Middle Tennessee

Nissan North America, Inc., of Franklin had four patents issued:

1. U.S. Patent No. 8,238,571, entitled “Automatic input sensitivity selector for auxiliary devices” invented by Luke S. Blaszczynski of Farmington Hills, Mich.

2. U.S. Patent No. 8,235,568, entitled “Security lighting for a vehicle” invented by Sue Stein of Nashville, Kevin Thompson of Fairview, David Heiden of Clarkston, Mich., Randy Johnson of White Lake, Mich., and Sari Rezzo of Ann Arbor, Mich.

3. U.S. Patent No. 8,235,460, entitled “Vehicle window assembly” invented by Richard Plavetich of Laguna Beach, Cal., and Ching Pin Chang of San Diego, Cal.

4. U.S. Patent No. 8,235,442, entitled “Console lid slide rail attachment” invented by Nicholas Spitler of Farmington Hills, Mich., Nobutaka Takeuchi of Saitama, Japan, and Marius Cociuba of Dearborn, Mich.

Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations, LLC, of Nashville had two patents issued:

1. U.S. Patent No. 8,237,553, entitled “Method for mounting electronic device and antenna in tire” invented by Paul B. Wilson of Tallmadge, Ohio, Russell W. Koch of Hartville, Ohio, and Robert J. Trew of Cary, N.C.

2. U.S. Patent No. 8,236,117, entitled “Chucks and use in processing toroidal structures” invented by William Lutes of Franklin, Amir Serdarevic of Des Moines, Iowa, and John J. Kaiser of Urbandale, Iowa.

Other patents naming inventors from Middle Tennessee:

* U.S. Patent No. D664,822, entitled “Level support clamp” invented by Barry Kent Romine of Hampshire.

* U.S. Patent No. 8,236,316, entitled “Anti-factor XI monoclonal antibodies and methods of use thereof” invented by David Gailani of Franklin, Andras Gruber of Portland, Ore., Erik Ian Tucker of Portland, Ore., and Stephen Raymond Hanson of Beaverton, Ore., and assigned to Vanderbilt University of Nashville, and Oregon Health & Science University of Portland, Ore.

* U.S. Patent No. 8,235,632, entitled “Cargo bag valve deflector” invented by Thomas C. Keenan of Brentwood and assigned to Illinois Tool Works Inc. of Glenview, Ill.

* U.S. Patent No. 8,235,569, entitled “Light assembly for a vehicle” invented by Joe Allen Chambers of Cookeville, Nadeshda Alexsandrovina Zelikovskaya of Northville, Mich., and Felipe De Jesus Domingo Mehado Moya of West Bloomfield, Mich., and assigned to Federal-Mogul Corp. of Southfield, Mich.

* U.S. Patent No. 8,235,155, entitled “Radiator mounting arrangement on utility vehicle” invented by Brent L. Streeter of Clarksville, Brian D. Seegert of Hartford, Wis., and Stephan R. Hayden of Sun Prairie, Wis., and assigned to Deere & Company of Moline, Ill.

* U.S. Patent No. 8,234,943, entitled “Apparatus and method for gyroscopic propulsion” invented by Martin Peng of Kingston and Kelly Tippett of Chandler, Ariz., and assigned to Ganid Productions, LLC, of Mesa, Ariz.

East Tennessee

Eastman Chemical Company of Kingsport had two patents issued:

1. U.S. Patent No. 8,236,921, entitled “Integrated co-production of dicarboxylic acids” invented by Raymond Elbert Fogle, III of Johnson City, Ronald Buford Sheppard of Kingsport, Timothy Alan Upshaw of Kingsport, and Alan George Wonders of Longview, Texas, and assigned to Eastman Chemical Company of Kingsport.

2. U.S. Patent No. 8,236,713, entitled “Water-dispersible and multicomponent fibers from sulfopolyesters” invented by William Alston Haile of Kingsport, Scott Ellery George of Kingsport, Wesley Raymond Hale of Kingsport, and Waylon Lewellyn Jenkins of Kingsport, and assigned to Eastman Chemical Company of Kingsport.

Other patents naming inventors from East Tennessee:

* U.S. Patent No. 8,239,846, entitled “Device for performing parallel processing of distributed arrays” invented by Piotr R. Luszczek of Knoxville, John N. Little of Sherborn, Mass., Jocelyn Luke Martin of Burwell, Gr. Brit., Halldor N. Stefansson of Natick, Mass., Edric Ellis of Cambs, Gr. Brit., Penelope L. Anderson of Newton, Mass., Brett Baker of Framingham, Mass., Loren Dean of Natick, Mass., and Roy E. Lurie of Wayland, Mass., and assigned to The MathWorks, Inc. of Natick, Mass.

* U.S. Patent No. 8,239,845, entitled “Media for using parallel processing constructs” invented by Piotr R. Luszczek of Knoxville, John N. Little of Sherborn, Mass., Jocelyn Luke Martin of Burwell, Great Britain, Halldor N. Stefansson of Natick, Mass., Edric Ellis of Cambs, Great Britain, Brett Baker of Framingham, Mass., Loren Dean of Natick, Mass., Roy E. Lurie of Wayland, Mass., Joseph F. Hicklin of Upton, Mass., and Nausheen B. Moulana of Southboro, Mass., and assigned to The MathWorks, Inc., of Natick, Mass.

* U.S. Patent No. 8,239,844, entitled “Method of using parallel processing constructs and dynamically allocating program portions” invented by Piotr R. Luszczek of Knoxville, John N. Little of Sherborn, Mass., Jocelyn Luke Martin of Burwell, Great Britain, Halldor N. Stefansson of Natick, Mass., Edric Ellis of Cambs, Great Britain, Brett Baker of Framingham, Mass., Loren Dean of Natick, Mass., Roy E. Lurie of Wayland, Mass., Joseph F. Hicklin of Upton, Mass., and Nausheen B. Moulana of Southboro, Mass., and assigned to The MathWorks, Inc., of Natick, Mass.

* U.S. Patent No. 8,237,051, entitled “Flat wire extension cords and extension cord devices” invented by Robert Jay Sexton of Hendersonville, Stuart Wallace Thorn of Chattanooga, Fred Lane Martin of Carrollton, Ga., and Charles Alexander Garris, III of Carrollton, Ga., and assigned to Newire, Inc., of Knoxville.

* U.S. Patent No. 8,236,142, entitled “Process for transporting and quenching coke” invented by Richard Westbrook of Knoxville and assigned to Westbrook Thermal Technology, LLC, of Knoxville.

* U.S. Patent No. 8,235,338, entitled “Swing support connector” invented by Brian Henry of Fort Payne, Ala., and assigned to PlayCore of Chattanooga.

* U.S. Patent No. 8,235,253, entitled “Easy shift dual-mode pistol-grip grease gun” invented by Don K. Shinn, Jr. of Jonesborough, Jerry D. Shew of Charlotte, N.C., and Christopher W. Joseph of Pineville, N.C., and assigned to Alemite LLC of Fort Smith, S.C.

* U.S. Patent No. 8,235,092, entitled “Insulated investment casting mold and method of making” invented by David H. Scott of Bristol, and assigned to Minop Co. of Midway.

* U.S. Patent No. 8,234,967, entitled “Portable protection device” invented by John Carberry of Talbott, George Forsythe of Landenberg, Pa., Harvey Kliman of Hamilton, N.Y., Katherine Leighton of Newark, Del., John Garnier, of Newark, Del., Ray Ballario of Prospect Park, Pa., Wiktor Serafin of Boothwyn, Pa., and Jason Ickes of Secane, Pa., and assigned to Dynamic Defense Materials, LLC, of Marlton, N.J.

* U.S. Patent No. 8,234,861, entitled “Free flow hydro-powered hydraulic ram” invented by Clarence Edward Frye of Blountville.

* U.S. Patent No. 8,234,826, entitled “Hold down clip” invented by Ray A. Proffitt of Knoxville.

* U.S. Patent No. 8,234,815, entitled “Terraced garden planter” invented by Wilson A. Felknor of Lenoir City, James Robert Ferron of Loudon, and Benjamin James Ferron, legal representative of Pittsburg, Pa., and assigned to Felknor Ventures LLC of Knoxville.

West Tennessee

MSD Consumer Care, Inc. of Memphis had two patents issued:

1. U.S. Patent No. D664,855, entitled “Bottle” invented by Lee D. Stouch of Lakeland, Robert C. Johnson of Memphis, Jacob Teitelbaum of Chicago, Ill., Scott Jost of Chicago, Ill., and Carolyn A. DeMaere of New York, N.Y.

2. U.S. Patent No. D664,754, entitled “Insole” invented by Richard T. Avent of Memphis, Karla Klein of New York, N.Y., Pamela Curtiss of New York, N.Y., Brendan Reilly of New York, N.Y., Theresa Chee of New York, N.Y., Swapna Purani of Maplewood, N.J., Leanne Blair of Morristown, N.J., David Contract of Westfield, N.J., Christopher Cortina of Bridgewater, N.J., and Elizabeth Morgan of New York, N.Y.

Other patents naming inventors from West Tennessee:

* U.S. Patent No. D664,840, entitled “Smokeless tobacco can” invented by William Michael Jones of Millington and Joseph Patrick Hettinger of Winston-Salem, N.C.

* U.S. Patent No. 8,239,169, entitled “Portable computing device and method for asset management in a logistics system” invented by Timothy L. Gregory of Collierville, Andy N. Lemmon of Collierville, James Marshall Veitenheimer of Arlington, James Randy Jacobs of Collierville, and Miley E. Ainsworth of Hernando, Miss.

* U.S. Patent No. 8,236,349, entitled “Taste-masked drugs in rupturing multiparticulates” invented by Joseph P. Reo of Lakeland, Leah Elizabeth Appel of Bend, Ore., Dwayne Thomas Friesen of Bend, Ore., Edward Dennis LaChapelle of Bend, Ore., Sanjay Konagurthu of Bend, Ore., and Richard Frank Falk of Bend, Ore., and assigned to Bend Research Inc. of Bend, Ore.

* U.S. Patent No. 8,236,338, entitled “Adhesive composition for carrying therapeutic agents as delivery vehicle on coatings applied to vascular grafts” invented by Waldemar G. DeRijk of Bartlett, Timothy C. Fabian of Memphis, Lisa Kyle Jennings of Memphis, Omran R. Abul-Khoudoud of Ashland, Ky., and Catherine Cagiannos of Cincinnati, Ohio, and assigned to The University of Tennessee Research Foundation of Knoxville.

* U.S. Patent No. 8,236,139, entitled “Apparatus for improving basis weight uniformity with deckle wave control” invented by David V. Reed of Cincinnati, Ohio, and assigned to International Paper Company of Memphis.

* U.S. Patent No. 8,235,998, entitled “Instruments and methods for in situ bending of an elongate spinal implant” invented by Keith E. Miller of Germantown and Charles A. Dickinson of Bartlett and assigned to Warsaw Orthopedic, Inc., of Warsaw, Ind.

* U.S. Patent No. 8,235,994, entitled “External fixator” invented by Shane M. Hollawell of Wall, N.J., and assigned to Wright Medical Technology, Inc., of Arlington.

* U.S. Patent No. 8,234,847, entitled “Automatic connection mechanism for mid-mounted implement” invented by Harlin J. Trefz of Jackson, Robert Neil Fox of Appling, Ga., Eric A. Howard of Lincolnton, Ga., Carlos A. Diaz of Trenton, S.C., and Benjamin J. Swart of Allenton, Wis., and assigned to Deere & Company of Moline, Ill.

Compiled by Matthew C. Cox of intellectual property law firm Waddey & Patterson P.C.