Harry McCracken over at Technologizer has put together a fun collection of weird and wonderful mouse patents, most of which fell off the conveyer belt somewhere between the drawing board and better judgment.

Original 1967 mouse patent? Check. Crazy virtual reality input methods? Ditto. In addition to abandoned pyramid-shaped and Timex clock mice, highlights include a mouse that has a telephone built into it, and another that’s built-into a telephone. [Technologizer]