventor with four U.S. patents credited to him for innovative pumps, attacked the problem. He soon developed a unique type of pump that created a swirling whirlpool in a bathtub. When Kenny's suffering was temporarily relieved by the treatment, Candido and his co-worker, John E. Armstrong, applied for a patent on May 24, 1947 and U.S. Patent No. 2,621,597 issued in their names on December 16, 1952, for an air charger for water systems. The patent was assigned to their employer, Jacuzzi Bros., Inc. in Berkeley, California. As compensation to Candido, the company assigned 1% of the royalties to Kenny in order to provide for his well-being.

Candido and another co-worker, Floyd M. Nash, modified the invention to make it suitable for mass production and to meet state safety requirements, which had delayed its introduction to the public. They applied for deign and utilities patents for hydrotherapy water circulators for bathtubs in 1954. U.S. Design Paten No. 176,190 issued on November 29, 1955 and U.S. Utility Patent No. 2,738,787 issue don March 20, 1956. A discharge direction controller for a hydromassage unit in a bathtub was the subject of U.S.3,038,469 which was issued in Candido's name on June 12, 1962. Further improvements in the hydrotherapy equipment for bathtubs were applied for in 1963 and eventually were issued in his named as U.S. Patent Nos. 3,159,849 and 3,273,560.

In 1964 Candido turned his attention to large, specially designed hydrotherapy units which became known as the first so-called hot tubs that bore his Jacuzzi surname. A design patent was applied for in 1965 and clearly shows the now famous Jacuzzi with three seats inside and standing room for three others. U.S. Design Patent No. 206,143 was issued November 1, 1966. U.S. Utility Patent Nos. 3,297,025 and 3,302,640 were issued in Candido's name on January 10, 1967 and February 7, 1967, respectively. In 1968 he applied for his last patent for an invention on a portable hydromassage apparatus for a convention bathtub. U.S. Patent No. 3,534,730 was issued to him on October 20, 1970.

Roy Aldo Jacuzzi was Candido's grandnephew and the son of Candido's nephew, Aldo Joseph Jacuzzi (1921-1989). Aldo was the son of Candido's older brother Giuseppe (1891-1965). Roy was born in 1943 and went to work for Jacuzzi Research Inc. when he was 24 in 1967.

Candido took Roy under his wing after Candido already had obtained his two utility patents and his design patent on the hot tub which the company was starting to market for recreational use, both indoors and outdoors, at public spas and in private residences.

At this point, I want to explain that a utility patent covers any new and useful process, machine, product or composition of matter while a design patent covers merely any new, original and ornamental outer appearance for an article of manufacture.

Roy applied for his first patent on March 4, 1968. It was issued a U.S. Design Patent No. 212,838 on November 26, 1968, for a portable hydromassage assembly for a conventional bathtub. Between 1969 and 1971, Roy obtained five utility patents on various hydrotherapy installations for conventional bathtubs. During this same time period, Roy worked with his cousin Ken and they obtained two U.S. utility patents on inventions not related to hydrotherapy.

After Candido retired as president of the company in 1971, Roy started working on hydromassage units for large swimming pools. He was granted U.S. Utility Patent No. 3,674,020 on July 4, 1972 and U.S. Design Patent No. 226,042 on January 16, 1973. He then turned his attention to tubs with incorporated hydromassage assemblies for individuals. Between 1973 and 1975, he obtained two design patents and three utility patents.

On November 18, 1975, U.S. Design Patent no. 237,709 was issued to Roy and his co-worker, Peter L. Kosta, for a large hydromassage tub for more than one person. However, unlike the original hot tub design patented by Candido ten years earlier, there were no seats built into the tub. Nevertheless, Roy's next hydromassage tub did have seats for more than one person. This tub is covered by U.S. Design Patent No. 247,977 which was issued on May 23, 1979.

During the next nine years, Roy obtained with two co-workers only one utility patent for a filter for spas and pools. However, in 1987 Roy went back to designing whirlpool bath tubs with Ralph D'Innocente and his coworkers. U.S. Design Patent nos. 305,062 and 305,063 were issued to them on December 12, 1989. Roy's last design on the same product was covered by U.S. Design Patent No. 308,574 which was granted on June 12, 1990.

It is clear from a study of the 31 patents issued to Candido between 1940 and 1979 and of the 24 patents issued to Roy between 1968 and 1990 that the first inventor of the whirlpool bath and the hot tub was Candido in 1947 when Roy was only four years old. Although Roy did make mechanical improvements and new designs starting in 1968, he cannot be considered the true inventor of either the whirlpool bath or the hot tub. Any claim that Roy is the true inventor is patently false. The truth is readily discernible to anyone willing to study the patent records as I have so dispassionately done.

Joe Scafetta Jr.
Falls Church, Virginia
August 4, 2008