Recently Issued Patents

1.21.22

Patent Protection & Registration

Patents grant property rights on new and useful inventions, allowing the patent holder to prevent others from using, making, or selling that invention without permission for a limited time. U.S. patents are permitted by the U.S. Constitution and are designed to promote scientific progress and invention. By allowing inventors to profit from licensing or selling their patent rights, inventors can recoup their research and development costs and benefit financially from their inventing efforts. There are three main types of patents utility, plant, and design. Utility and plant patents can last up to 20 years, while design patents can last up to 14 years. When a patent expires, the patented material enters the public domain, making it free to use by anyone without a license. U.S. patents are issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

U.S. Patent No. D941,407 entitled “Latch System for Fitness Apparatus” issued January 18, 2022 to MoveStrong functional Fitness Equipment, LLC of Charleston, South Carolina. Invented by Jared Kuka also of Charleston, South Carolina. Claims: What is claimed is the ornamental design for an latch system for fitness apparatus, as shown and described.

U.S. Patent No. 11,228,169 entitled “Combined High and Low Voltage Protection Circuit for Half-Bridge Converter” invented by Universal Lighting Technologies of Madison, Alabama. Invented by Wei Xiong of Madison, Alabama and Danny Pugh of Harvest, Alabama. Abstract: A power converter and method for providing surge protection to the power converter is provided herein. An over voltage protection portion of a protection circuit is coupled between the rail voltage and ground reference of the power converter, and senses a first magnitude of the rail voltage. An under voltage protection portion of the protection circuit is coupled to a controller of the power converter and further between the rail voltage and the ground reference, and senses a second magnitude of the rail voltage to be transmitted to the controller. A regulator block is coupled between the over voltage protection portion and the under voltage protection portion, and is configured to compare the first magnitude of the rail voltage to a reference voltage of the regulator block, and to short circuit the under voltage protection portion when the first magnitude of the rail voltage is greater than the reference voltage.