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. 11,499,634 entitled “Gasket Seal for Spin-on Filter Housing” issued November 15, 2022 to Eric Cooper Pride of Nashville, Tennessee; Derek Keith of Portland, Tennessee and Jay Michael Cooper of Goodlettsville, Tennessee. Also invented by Eric Cooper Pride; Derek Keith and Jay Michael Cooper. Briefly, the present invention relates, in one embodiment, to a gasket for sealing a filter housing to a filter mount. The gasket may have an upper body and a lower body which seals between the filter housing and filter head. The gasket may include chamfered surfaces to allow for properly sealing against manufacturing tolerances, and may include an annular groove which receives the filter housing and stabilizes the gasket during installation.

U.S. Patent No. 11,497,652 entitled “Auto-replenishing, Wound-dressing Apparatus and Method” issued November 15, 2022 to Aplion Medical Corporation of Salt Lake City, Utah. Invented by Sai Bhavaraju of West Jordan, Utah and John Howard Gordon; Jeremy Heiser and Ashok V. Joshi all of Salt Lake City, Utah. Apparatus and methods to treat skin defects include a pump with reservoirs for pressurization gas and a fluid. Upon activation, the pump generates a gas introduced into the gas reservoir, a movable wall of which displaces a movable wall of a fluid source, thus dispensing the fluid into the dressing to spread throughout irrespective of orientation of the dressing, maintaining a transport fluid (e.g. carrier) in the dressing and in contact with a skin defect being treated. The dressing may have a distribution network, and multiple members, dispensing the fluid into the dressing and in contact with a skin defect being treated.

U.S. Patent No. 11,499,899 entitled “Wear Component of a Milling Machine, Milling Machine, and Method for Determining the Wear on the Wear Component” issued November 15, 2022 to Wirtgen GmbH of Windhagen, Germany. Invented by Lothar Schwalbach of Asbach, Germany and Matthias Brück of Siegburg, Germany. The invention relates to a wear component of a milling machine, to a milling machine equipped with such a wear component, and to a method for determining the wear on a wear component. The wear component has associated with it at least one contactlessly readable electronic component for determining the wear on the wear component. Provision is made according to the present invention that at least one sensor is connected to at least one contactlessly readable electronic component for the transfer of data; that the contactlessly readable electronic component is embodied to receive measured data of the sensor and furnish them for contactless reading; and that at least one measurement portion of the sensor is guided, along at least one wear direction to be monitored, into a wear region or along the wear region of the wear component. The invention makes possible a better milling result as a result of optimized maintenance.

U.S. Patent No. D969,953 entitled “Shotgun Forend Light” issued November 15, 2022 to Tractor Supply Company of Brentwood, Tennessee. Invented by Christian D. Fogg of Columbia, Tennessee; Spencer Carpenter of Lewisburg, Tennessee and Mitchell Loren Wilgus of Spring Hill, Tennessee. What is claimed is the ornamental design for a shotgun forend light, as shown and described.

U.S. Patent No. D969,954 entitled “Shotgun Forend Light” issued November 15, 2022 to Tractor Supply Company of Brentwood, Tennessee. Invented by Christian D. Fogg of Columbia, Tennessee; Spencer Carpenter of Lewisburg, Tennessee and Mitchell Loren Wilgus of Spring Hill, Tennessee. What is claimed is the ornamental design for a shotgun forend light, as shown and described.

U.S. Patent No. D970,075 entitled “Mirror Light” issued November 15, 2022 to Tractor Supply Company of Brentwood, Tennessee. Invented by Christian Fogg of Columbia, Tennessee; Ty Rager of Brentwood, Tennessee; Brian Kennemer of Columbia, Tennessee and Fan Shi Jun of Baiyun District, China. What is claimed is the ornamental design for a mirror light, as shown and described.

U.S. Patent No. 11,499,277 entitled “Construction Machines” issued November 15, 2022 to Wirtgen GmbH of Windhagen, Germany. Invented by Tobias Stinner of Nister, Germany; Christian Berning of Zülpich, Germany and Andreas Salz of Neustadt (Wied), Germany. In a self-propelled construction machine (1), in particular road milling machine, stabilizer, recycler or surface miner, comprising a machine frame (2), and at least one working device (6), in particular milling drum, which is arranged in a housing (4) open towards the bottom that is at least partially closed on at least one side by at least one edge protector (8) height-adjustable relative to the machine frame (2), wherein, for the purpose of height adjustment, at least one first lifting device (10) is provided, the first end (15) of which is connected to the machine frame (2), and the second end (16) of which is connected to the height-adjustable edge protector (8), it is provided for the following features to be achieved: a second lifting device (12) is provided, the first end (18) of which is connected to the machine frame (2), and the second end (20) of which is connected to a first end (22) of a transmission device (14), which is in turn connected, with a second end (24), to the height-adjustable edge protector (8).