Did you know that "MACY'S THANKSGIVING DAY PARADE" is a word mark? That's a registered trademark - Registration Number 2206890. Illustration: Mary Bellis

Food often takes center stage at Thanksgiving, and there are many well-known Thanksgiving-related products protected by patents and trademarks. One way to spend more time with family and less in the kitchen cleaning up is by using a disposable cooking pan (patent #5,628,427) or a cooking jacket (patent #4,942,809) for the turkey, ham or roast. One non-traditional, but increasingly popular, way to cook a turkey is deep-frying, and one type of equipment used in this preparation is protected by patent # 5,758,569.

Some well-known trademarks associated with turkey and dressing, must-haves at many Thanksgiving tables, are Butterball (registration #1151836) for turkey products. What holiday feast would be complete without cranberry sauce such as Ocean Spray (registration #2150919) Desserts are always the final complement to a Thanksgiving feast. For those that do not bake their own, Sara Lee's slogan for its pies and cakes, "Nobody Doesn't Like Sara Lee," is protected by a trademark (registration #1885156).

• Thanksgiving Day Historic Documents, Photos, & Inventions