CATEGORIES

Patents Issued the Week of June 30-July 4

7.2.25

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. 12,346,762 entitled “Tire Provided with a Temporary Identification Label” issued July 1, 2025 to Bridgestone Europe NV/SA [BE/BE] of Zaventem, Belgium. Invented by Francesco Iozia and Maria Cristina Caccami both of Roma, Italy and Daniel Ghislain Devogelaer of Zaventem, Belgium. Abstract: A tire comprises a toroidal carcass, which has a central cavity and at least one body ply, which is partially folded onto itself and, hence, laterally has two turn-ups, each having an edge of the body ply resting against an intermediate portion of the body ply. Two annular beads are each surrounded by the body ply and having a bead core and a bead filler. An identification label is fixed in a removable manner, for example by gluing, and arranged in the area of an annular bead and supports a temporary RFID device, which can be read from a distance.

U.S. Patent No. 12,345,804 entitled “Systems and Methods for Adjusting Vehicle Lane Position” issued July 1, 2025 to Deere & Company of Moline, Illinois. Invented by Scott Bergen of New Canaan, Connecticut. Abstract: The present disclosure includes systems and methods for adjusting the lane position of a vehicle. A radar system positioned on a first vehicle is configured to transmit radio waves and receive reflections of the radio waves, which produces radar data indicative of the reflections. At least one controller of the first vehicle is configured to identify at least one radar marker based on the radar data and to determine the location of the identified marker. The at least one controller is further configured to decode encoded information of the radar marker, where the information may indicate a condition associated with the roadway on which the vehicle is traveling. The at least one controller may then adjust the lane position of the vehicle based on the location of the marker and any decoded information.

U.S. Patent No. 12,344,202 entitled “Selectively Implementing Automated Cleaning Routines During Unloading Cycles for Transport Vehicles” issued July 1, 2025 to Deere & Company of Moline, Illinois. Invented by Michael D. Peat of Dubuque, Iowa. Abstract: A system and method are provided for automated cleaning of a loading container of a transport vehicle (e.g., dump truck, ejector, scraper), wherein the loading container includes controllable elements (e.g., hydraulic lift cylinders for a truck bin, an ejector blade) for transitioning between loaded and unloaded states. Characteristics of carryback material remaining in the loading container are estimated during a detected unloaded state of the transport vehicle, wherein whether to initiate an automated cleaning stage is determined based on at least one of the estimated characteristics. Upon determining to initiate the automated cleaning stage, performance of a cleaning routine is automatically directed during or in association with an unloading stage for the loading container via the controllable elements. The elements are controlled during the cleaning routine in accordance with a severity level selected from among various progressively increasing severity levels based on at least one of the estimated characteristics.