Todd Bradley spends so much of his free time working on new, high-performance stand-up surfing paddles that friends have taken to calling him "MacGyver."

The co-founder of C4 Waterman, which makes stand-up surfboards and gear, doesn't physically resemble the inventive star of the popular television show.

But you can see that he shares much of the character's resourcefulness just by looking at his company's state-of-the-art carbon-Kevlar, fiberglass and wood paddles.

"I love tinkering and I love designing," said Bradley, whose company is playing a major role in the current boom in stand-up paddle surfing. "I always want to make it better."

Last year, Bradley's design for a new stand-up paddle received a government imprimatur of sorts: a U.S. patent.

According to the Patent and Trademark Office, 134 patents
were issued to Hawai'i residents and corporations in 2009, which was down 5 percent from the year-earlier record of 141 patent approvals.
The patents issued last year include complex inventions such as an electrical power control and energy storage devices connecting wind farms to Hawaiian Electric Co.'s transmission system.
The patents also were for practical products such as a Hawaiian wedding shirt, a visor for sunglasses and a golf ball dispenser for putting.
Many patents, like Bradley's, have immediate commercial applications. For others, it's difficult to see if they will ever make money.
Attorney Martin Hsia, who specializes in patent, copyright and intellectual property law, believes that patent filings are on the decrease after rising steadily during the past decade.
Hsia noted that it can take two years and cost as much as $10,000 in legal and other fees to help secure a patent.
What's more, a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling will make it more difficult to obtain a patent, he said.
"I've done told my clients that they should think carefully if they're going to spend money to get a patent ... unless they know there's money that they can make out of it," he said.
Bradley — who founded C4 Waterman in 2006 with fellow watermen Brian Keaulana and Mike Fox — said he began the patent process several years ago to protect the company's products.
Paddles developed by C4 Waterman cost about $300 and are popular among the stand-up paddling crowd.
The paddles are shaped differently than traditional outrigger canoe paddles and have a higher fulcrum point, which makes them more efficient to use for stand-up paddling.
"How it works is pretty unique," Bradley said. "I don't think people realize how important the paddle is."