Middle Tennessee
Vanderbilt University was issued U.S. Patent No. 7,930,948, entitled “Device for leaching extraction and assessment” and invented by Leslie M. Shor and Andrew Garrabrants of Nashville and David S. Kosson of Brentwood.
Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations LLC of Nashville was issued U.S. Patent No. D636,721, entitled “Tire Tread” and invented by William J. Wallet of Marshallville, Ohio, Jeffrey D. Parker, John J. Regallis and Andrew T. Miklic, all of Akron, and Nobuo Shimizu of Saitama Prefecture, Japan.
Other patents naming inventors from Middle Tennessee:
• U.S. Patent No. 7,931,725, entitled “Fluted filter apparatus” and invented by Gene W. Brown of Franklin, Robert M. Wydeven of Eagan, Minn., and Steven J. Merritt of Kearney, Neb., and assigned to Baldwin Filters Inc. of Kearney.
• U.S. Patent No. 7,931,244, entitled “Device for equidistant bracketing of fixtures” and invented by Mark Evan Sipe of Only.
East Tennessee
UT-Battelle LLC of Oak Ridge had two patents:
• U.S. Patent No. 7,932,828, entitled “Space charge dosimeters for extremely low power measurements of radiation in shipping containers” and invented by Charles L. Britton Jr. of Alcoa, Mark A. Buckner of Oak Ridge, Gregory R. Hanson of Clinton, and William L. Bryan of Knoxville.
• U.S. Patent No. 7,931,790, entitled “Methods for forming small-volume electrical contacts and material manipulations with fluidic microchannels” and invented by Stephen C. Jacobson and J. Michael Ramsey of Knoxville, Christopher T. Culbertson of Oak Ridge, William B. Whitten of Lancing, and Robert S. Foote of Oak Ridge.
Other patents naming inventors from East Tennessee:
• U.S. Patent No. 7,932,703, entitled “System and method for switch mode power supply delay compensation” and invented by Stephen Terry and Richard K. Stair of Knoxville, Paul L. Brohlin of Parker, Texas, and assigned to Texas Instruments Inc. of Dallas.
• U.S. Patent No. 7,932,437, entitled “Designer proton-channel transgenic algae for photobiological hydrogen production” and invented by James Weifu Lee of Knoxville.
• U.S. Patent No. 7,932,345, entitled “Aluminum containing polyester polymers having low acetaldehyde generation rates” and invented by Mary Therese Jernigan and Rodney Scott Armentrout of Kingsport, Kenrick Venett of Blountville, and Bruce Roger DeBruin of Lexington, S.C., and assigned to Grupo Petrotemex S.A. de C.V. of San Pedro Garza Garcia, Mexico.
• U.S. Patent No. 7,931,192, entitled “Apparatus for assistance in reading information from identification cards” and invented by Kim Emery Pouncey of Louisville, and assigned to Straight UP LLC of Knoxville.
• U.S. Patent No. 7,931,164, entitled “Foldable portable container” and invented by Christopher G. Krohn of Knoxville.
• U.S. Patent No. 7,930,981, entitled “Adjustable riffler assembly” and invented by Lonnie A. Coffey of Knoxville and Robert L. Frank of Spring City.
• U.S. Patent No. 7,930,848, entitled “Modular fire control assembly for a handgun” and invented by Mark Dye Jr. of Louisville.
West Tennessee
Warsaw Orthopedic Inc. of Warsaw, Ind., was issued two patents:
• U.S. Patent No. 7,931,681, entitled “Anti-backout mechanism for an implant fastener” and invented by Thomas Carls of Memphis, Eric C. Lange of Collierville and Kent M. Anderson of Memphis.
• U.S. Patent No. 7,931,676, entitled “Vertebral stabilizer” and invented by Michael S. Veldman of Memphis and Jonathan Dewey of Memphis.
Other patents naming inventors from East Tennessee:
• U.S. Patent No. 7,933,845, entitled “Image-customization of computer-based value-bearing items” and invented by John Michael Boswell of Collierville, J.P. Leon of Marina del Rey, Calif., John Roland Clem of Hermosa Beach, Calif., Richard Stables of Venice, Calif., Kyle Huebner of Manhattan Beach, Calif., Daniel David Farino of Santa Monica, Calif., and Kenneth Thomas McBride of Hermosa Beach, Calif., and assigned to Stamps.com Inc. of Los Angeles.
• U.S. Patent No. 7,931,842, entitled “System and method for making sheets, films, and objects directly from polymerization processes” and invented by Nicholas Barakat of Germantown and William M. Karszes of Rosewell, Ga., and assigned to Chemlink Capital Ltd. of Stamford, Conn.
• U.S. Patent No. 7,931,652, entitled “Orthopaedic plate and screw assembly” and invented by Joseph Ferrante of Bartlett and Angie Mines of Mason and assigned to Smith & Nephew Inc. of Memphis.
• U.S. Patent No. 7,931,532, entitled “Randomly awarded progressive jackpots” and invented by Bradley W. Johnson of Henderson, and assigned to Paltronics Inc. of Las Vegas.
— Compiled by Matthew C. Cox of intellectual property law firm Waddey & Patterson P.C. [2]