Recently Issued Patents

10.21.22

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. D967,209 entitled “Chisel Holder” issued October 18, 2022 to Wirtgen GmbH of Windhagen, Germany. Invented by Karsten Buhr of Willroth, Germany and Andreas Jost of Koenigswinter, Germany. What is claimed is the ornamental design for a chisel holder, as shown and described.

U.S. Patent No. 11,472,237 entitled “Tire Damage Detection System and Method” issued October 18, 2022 to Bridgestone Europe NV/SA of Zaventem, Belgian. Invented by Lorenzo Alleva of Roma, Italy and Marco Pascucci also of Roma, Italy. The invention concerns a tire damage detection system (1,1A) that includes an acquisition device (11), a processing system (12,12A) and a notification device (13,13A). The acquisition device (11) is installed on board a motor vehicle (2) equipped with two or more wheels fitted with tires, is coupled to a vehicle bus (20) of the motor vehicle (2), and is configured to acquire, from the vehicle bus (20), a signal indicative of a speed of a wheel of the motor vehicle (2) and output quantities indicative of the wheel speed. The processing system (12,12A) is configured to store a predefined tire damage model and to receive, from the acquisition device (11), the quantities indicative of the wheel speed, and is programmed to compute, based on the quantities indicative of the wheel speed, a normalized wheel speed indicative of a ratio of the wheel speed to an average wheel speed indicative of motor vehicle speed, and detect a potential damage to a tire of the wheel of the motor vehicle (2) based on the predefined tire damage model and on the normalized wheel speed. The notification device (13,13A) is configured to, if a potential damage to the tire of the wheel of the motor vehicle (2) is detected by the processing system (12,12A), signal the detected potential damage to a user (3) associated with the motor vehicle (2). In particular, according to the present invention, the processing system (12) is a cloud computing system (12A) that is wirelessly and remotely connected to the acquisition device (11), while the notification device (13) is an electronic communication device (13A) associated with the user (3) and remotely connected to the cloud computing system (12A) via one or more wired and/or wireless networks.

U.S. Patent No. D967,465 entitled “Perforated Decking” issued October 18, 2022 to Nashville Wire Products Manufacturing Company, LLC of Nashville, Tennessee. Invented by Phillip Kent Rollins of Nashville, Tennessee and Randall Louis Berg of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. What is claimed is the ornamental design for a perforated decking, as shown and described.

U.S. Patent No. 11,473,250 entitled “Placer Spreader with Adjustable Strike Off” issued October 18, 2022 to Wirtgen GmbH, Windhagen, Germany. Invented by Kevin Schenkelberg of Hartenfels, Germany. A strike off assembly for a placer spreader apparatus includes a strike off support beam and left and right side plate assemblies attached to ends of the support beam. A strike off plate assembly includes a left strike off plate portion and a right strike off plate portion pivotably connected together. A plurality of strike off actuators are connected to the strike off plate assembly and configured to raise and lower the strike off plate assembly relative to the support beam to vary a height of a material placement space.

U.S. Patent No. 11,470,898 entitled “Pre-knotted Adjustable Necktie” issued October 18, 2022 to John William Dodd of Nashville, Tennessee. Also invented by John William Dodd. A pre-knotted adjustable necktie eliminates the difficulty of tying a knot with a panel of flexible material, and preserves the adjustability of a conventional necktie. The pre-knotted adjustable necktie includes: a panel of flexible material, having a proximal blade end portion, a distal tail end portion, and a middle portion; a passage through the flexible material at a location in the tail end portion proximate to the middle portion; a coupling member connecting edges of the middle portion to form a first loop; a knot having the tail end portion extending through the first loop to form a second loop, and the blade end portion extended through the first loop to form a third loop; and a neck loop formed by an extension of the tail end portion through the second loop and the third loop, and the tail end portion further extended through the passage.

U.S. Patent No. 11,472,513 entitled “Nautical Cleat Installable on a Boat and Boat Comprising Said Nautical Cleat” issued October 18, 2022 to Cristiano Bonomi of Milano, Italy. Also invented by Cristiano Bonomi. A nautical cleat is provided for tying a rope of a boat. First and second shafts are installable on a deck via first and second positioning elements, respectively, and further support first and second tying elements, respectively. A transverse body mechanically connects said first and second tying elements. Fastening means securely fasten said first and second positioning elements to said deck. A first roller-shaped towing element tows and rolls up said rope and is rotatable about a first rotation axis defined by said first shaft. A second roller-shaped towing element is rotatable about a second rotation axis defined by said second shaft and substantially parallel to said first rotation axis. An actuating device comprises at least one motor operatively connected to said first and/or second roller-shaped towing element. Connecting means connect the actuating device to said deck, wherein said actuating device is placed in a position underlying said lower surface. A spherical joint, operatively interposed between the first shaft and the transverse body, allows the rotation of the transverse body with respect to said first shaft, around at least one substantially horizontal axis.