Sivantos/Widex Has a Lot of Clout by Any Measure
The M&A of Widex and Sivantos was May’s big news in the hearing aid world. The new entity (name as yet undisclosed) is predicted take the new Denmark-Singapore headquartered entity to 29% global market share, making it the top player among major hearing aid manufacturers (Bernstein, June 1 20181), ahead of 25% market share for Sonova and William Demant, respectively.
Formidable market position for the merged company is manifest in the patent portfolio. At the time of writing, Widex+Sivantos has about 650 patents in force, besting its nearest hearing aid manufacturing rival2 by more than 40%. As a whole, the Big 6 portfolio has consistently added about 200 patents per year to the industry in recent times (see feature image). The new entity owns for more than half of all patents in force in the total portfolio (just under 1300).
Hearables: Protection and Privacy
Bullet-Proof Hearing
Smaller players continue to enter the ear, if not the hearing aid manufacturing space. Last month’s patent list noted a variety of ear devices that covered or sat in the ear while performing a variety of tasks. This month is no different. Consider USPTO #9956119 (Fig 2) which looks like a bullet but may act like an ear protector. In a strange case of science imitating life, the inventors provide background for utility, if not efficacy, of the device:
Figure 2. Bullet shaped ear protector.
“Historically, bullets have been used as ear plugs. Military service members have been known to use rifle bullets as ear plugs both in time of war and in time of peace. Bullets present an easy means for removing them from a user’s ears since they are firm and easy to grab. However, the metal ends inserted into the ear canal are uncomfortable to wear. What is needed is an ear plug with a soft elastomeric insert which is comfortable to wear with a metal outer casing presenting an easy means for removal.”
Who are You, Really?
What do you think about developing a Hearable that detects and calls out automated voice assistants? This questions stems from the ethical outcry to Google’s demo of its Duplex artificial intelligence (AI) software last month, in which phone receptionists were unaware that they were conversing with a computer. Communication is at least a two-way street, not counting assistants.
We humans must provide evidence of our mortal beings (“I am not a robot”) before many Internet sites agree to converse with us. Shouldn’t it work the same in reverse. It’s nice to think that future audio input to our ears will carry some means of identifying human versus robot assistants. There are a number of privacy issues contained in patent pending applications and this seems like one more avenue worth exploring and nailing down.
The May Patent List
|
Description |
Patent Number |
Assignee |
Issued |
|
Bullet ear plug |
2 Monkey Trading, LLC (Orlando, FL) |
5/01/2018 |
|
|
Tonal deafness compensation in an auditory prosthesis system |
Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, NSW, AU) |
5/01/2018 |
|
|
Wearable electronic device having ornamental and deployment modes |
Tinsel Inc. (San Francisco, CA) |
5/01/2018 |
|
|
In-ear headphones having a flexible nozzle and related methods |
Skullcandy, inc. (Park City, UT) |
5/01/2018 |
|
|
Omni-directional perception in a binaural hearing aid system |
GN Hearing A/S (Ballerup, DK) |
5/01/2018 |
|
|
RF antenna and hearing device with RF antenna |
Oticon /S (Smorum, DK) |
5/01/2018 |
|
|
Hearing aid sleeve |
IntriCon Corp (Arden Hills, MN) |
5/01/2018 |
|
|
Optical microphone for implantable hearing instrument |
Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, NSW, AU) |
5/08/2018 |
|
|
Off-ear and on-ear headphone detection |
Avnera Corp (Beaverton, OR) |
5/08/2018 |
|
|
Binaural hearing assistance operation |
Bose Corp (Framingham, MA) |
5/08/2018 |
|
|
Multi-mode radio for hearing assistance devices |
Starkey Laboratories, Inc. (Eden Prairie, MN) |
5/08/2018 |
|
|
Alerting system for deaf or hard of hearing people and application software to be implemented in an electronic device |
Bellman & Symfon Europe AB (V. Froelunda, SE) |
5/08/2018 |
|
|
Hearing device |
Oticon A/S (Smorum, DK) |
5/08/2018 |
|
|
Over ear fuzzy ear cushions and on ear fuzzy ear cushions for audio headphones |
Muzik, Inc. (Raleigh, NC) |
5/08/2018 |
|
|
Ear plug |
Dynamic Ear Company BV (Delft, NL) |
5/08/2018 |
|
|
Methods for controlled proliferation of stem cells / generating inner ear hair cells using 3-(pyridin-2-yl)-1H-indol-2-ol based compounds |
Frequency Therapeutics, Inc. (Woburn, MA) |
5/08/2018 |
|
|
Implantable hearing assistance apparatus and corresponding systems and methods |
Advanced Bionics AG (Staefa, CH) |
5/15/2018 |
|
|
Wearable power harvesting system |
Drexel University (Philadelphia, PA) |
5/15/2018 |
|
|
Antenna for use in a wearable device |
Bragi BmbH (Munchen, DE) |
5/15/2018 |
|
|
Earbud set, and hearing aid and earphone using same |
Goelbio Co. Ltd. (Incheon, KR) |
5/15/2018 |
|
|
Ear gear with earpieces interconnected through headband with two legs |
Zound Industries International AB (Stockholm, SE) |
5/15/2018 |
|
|
Method for operating a hearing aid and hearing aid |
Sivantos PTE. Ltd. (Singapore, SG) |
5/15/2018 |
|
|
Hearing device including antenna unit |
Oticon A/S (Smorum, DK) |
5/15/2018 |
|
|
Vehicle to vehicle communications using ear pieces |
Bragi BmbH (Munchen, DE) |
5/22/2018 |
|
|
Normalization of soundfield orientations based on auditory scene analysis |
Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corp. (San Francisco, CA) |
5/22/2018 |
|
|
Hearing system and finger ring for the hearing system |
Assignees: Rohm Co., Ltd. (Kyoto, JP) & Finewell Co.,. Ltd. (Osaka, JP) |
5/22/2018 |
|
|
Headphone off-ear detection |
Avnera Corp. (Beaverton, OR) |
5/22/2018 |
|
|
Hearing aid system and a method of programming a hearing aid device |
Oticon A/S (Smorum, DK) |
5/22/2018 |
|
|
Hearing device and a hearing system configured to localize a sound source |
Oticon A/S (Smorum, DK) |
5/22/2018 |
|
|
Method, device, and system for suppressing feedback in hearing aid devices with adaptive split-band frequency |
Sivantos PTE. Ltd. (Singapore, SG) |
5/22/2018 |
|
|
Predictive power adjustment in an auditory prosthesis |
Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, NSW, AU) |
5/22/2018 |
|
|
Method for selecting transmission direction in a binaural hearing aid |
Oticon A/S (Smorum, DK) |
5/22/2018 |
|
|
Hearing assistance system and method |
Sonova AG (Staefa, CH) |
5/22/2018 |
|
|
Binaural hearing aid device |
Oticon A/S (Smorum, DK) |
5/22/2018 |
|
|
Hearing aid and method for producing a hearing aid |
Sivantos PTE. Ltd. (Singapore, SG) |
5/22/2018 |
|
|
Method and apparatus for integrating a living-hinge in a hearing instrument |
Starkey Laboratories, Inc. (Eden Prairie, MN) |
5/22/2018 |
|
|
Ball and socket connection with an acoustic seal and mounting interface for a hearing assistance device |
Starkey Laboratories, Inc. (Eden Prairie, MN) |
5/22/2018 |
|
|
Hearing device with a wax guard, and wax guard |
Sivantos PTE. Ltd. (Singapore, SG) |
5/22/2018 |
|
|
Interface device and method between electronic device and external device using ear jack of the electronic device |
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (Suwon-si, KR) |
5/29/2018 |
|
|
Binaural hearing system and a hearing device comprising a beamformer unit |
Oticon /S (Smorum, DK) |
5/29/2018 |
|
|
Radio frequency MEMS devices for improved wireless performance for hearing assistance devices |
Starkey Laboratories, Inc. (Eden Prairie, MN) |
5/29/2018 |
|
|
Earphones with ear presence sensors |
Apple Inc. (Cupertino, CA) |
5/29/2018 |
Editor’s note: Interested readers can click the following links for patents approved in April 2018, Q1 2018, Nov/Dec 2017, October 2017, September 2017, August 2017, June/July 2017, May 2017, April 2017, March 2017, February 2017, January 2017, December 2016, November 2016, October 2016, Sept 2016, Jul/Aug 2016, May/Jun 2016, Mar/Apr 2016, Jan/Feb 2016, Nov/Dec 2015, Sept/Oct 2015, Jul/Aug 2015, May/Jun 2015, Mar/Apr 2015, Jan/Feb 2015, Nov/Dec 2014, Sep/Oct 2014, July/Aug 2014, May/Jun 2014, Mar/Apr 2014, Jan/Feb 2014, Nov/Dec 2013, September/October 2013, Jul/Aug 2013, May/Jun 2013, Mar/Apr 2013, Jan/Feb 2013, Nov/Dec 2012
References & Footnotes
1Clive LB, Wielechowski R, Morse A. Hearing Aids: A closer look at the merger of Sivantos and Widex. A new #1 with a disruptive vision of the future. Bernstein, June 1 2018
2 CI patents not included in tallies.
Holly Hosford-Dunn, PhD, owned and operated a dispensing audiology practice in Tucson and was active in management of HearingHealthMatters.org through 2017. She holds BA degrees in communication sciences, psychology and economics; MA in communication disorders; PhD in Hearing Sciences. Following post-doctoral work at Max Planck Institute (Germany) and Eaton-Peabody Auditory Physiology Lab (Boston), she joined the Stanford medical school faculty as director of audiology. She has authored/edited numerous text books, chapters, journals, and articles and taught Marketing and Practice Management in a variety of academic settings. She continues to consult and write on topics related to hearing health care vis-à-vis consumer demands, professional training, technological advancement, capital investment, industry consolidation, regulatory control, product and service distribution, and strategic pricing.
