Background to the Invention It is illegal for one person to force a second person to have sexual intercourse or indeed engage in a sexual act unwillingly. The forcing by a first person of a second person to engage in a sexual act unwillingly may be termed an assault, sexual attack or rape.

Unfortunately, the action of rape is widespread throughout most countries of the world, and is committed within a multitude of surrounding situations and circumstances. The minority of cases of rape committed involve a first person assaulting a second person, whereby the first and second person are totally unconnected with regard to a relationship or association, be this relationship or association of a working nature, an emotional nature, or friendship.

However, the majority of cases of rape committed involving two persons, are carried out following the commencement of some form of relationship or association between the two persons. Examples of such cases include rape being committed involving two persons: on a first date, having a working relationship, within marriage, within a"plutonic"relationship, or having an association through a mutual third person.

Irrespective of the relationship of the two persons surrounding the possible action of rape the accusation by a first person that a second person committed rape results in legal proceedings. It is then the role of the courts to decide a verdict of guilty or not guilty and to administer the appropriate punishment, if

required. The penalty for rape accordingly is a serious one and may involve the suspension of a person's civil liberties or in some geographical locations a person may even be sentenced to death, if found guilty of committing rape.

Regrettably, false accusations of rape are not uncommon in most areas of the world. In such cases a person falsely accused of rape may be imprisoned or even sentenced to death through lack of evidence in support of the persons innocence. Moreover, a person falsely accused of rape and correctly acquitted invariably suffers lasting character deformation, this having negative health, career, and personal connotations.

One of the primary questions in proceedings involving rape is one of consent. For example, if in a case involving a false allegation of rape there is provided firm evidence of consent given by a person consenting to engage in a sexual act the advantages are largely twofold. Firstly, the court's time is significantly reduced and the likelihood of the correct decision being made by the courts is increased through a knowledge of evidence of consent given by a person consenting to engage in a sexual act. Secondly, in the event of evidence of consent being made available to all parties concerned there is a significant chance that the case will not proceed to the courts and accordingly a person falsely accused of rape will not suffer lasting character deformation.

What is required is an evidence of consent device, essentially functioning as an agreement between two persons whereby, both persons consent to engage in a sexual act. Obviously, it would be inappropriate and unrealistic for two persons to sign a"conventional"agreement prior to the engagement in a sexual act. What is required therefore, is a device that is easy to use and not inappropriate whereby a first person provides evidence of consent to engage in a sexual act through means of a personal identification. It would also be advantageous for such a device to be capable of recording the date of the sexual act.

Such a device is disclosed below whereby details of the recording of a personal identification of a person are provided together with the facility to record a date on which the sexual act was engaged.

Summary of the Invention The inventor has realized the requirement of a device to function as a pseudo-contractor or agreement between two persons consenting to engage in a sexual act. A person providing evidence of consent to engage in a sexual act, when using such a device described in detail below, deposits a unique personal identification onto the device.

Through the utilization of the device, described in detail below, and hence the generation of evidence of consent, certain cases involving false accusations of sexual abuse, including rape, may be resolved in a more straight forward manner.

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided an evidence of consent device being configured for use by a person consenting to engage in a sexual act, said device being characterised by: means configurable to contain at least one condom; means to record at least one fingerprint of said person; means to record the date of said consent; whereby said evidence of said person giving consent to engage in said sexual act is provided by the recording of said at least one fingerprint of said person on said device and said recording of said date of consent given by said person on said device.

Preferably said recording of said at least one fingerprint of said person is made on a laminate surface of said device.

Preferably said recording of said at least one fingerprint of said person is made on at least one plastic surface on said device.

Preferably said date of consent is recorded on at least one portion of said device, said at least one portion of said device displaying the days of the month, the months of the year and at least one year.

Preferably said date of consent is recorded by the making of at least one tear on at least one portion of said device.

Preferably said date of consent is recorded by revealing at least one entity on said at least one portion of said device.

According to a further aspect of the present invention there is provided an evidence of consent device being configured for use by a person consenting to engage in a sexual act, said device being characterized by: means to record at least one fingerprint of said person; means to record the date of said consent; an outer sheath; and an inner sleeve ; whereby said evidence of said person giving consent to engage in said sexual act is provided by the recording of at least one fingerprint of said person on said device and the recording of said date of consent given by said person on said device.

Preferably said inner sleeve is configured for removal and insertion into said outer sheath.

Preferably said recording of said at least one fingerprint of said person is made on at least one laminate surface of said inner sleeve of said device.

Preferably said at least one fingerprint of said person is recorded on at least one plastic surface of said inner sleeve of said device.

Preferably said date of consent is recorded on at least one portion of said inner sleeve, said at least one portion of said inner sleeve displaying the days of the month, the months of the year and at least one year.

Preferably said date of consent is recorded by making at least one tear on said at least one portion of said inner sleeve of said device.

Preferably said date of consent is recorded by revealing at least one entity on said at least one portion of said inner sleeve of said device.

Preferably said device is configured to contain a condom.

Preferably the inner sleeve is configured with a first portion upon which to rest a packetized condom and a second portion which folds over so as to contain the condom. Suitably the first portion may comprise a central portion about which extend one or more flaps attached thereto (forming said second portion) and which are configured to be folded over the central portion. Suitably the inner sleeve may thus be configured with four such flaps in a cross type shape when said flags are in their opened out state. To facilitate folding of a said flap over a said portion one or a plurality of score lines may suitably be provided. A suitable score line may comprise a weakening or a perforated region along a line across a said flap or across the junction of a said flap with said central portion.

Advantageously, a cross type embodiment provides a greater surface area over which to print informational material on usage of the device and/or advertisement based material. The greater surface area of the preferred cross type embodiment also provides a greater surface area upon which to record a given operator's fingerprints during operation of the device. Yet a further advantage of the cross shaped embodiment of the inner sleeve is that printed material may be written in a larger character size and therefore facilitate reading of the information provided by certain individuals.

According to a first method of carrying out the invention there is provided a method of providing evidence of consent given by a person consenting to engage in a sexual act, the said method comprising the steps of: recording at least one fingerprint of said person on a device configurable to contain a condom; recording the date of said consent; said recording of said at least one fingerprint of said person and said recording of said date of said consent being made on an evidence of consent device.

Preferably the method further comprises the step of: recording at least one fingerprint of said person on a laminated surface of said device.

Preferably the method further comprises the step of: recording at least one fingerprint of said person on at least one plastic surface of said device.

Preferably the method comprises the step of: recording said date of consent by making at least one tear on at least one portion of said device.

Preferably the method further comprises the step of: recording said date of consent by revealing at least one entity on said device.

Preferably the method includes said at least one fingerprint being recorded on at least one surface of an inner sleeve of said device.

Preferably the method includes said date of consent being recorded on at least one portion of an inner sleeve of said device.

Brief Description of the Drawings For a better understanding of the invention and to show how the same may be carried into effect, there will now be described by way of example only, specific embodiments, methods and processes according to the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig. 1 illustrates a conventional agreement, in this case between two persons consenting to engage in a sexual act.

Fig. 2 illustrates a flow diagram illustrating the events surrounding an accusation of sexual abuse involving two persons.

Fig. 3 illustrates schematically a specific implementation of the present invention having an outer sheath and an inner sleeve, the device providing means for containing at least one condom.

Fig. 4 illustrates a flow diagram detailing the stages by which a person using the present invention provides evidence of consent to engage in a sexual act.

Fig. 5 illustrates schematically the initial stages of use of the present invention involving two persons consenting to engage in a sexual act.

Fig. 6 illustrates schematically the final stages of use of the present invention involving two persons consenting to engage in a sexual act.

Fig. 7 illustrates schematically a further specific implementation of the present invention having an outer sheath and inner sleeve.

Fig. 8A schematically illustrates in flow diagram, in flow diagram form, a specific mode of operation of the present invention as used in the situation wherein a person may falsely accuse another person of rape or some other kind of sexual abuse ; Fig. 8B schematically details steps which follow those detailed in Fig. 8a; Fig. 9 schematically illustrates a further preferred embodiment of an inner sleeve as configured in accordance with the present invention; Detailed Description of the Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention There will now be described by way of example the best mode contemplated by the inventor for carrying out the invention. In the following description numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. It will be apparent however, to one skilled in the art, that the present invention may be practiced without limitation to these specific details. In other instances, well known methods and structures have not been described in detail so as not to unnecessarily obscure the present invention.

Fig. 1 illustrates a conventional agreement 100 signed by a first person 101 and a second person 102. The subject matter with which the agreement 100 is concerned is centered around the giving of consent to engage in a sexual act, in this case two persons consenting to engage in sexual intercourse 103. Such agreements importantly include the date on which the agreement was made.

The present invention as described in detail below, may be viewed in some respects as a pseudo-contract or agreement relating to the above subject matter 103. However, it will become evident that the present invention circumvents problems associated with the application of a more"conventional"form of agreement 100 to such sensitive situations involving a sexual act between two persons. Such problems being for example the inappropriate nature of the application of a more"conventional"agreement and the time taken for its completion.

Fig. 2 illustrates, by way of example, events surrounding a situation in which the present invention may be utilized so as effect the outcome of the events described in Fig. 2 such that the correct result is obtained in contrast to the incorrect result detailed in Fig. 2.

By way of example, the events surrounding a situation in which the present invention may be utilized begin with a first person entering into sexual relationship with a second person 200. Within this relationship 200 person one and person two engage in a sexual act, in the case, sexual intercourse at stage 201.

Following a time interval person two falsely accuses person one of a form of sexual abuse, in this example, rape, at stage 202. It is a feature of this example that person two consented fully to the sexual act conducted at stage 201.

Following the accusation of rape person one and person two enter legal proceedings at stage 203 whereby considerable amounts of time and money are spent in an attempt to resolve the action initiated in stage 203. Forming an integral part of the legal proceedings 204 is the attainment of the evidence 205 in this particular example, evidence is required to prove person two consented fully to the sexual act detailed in stage 201, such highly desirable evidence being

termed evidence of consent 206. It is a feature of the example events discussed in this figure that evidence of consent is not readily available and is only obtained following the expenditure of considerable amounts of time and money 204. In this example, person one is acquitted of raping person two at stage 207 this decision being reached by the courts in light of a plurality of evidence submitted in an attempt to ascertain justice.

However, as is the outcome of such events person one, being falsely accused of rape suffers lasting character deformation at stage 208 whereas person two is relatively untainted by the legal proceedings 209. In the event of an expensive and lengthy criminal court case, of this nature, person one invariably experiences considerable damaging repercussions on for example a career, personal relationships, social standing, and future opportunities. It is one object of the present invention to serve as additional, supportive evidence in an attempt to ensure a correct judicial outcome in the event of a similar situation to the one described in Fig. 2.

Fig. 3 illustrates schematically a particular embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 3 illustrates an evidence of consent device as described in detail below having an outer sheath 300 and an inner sleeve 301. In this particular embodiment the evidence of consent device incorporates a standard known condom and it's packaging 302. In this particular embodiment condom 302 resides within the folded inner sleeve 301 whereby 301 and 302 are configured for easy removal and insertion into the outer sleeve 300. Inner sleeve 301 in this particular embodiment is configured as a means for recording the identity of a person and in certain specific implementations of the present invention, means to record a date. Inner sleeve 301 is also configured with suitable hinge means 303, which allow the inner sleeve 301 to be opened and closed as with the function of a book. Such hinge means being, for example, a fold created on the inner sleeve 301.

Fig. 4 illustrates a flow diagram detailing the various stages of the modes of operation of the present invention according to one specific implementation.

Following the intention of person one and person two to engage in a sexual act, in this example to engage in sexual intercourse 400, person one gives person two the evidence of consent device at stage 401. The device at this stage is unopened. Person two then proceeds to open the device at stage 402. Opening the device comprises removing any inner portion of the device from an outer sleeve, or exposing the device from within a protective packaging or seal. Person two then places fingerprints on an inner sleeve of the device and/or the device at stage 403. Inner sleeve being for example sleeve 301. In this particular example, the depositing of fingerprints by person two onto the inner sleeve of the device, or the device serves to record the identity of person two. It is known that fingerprints deposited onto a surface can be used as evidence in for example legal proceedings. The use of fingerprints in these matters serves as a unique personal identification thereby linking a person with a particular event.

In this particular embodiment person two removes a condom from the device 404. Person two then proceeds to record the date of the sexual act on the device at stage 405, the recording of the date being made, by way of example, on inner sleeve 301. Person two closes the device at stage 406 resulting in, for example, the inner sleeve 301 being inserted into outer sheath 300 following the recording of the fingerprints of person two and the date. Person two returns the device to person one thereby completing the giving of evidence of consent at stage 407. Further specific implementations regarding the inner sleeve 301 and the method of inclusion of a condom 302 are discussed in detail below. Following the creation of evidence of consent person one and person two then engage in a sexual act, in this case, sexual intercourse at stage 408.

Fig. 5 illustrates the initial stages by which a person provides evidence of consent using the evidence of consent device. In this particular embodiment the evidence of consent device is contained initially within a protective packaging 500. With reference to Fig. 4 person one gives person two the evidence of

consent device whereby person two removes the protective packaging 500, thus exposing the outer sheath 300 of the evidence of consent device. A inner sleeve 301 is removed from the sheath 300 using the thumb and fingers 501. A suitable recess 502 is present in the outer sheath 300 which allows the thumb and fingers 501 to grasp the inner sleeve 301 whereby sleeve 301 is removed from the sheath along path 503. The person providing evidence of consent then proceeds to open the inner sleeve 301 via the hinge means or spine 303. Primarily through the opening of the sleeve 301 using the fingers and thumb 501 a person places at least one finger or thumb print on the inner portion 504 of the inner sleeve 301.

Inner portion 504 comprises a preferred material so as to facilitate the recording of good quality fingerprints, such a material being for example a laminate or plastic type material, inner portion 504 being a substantially rigid material.

Inner sleeve 301 also comprises a portion whereby days of the month may be displayed, together with months of the year 506 and selected years 507. In this particular embodiment inner sleeve 301 is configured to house a condom 302 such that the action of opening the inner sleeve 301 via the hinge or spine 303 dislodges the condom 302. Condom 302 is now available for use in a sexual act between the two persons.

Fig. 6 details substantially the final stages by which a person gives evidence of consent using the evidence of consent device described herein. Following the stages described in Fig. 5 it can be seen in Fig. 6 the deposit of finger or thumb prints 600 upon the inner portion 504 of the inner sleeve 301. The person giving evidence of consent to engage in a particular act, be this a sexual act, then proceeds to record the date on which the consent is given. In this particular embodiment, the recording of the date is by way of the action of making tears, rips or slits 601 within portions 505,506 and 507. For example, a person desiring to indicate a date of consent being the third day in a particular month of a particular year would tear the appropriate portion 505 in the region centered on the number 3. Additionally, tearing region 506 over'Nov'would indicate consent was given in the month of November.

The person giving evidence via the evidence of consent device then re-folds the inner sleeve 301 such that it can be inserted into the outer sheath 300 along path 602. Following the insertion of the inner sleeve 301 into the outer sheath 300 further depositing of fingerprints upon the inner sleeve 301 is presented.

Fig. 7 illustrates a further embodiment of the present invention comprising an outer sheath 300 having a recess portion 502. In this particular embodiment the outer sheath 300 is configured to house a condom and it's packaging 700.

The packaging of the condom is configured with a central portion 701 such that central portion 701 is configured as a surface to record the finger or thumb prints of a person removing condom 700 from outer sheath 300 portion 701 being for example a laminate or plastic type material. Central portion 701 being present on the front and rear portions of the condom packet 700. The dimensions of the condom packet 700 are such that they enable at least one finger or thumb print to be deposited on a surface of the condom packet 700. The edges of the condom packet 700 are divided into portions for displaying the days of the month 702, months of the year 703, particular years 704 and a portion configured to be easily removed 705 from the main condom packet 700 so as to expose the condom within. Portion 705 being easily removable through the inclusion of suitable perforations 706 in the packaging 700.

As discussed above a person giving evidence of consent to a particular act, for example a sexual act, deposits a unique personal identification onto the evidence of consent device by way of depositing finger or thumb prints onto the device. The date of consent of the act being recorded by the making of tears, rips or slits 601 within portions 702,703 and 704. In a further embodiment of the invention the date of consent may be made by way of exposing at least one entity on said inner sleeve 301 or condom packet 700, or inner sleeve 301. An entity being a day of the month, a month of the year and/or a particular year. The exposing of such an entity being made by scratching off a removal portion of the

inner sleeve 301 or condom packet 700 using, for example a nail of a finger or thumb.

Fig. 8A illustrates a flow diagram detailing a specific implementation of the present invention whereby the utilization of the device as described herein in detail is advantageous over an identical situation without the benefit of inclusion of the device, this situation being described in detail in Fig. 2. Turning now to a mode of operation of the device, firstly, person one and person two both share a common intent to engage in a sexual act, in this example, to engage in sexual intercourse 800. Person one then provides the evidence of consent device to person two at stage 801 whereby person two gives evidence of consent using the evidence of consent device at stage 802. Person one and person two then proceed to have sexual intercourse at stage 803. Following the lapse of a time period, in this particular example, person two falsely accuses person one of committing some form of sexual assault, this assault being rape at stage 804.

Referring to Fig. 8B there is illustrated the continuation of the flow diagram described in Fig. 8. Given the providing of evidence of consent by person two at stage 802 using the evidence of consent device, the evidence in support of person one being found not guilty in the event of legal proceedings, is consequently increased. As such, in this particular example, person two, when seeking legal advice, may be advised not to engage in legal proceedings in view of this supportive, supplementary evidence 802 at stage 805. Conversely, person one and person two may engage in legal proceedings at stage 806. In the event of such legal proceedings the evidence of consent given by person two at stage 802 using the evidence of consent device may result in the legal proceedings being concluded swiftly at stage 807 in view of the supportive, additional evidence being provided by the evidence of consent device as described herein. Person one may either be acquitted of raping person two in the event of legal proceedings at stage 808 or the accusation of rape may be dropped following advice not to engage in legal proceedings at stage 809.

The result of the above events, dictated largely by the providing of evidence of consent at stage 802, is that person one and person two suffer no lasting character deformation 810 and 811 respectively, as a result of either swift legal proceedings or the non-entering of legal proceedings due, in part, to the providing of evidence of consent to engage in a sexual act due to the utilization of the evidence of consent device.

Fig. 9 schematically illustrates a further preferred embodiment of an inner sleeve as configured in accordance with the present invention. The inner sleeve 901 schematically illustrated in Fig. 9 comprises a cross type configuration made of a suitable material such as laminated paper of the type typically used for news type magazine covers-such covers have at least one surface which is laminated and which is suitable for recording fingerprints pressed there upon. By laminated it is meant substantially any none-matt surface. The inner sleeve embodiment schematically illustrated in Fig. 3 comprises a 2 flap assembly which simply comprises a more or less rectangular piece of card type material folded along a centre line resulting in two flaps in between which may be inserted a packetized condom. Inner sleeve 901 comprises a central portion 902 which may suitably be configured to be substantially square in shape. From each edge of central portion 902 extends a flat portion 903,904,905 and 906 respectively. Thus, in use a condom, packetized in a foil type packet member for example, may be placed upon the surface of central portion 902 and thereafter the flap portions 903-906 folded over in a direction to cover the surface of central portion 902.

To aid folding over of flaps 903-906 a score line may suitably be provided such as for example that shown at 907 for flap 906. Score lines of the type 907 may be formed at the boundary of a given edge of central portion 902 and a given flap or may be slightly off-set such as for example being positioned on the surface of a given flap as schematically illustrated. Each flap-central portion boundary may be configured with one or a plurality of such scored regions. Suitably the scored lines may be configured through perforation or through a weakening of the structure of the inner sleeve itself. In the example shown the score lines are positioned a short distance into each flap so as to aid in providing a more well

defined shape of the overall structure of the inner sleeve once flaps 903-906 are folded over into position around a given condom held therein. Thus, upon folding flap 906 the flap may be caused to fold about a first line defined by the junction of portion 902 and fold over flap 906 and about a second line 907 specifically scored-this double fold approach giving rise to a small edge portion 908 effectively providing a space for a condom to be held within the device when said flaps are folded over. A cross type embodiment for an inner sleeve has a variety of advantages over other embodiments such as for example providing a greater amount of surface area on which to include further information as to the use of the device once opened and also to include further surface area for various other functions. In the example of Fig. 9 central portion 902 may be used to advertise goods or services of particular business entities or may be used to personalize the device to a given company for example-eg. by incorporating a given company's logo. Flaps 903 and 905 in the example shown are configured to be used to record the date of use of the device by way of having the appropriate numbers of days in the month written on the edges as shown. Thus, numbers 1,2... 31 are included along the edges and the instruction on each flap is to"tear date". Thus, in operation a given user will be able to make a tear along the flap at the appropriate place for the current day of the month. Similarly, flap 906 comprises means for recording the month and flap 904 comprises means for recording the year-both flaps 906 and 904 being operable in a similar manner to flaps 903,905. On the reverse side of device 901 a substantial amount of advertising material or other informational based material may be included as compared with a 2-flap assembly of the type described previously. By having a greater surface area the embodiment shown in Fig. 9 is also advantageous in that it allows larger characters to be printed on the surface of the inner sleeve thus facilitating reading of instructions and advertising. Yet a further advantage of the embodiment illustrated schematically in Fig. 9 is that the greater surface area provides a larger surface area upon which finger prints may be recorded. In operation, following removal of the inner sleeve from an outer sheath, the flaps are effectively folded back in an outwards direction from central region 902 one after the other.

The skilled person in the art will appreciate that the embodiment of Fig. 9 may be configured in a variety of different ways. Thus, for example the cross based configuration could be constructed on normal paper or card type material and central portion 902 configured with a plasticised material stuck thereupon so as to facilitate recording of fingerprints-such plasticised material could be used along the length of the device from flap to flap providing a central laminated portion along a line through the centre of 2 oppositly positioned flaps. In the latter embodiment the central plasticised portion may suitably be configured as a strip down the centre with the outer edges of the flaps being left non-plasticised so as to facilitate tearing. Of course alternative means for recording the date could be used as for example scratch based methods.

Once in its fold position the cross type embodiment of Fig. 9 substantially forms a box type structure which, in the preferred embodiment, is substantially in the form of a regular parallelepiped.

The inner sleeve of the cross-type embodiment 901 or any other suitable configured inner sleeve may in certain embodiments be configured as a condom packet itself or as described above may form a sleeve configured to hold a pre- packetized condom.

The examples described are considered to be representative of best modes of carrying out the invention. Thus, while the invention is described in some detail with specific reference to specific preferred embodiments and various alternatives there is no intent to limit the invention to the particular embodiments described or those specific alternatives. Thus, the true scope of the present invention is not to be considered as limited to any one of the foregoing described embodiments, but is instead defined by the appended claims.