Just doin’ their thangs
- Amazon and Apple came up with earbud designs this month (respectively, D951236 & D950526). It took two inventors to create Amazon’s bud while Apple’s took a whopping 20. Will Apple’s design be 10 times better, does Amazon make their inventors work 10 times as hard, or probably none of the above?
- Bragi continues to do interesting things in the ear, including this month’s patent for 3D Audio gaming (11325039)
- Mimi wants to use subjective hearing preferences to personalize fittings, noting that automated DSP algorithms may objectively improve the listening experience [but] may not be ideal as the fitting methodology fails to take user preferences into account (11330377)
- Vagus Health’s focus is on use of binaural earbuds for non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation (not auditory input) in hopes of improving success rates for treatment of a variety of stress and health conditions (11324916).
- Valencell continues its quest to load up hearing aids for multitasking (11330361) this time using an optical source to provide an accelerometer, a humidity sensor, an altimeter and/or a temperature sensor
The May 2022 Patent List
| Description | Patent Number | Assignee | Issued |
| Systems and methods for self-fitting an electroacoustic stimulation system to a patient | 11317842 | Advanced Bionics AG (Staefa, CH) bionics | 5/03/2022 |
| Efficient wellness measurement in ear-wearable devices | 11317863 | Starkey Laboratories Inc (Eden Prairie, MN) | 5/03/2022 |
| Hearing protection devices, noise exposure sensors therefor, and sensor housings and associated methods for the same | 11318051 | Honeywell International Inc (Charlotte, NC) | 5/03/2022 |
| Systems and methods for intra-surgical monitoring of cochlear trauma during an electrode lead insertion procedure | 11318298 | Advanced Bionics AG (Staefa, CH) bionics | 5/03/2022 |
| Speech processor headpiece | 11318308 | Advanced Bionics AG (Staefa, CH) bionics | 5/03/2022 |
| Hearing device using a cochlear implant system and control method thereof | 11318312 | Oticon Medical A/S (Smorum, DK) | 5/03/2022 |
| System and method for generating a full three-dimensional (3D) digital geometry for an ear | 11321912 | Xyken LLC (McLean, VA) | 5/03/2022 |
| Auditory communication devices and related methods | 11322167 | Ohio State Innovation Foundation (Columbus, OH) | 5/03/2022 |
| Dual-microphone methods for reverberation mitigation | 11322168 | MED-EL Elektromedizinische Geraete GmbH (Innsbruck, AT) | 5/03/2022 |
| Method to process an audio signal with a dynamic compressive system | 11323087 | Mimi Hearing Technologies GmbH (Berlin, DE) Hearing Technologies GmbH (Berlin, DE) | 5/03/2022 |
| Personal hearing device | 11323794 | Buderflys Technologies Inc (Denver, CO) | 5/03/2022 |
| In-ear earphone | 11323795 | Shenzhen Cannice Technology Co Ltd (Guangdong, CN) | 5/03/2022 |
| Method for controlling a sound output of a hearing device | 11323809 | Sonova AG (Staefa, CH) | 5/03/2022 |
| Earring hearing aid using RIT | 11323824 | Applicant: Jarng, Dong Soo (Seoul, KR) | 5/03/2022 |
| Adjusting treble gain of hearing device | 11323825 | Sonova AG (Staefa, CH) | 5/03/2022 |
| System and method for feature management in a hearing aid | 11323826 | Widex A/S (Lynge, DK) | 5/03/2022 |
| Self-fitting of hearing device with user support | 11323827 | Sonova AG (Staefa, CH) | 5/03/2022 |
| Speaker assembly for hearing aid | 11323828 | Oticon A/S (Smorum, DK) | 5/03/2022 |
| Round window coupled hearing systems and methods | 11323829 | Earlens Corporation (Menlo Park, CA) | 5/03/2022 |
| Hearing aid for placement at an ear of a user | 11323831 | Oticon Medical A/S (Smorum, DK) | 5/03/2022 |
| Antenna structure for hearing devices | 11323833 | Starkey Laboratories Inc (Eden Prairie, MN) | 5/03/2022 |
| Hearing device having a shell including regions with different moduli of elasticity and methods of manufacturing the same | 11323834 | Sonova AG (Staefa, CH) | 5/03/2022 |
| Communication device using two wireless protocols | 11323889 | Sonova AG (Staefa, CH) | 5/03/2022 |
| Earbud | D950526 | Apple Inc (Cupertino, CA) | 5/03/2022 |
| Fall detection using photoplethysmography detectors in ear-wearable devices | 11324422 | Starkey Laboratories Inc (Eden Prairie, MN) | 5/10/2022 |
| Deep ear sensor for reducing noise from movement and environment | 11324456 | Sonova AG (Staefa, CH) | 5/10/2022 |
| Devices and methods for the non-invasive transcutaneous neurostimulation of the neck and ear vagus nerves via electrical, magnetic and haptic stimulation | 11324916 | Vagus Health Ltd (Cambridge, GB) | 5/10/2022 |
| Gaming with earpiece 3D audio | 11325039 | Bragi | 5/10/2022 |
| Hearing aid optical monitoring apparatus | 11330361 | Valencell Inc | 5/10/2022 |
| Portable device comprising a directional system | 11330366 | Oticon A/S (Smorum, DK) | 5/10/2022 |
| Method of adaptive mixing of uncorrelated or correlated noisy signals, and a hearing device | 11330375 | Oticon A/S (Smorum, DK) | 5/10/2022 |
| Hearing device with multiple delay paths | 11330376 | Sonova AG (Staefa, CH) | 5/10/2022 |
| Systems and methods for fitting a sound processing algorithm in a 2D space using interlinked parameters | 11330377 | Mimi Hearing Technologies GmbH (Berlin, DE) | 5/10/2022 |
| Hearing device comprising a recurrent neural network and a method of processing an audio signal | 11330378 | Oticon A/S (Smorum, DK) | 5/10/2022 |
| Hearing aid having an adaptive classifier | 11330379 | Widex A/S (Lynge, DK) | 5/10/2022 |
| Modularization of components of an ear-wearable device | 11330380 | Starkey Laboratories Inc (Eden Prairie, MN) | 5/10/2022 |
| Dynamic fitting for bone conduction device | 11330381 | Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, AU) | 5/10/2022 |
| Method for determining distance between ears of a wearer of a sound generating object and an ear-worn, sound generating object | 11330390 | GN Hearing A/S (Ballerup, DK) | 5/10/2022 |
| Earbud | D91236 | Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Seattle, WA) | 5/10/2022 |
| Hearing test system for non-expert user with built-in calibration and method | 11331008 | K/S HIMPP (Lynge, DK) | 5/17/2022 |
| Method for reversing hearing loss | 11331486 | Ng, Milly (Hong Kong, HK) | 5/17/2022 |
| Hearing device seal modules, modular hearing devices including the same and associated methods | 11336982 | Sonova AG (Staefa, CH) | 5/17/2022 |
| In-ear wireless device | 11336985 | Apple Inc (Cupertino, CA) | 5/17/2022 |
| In-ear speaker hybrid audio transparency system | 11336986 | Apple Inc (Cupertino, CA) | 5/17/2022 |
| Earpiece with GPS receiver | 11336989 | Bragi | 5/17/2022 |
| Hierarchical environmental classification in a hearing prosthesis | 11337011 | Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, AU) | 5/17/2022 |
| Battery coating for rechargable hearing systems | 11337012 | Earlens Corporation (Menlo Park, CA) | 5/17/2022 |
| Hearing aid, hearing aid set and hearing aid module | 11337013 | Sivantos Pte Ltd (Singapore, SG) | 5/17/2022 |
| Earpiece for a hearing device and method of producing an earpiece | 11337014 | GN Hearing A/S (Ballerup, DK) | 5/17/2022 |
| Closing assembly for an in the ear part of a hearing device | 11337015 | Oticon A/S (Smorum, DK) | 5/17/2022 |
| Binaural rendering apparatus and method for playing back of multiple audio sources | 11337026 | Panasonic Intellectual Property Corporation of America (Torrance, CA) | 5/17/2022 |
| Hearing aid maintenance system | D952179 | MG Developpement (Perols, FR) | 5/17/2022 |
| Electronic hearing protector with switchable electrical contacts | 11337861 | 3M Innovative Properties Company (St Paul, MN) | 5/24/2022 |
| Ear splint to correct congenital ear deformities | 11337862 | The Regents of the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI) | 5/24/2022 |
| Hearing assistance devices with motion sickness prevention and mitigation features | 11338106 | Starkey Laboratories Inc (Eden Prairie, MN) | 5/24/2022 |
| Shielding device for signal transmission coil | 11338147 | Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, AU) | 5/24/2022 |
| Earbud case with hall effect sensor and related holder | 11340315 | Bose Corporation (Framingham, MA) | 5/24/2022 |
| Transmission system for a body-worn electronic device | 11342949 | Sonova AG (Staefa, CH) | 5/24/2022 |
| System and method for automatic right-left ear detection for headphones | 11343605 | Apple Inc (Cupertino, CA) | 5/24/2022 |
| Avoidance of user discomfort due to pressure differences by vent valve, and associated systems and methods | 11343616 | Sonova AG (Staefa, CH) | 5/24/2022 |
| Modulation in a contact hearing system | 11343617 | Earlens Corporation (Menlo Park, CA) | 5/24/2022 |
| Intelligent, online hearing device performance management | 11343618 | Sonova AG (Staefa, CH) | 5/24/2022 |
| Binaural hearing system comprising frequency transition | 11343619 | Oticon A/S (Smorum, DK) | 5/24/2022 |
| Method of operating a hearing aid system and a hearing aid system | 11343620 | Widex A/S (Lynge, DK) | 5/24/2022 |
| Controlling a volume dynamic of a hearing device | 11343621 | Sonova AG (Staefa, CH) | 5/24/2022 |
| Multi-mode radio for hearing assistance devices | 11343622 | Starkey Laboratories Inc (Eden Prairie, MN) | 5/24/2022 |
| Hearing device | 11343627 | Sivantos Pte Ltd (Singapore, SG) | 5/24/2022 |
| Hydrophobic structure for hearing device | 11343628 | Oticon A/S (Smorum, DK) | 5/24/2022 |
| Hearing aid | D952861 | Zhongshan Great-Ears Electronic Technology Co Ltd (Zhongshan, CN) | 5/24/2022 |
| External and implantable coils for auditory prostheses | 11344736 | Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, AU) | 5/31/2022 |
| Hearing aid device with speech control functionality | 11348580 | Oticon A/S (Smorum, DK) | 5/31/2022 |
| Inductance coil with varied geometry | 11348720 | Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, AU) | 5/31/2022 |
| Hearing device system, devices and method of creating a trusted bond between a hearing device and a user accessory device | 11349642 | GN Hearing A/S (Ballerup, DK) | 5/31/2022 |
| In-the-ear hearing aid device, a hearing aid, and an electro-acoustic transducer | 11350211 | Oticon A/S (Smorum, DK) | 5/31/2022 |
| Hearing device with suppression of sound impulses | 11350224 | GN Hearing A/S (Ballerup, DK) | 5/31/2022 |
| Charging protocol for rechargeable hearing systems | 11350226 | Earlens Corporation (Menlo Park, CA) | 5/31/2022 |
| Hearing assistance device | 11350227 | Starkey Laboratories Inc (Eden Prairie, MN) | 5/31/2022 |
| Rechargeable hearing aid | D953536 | Xia, Wenbing (Shaoyang, CN) | 5/31/2022 |
| Hearing aid | D953537 | Sonova AG (Staefa, CH) | 5/31/2022 |
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 (Munich, DE) 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.
