Patents Issued the Week of February 24-28

3.3.25

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. 12,233,616 entitled “Apparatus and Method for Automatic Tire Ply Stitching” issued February 25, 2025 to Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations, LLC of Nashville, Tennessee. Invented by Phillip T. Brasher JR. of Nashville, Tennessee; Chad P. Wright of McMinnville, Tennessee; Wesley R. Minton also of McMinnville, Tennessee and Angel M. Carvajal of Mount Juliet, Tennessee. Abstract: An automatic splicing apparatus and methods thereof are provided herein for splicing together two ends of a sheet of tire material on a tire building drum. The apparatus comprises a frame, a splicer foot assembly, and a splicer roller assembly. The frame is configured to support the apparatus relative to the drum. The splicer foot assembly and the splicer roller assembly are independently longitudinally translatable relative to the frame. The splicer foot assembly includes a splicer foot having forward lower preparation rollers and rearward lower splicer rollers, and upper preparation rollers configured to operate in coordination with the forward lower preparation rollers to pull the two ends of the sheet of tire material together over the splicer foot. The splicer roller assembly includes upper splicer rollers configured to act in coordination with the rearward lower splicer rollers to splice the two ends together.

U.S. Patent No. 12,233,657 entitled “Case Cover Binding Apparatus” issued February 25, 2025 to Lightning Source LLC of LaVergne, Tennessee. Invented by Zoran Belevski; Joshua Sanders; Danny Howell and John Kwiatkowski all of LaVergne, Tennessee. Abstract: A system for automated book binding may include a staging platform configured to receive book covers, with first and second walls extending perpendicular to the staging platform, the first wall oriented parallel to the second wall. A controller, in at least an automatic trim adjustment mode, determines one or more book covers as being present upon the staging platform, automatically directs inward movement of at least one of the walls until sensing contact by one or more of the at least one of the walls with the one or more book covers, automatically withdraws the at least one of the walls from a point of contact with the book covers, wherein an operating window is defined by a distance between the walls at the point of contact, and, in sequence, transferring each of the book covers via a lifting arm upward from the staging platform and to a binding unit.