A survey of the U.S. Patent Office’s list of assignments of patents toPennsylvanians during the month of September reveals a state ofinvention that would make Benjamin Franklin proud.
The United States Patent Office assigned some 185 patents to innovative Pennsylvania organizations and individuals last month. Although a month’s numbers represent only a snapshot of the process that goes on continuously throughout the year, Keystone inventors were being rewarded for bright ideas all across the state.
Some organizations received protection for multiple inventions, including Siemens Medical Solutions of Malvern, which was assigned nine patents in September. Its new proprietary rights cover such things as a system for tumor segmentation, a new design for ultrasound transducers, a system and method for displaying medical images in panorama, and a system to create stable camera optics.
Air Products and Chemicals of Allentown was also a nine-patent winner during the month, covering such things as a fluorination process, a process for generating hydrogen, and other innovations.
Among the state’s research universities, the University of Pennsylvania’s trustees were assigned seven patents, including one for a system of 4-dimensional image mapping and another for the control of expression in genes. The University of Pittsburgh received protection for three inventions, including a protein that targets viruses. Carnegie Mellon University received one patent last month.
Many smaller Pennsylvania companies also got protection for new ideas, including X2Y Attenuators of Erie (3), Agere Systems of Allentown (3), and ChemImage of Pittsburgh (3), which brings to 61 the number of patents held by ChemImage.
While most patent assignments go to organizations where the inventors are employees, Renee and Mark Starr of Fort Washington received a patent for a system and method of processing items that customers return to stores.
Hi-tech, complicated systems dominate the September filings, but some relatively simple devices also show up on the list. Baseball players take note: Penguin Brands of Sharon Hill gained a patent for a universal cleat that can be used on many different baseball shoes. And some inventors are thinking about younger kids too. Bachman Industries gained a patent for a new toy-train track, and Graco Children’s Products of Exton now owns a child-resistant assembly for a car seat as well as new designs for a stroller frame, a highchair, and a play yard.
Speaking of driving around, Potters Industries Inc. of Berwyn keeps an eye on highway construction in Pennsylvania and elsewhere. It received two patents that protect a new dispenser and method for marking highways.
Source: U.S. Patent Office
Writer: Joseph Plummer