Patents Issued the Week of March 17-21

3.28.25

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 15 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. 12,251,495 entitled “Bone Grinder Promoting Bone Osteoinductivity” issued March 18, 2025 to Thomas Matthew Industries, Inc. of Brentwood, Tennessee. Invented by Thomas L. Meredith of Brentwood, Tennessee. Abstract: A bone grinder may have a grinding chamber, an intermediate zone, and a primary cutting element and a secondary cutting element. The intermediate zone may have a first wall and a second wall within the grinding chamber, and the intermediate zone may separate the primary cutting element from the secondary cutting element. The first wall and the second wall may slope inward such that a distance between the first wall and the second wall generally decreases from the primary cutting element to the secondary cutting element. The primary cutting element and the secondary cutting element may be positioned within the grinding chamber to sequentially perform primary cutting operations and secondary cutting operations on a bone. A drive mechanism may operatively engage the primary cutting element and the secondary cutting element.

U.S. Patent No. 12,253,166 entitled “Earth Working Machine Having a Shiftable Transmission Between a Drive Motor and a Rotatable Working Apparatus” issued March 18, 2025 to Wirtgen GmbH of Windhagen, Germany. Invented by Christian Berning of Zülpich, Germany; Tobias Stinner of Weyerbusch, Germany; Cyrus Barimani of Königswinter, Germany and Hardy Wilhelmi of Dattenberg, Germany. Abstract: An earth working machine (10), encompassing a drive motor (42) and a working apparatus (22) drivable by the drive motor (42) so as to move rotationally, the drive motor (42) being connected to the working apparatus (22), for transfer of a torque, with interposition of a shiftable transmission (50; 150) comprising at least two gearing stages having different torque transfer ratios, is characterized in that by means of a first gearing stage of the shiftable transmission (50), an input shaft (48), coupled on the input side to the drive motor (42), of the shiftable transmission (50) is connectable in torque-transferring fashion directly to an output shaft (52), coupled on the output side to the working apparatus (22), of the shiftable transmission (50) so as to rotate together at the same rotation speed; and by means of a second gearing stage of the shiftable transmission (50), the input shaft (48) is connectable in torque-transferring fashion, with interposition of a transmission assemblage (64), to the output shaft (52) so as to rotate together at different rotation speeds.