What you see is what you hear
Norwegian company TK&H Holding AS has a beam-forming based hearing aid system integrated into glasses frames, described in patent #12389167. Besides describing its own patent idea, the patent gives a clear and concise description of prior art in the field.
That historical review is welcome to bystanders witnessing the many eyeglass hearing aids devices and ideas flooding the space.
The Patent list for August 2025
| Description | Patent Number | Assignee or Applicant | Issued |
| Hearing protector with sensor module and method of retrofitting a hearing protector with a sensor module | 12376996 | 3M Innovative Properties Company (St Paul, MN) | 8/05/2025 |
| Sound processing with increased noise suppression | 12380907 | Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, AU) | 8/05/2025 |
| Hearing device cable | 12382228 | Starkey Laboratories Inc (Eden Prairie, MN) | 8/05/2025 |
| Hearing aids with parallel neural networks | 12382230 | Chromatic Inc (New York, NY) | 8/05/2025 |
| Sealing sleeve for protection of components in a hearing device | 12382231 | GN Hearing A/S (Ballerup, DK) | 8/05/2025 |
| Earbud covers | D1087072 | Class and Culture LLC (Las Vegas, NV) | 8/05/2025 |
| Hearing protection device | 12383432 | Minuendo AS (Oslo, NO) | 8/12/2025 |
| System and method for autonomously enabling an auditory prosthesis | 12383740 | Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, AU) | 8/12/2025 |
| Magnet management MRI compatibility | 12383739 | Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, AU) | 8/12/2025 |
| Humidity detection for hearing devices | 12385867 | Starkey Laboratories Inc (Eden Prairie, MN) | 8/12/2025 |
| Hearing aiding apparatus integrating image-acoustics positioning, omnidirectional acoustic reception, and warning | 12387588 | National Cheng Kung University (Tainan, TW) | 8/12/2025 |
| Accessory device for managing multiple power sources | 12388289 | Bose Corporation (Framingham, MA) | 8/12/2025 |
| Noise filter circuit with controllable transistor off-resistance and associated noise filtering method | 12388420 | Mediatek Inc (Hsinchu, TW) | 8/12/2025 |
| Automated playback and redistribution of internet streaming content | 12389067 | Bose Corporation (Framingham, MA) | 8/12/2025 |
| Earpiece passive noise attenuating | 12389151 | Bose Corporation (Framingham, MA) | 8/12/2025 |
| Sensor based ear-worn electronic device fit assessment | 12389166 | Starkey Laboratories Inc (Eden Prairie, MN) | 8/12/2025 |
| Hearing aid system integrable in an eyeglass frame | 12389167 | TK&H Holding AS (Tjome, NO) | 8/12/2025 |
| Audiogram, system for aiding hearing, and method for use of same | 12389169 | Olah, Laslo (Richardson, TX) | 8/12/2025 |
| Hearing aid comprising at least one EEG signal processing circuit | 12389171 | Oticon A/S (Smorum, DK) | 8/12/2025 |
| Predicting gain margin in a hearing device using a neural network | 12389173 | Starkey Laboratories Inc (Eden Prairie, MN) | 8/12/2025 |
| Hearing aid comprising a user interface | 12389174 | Oticon A/S (Smorum, DK) | 8/12/2025 |
| Radio frequency MEMS devices for improved wireless performance for hearing assistance devices | 12389175 | Starkey Laboratories Inc (Eden Prairie, MN) | 8/12/2025 |
| Protective element for an electroacoustic transducer of a hearing device or for a sound tube included in a hearing device | 12389176 | Sonova AG (Staefa, CH) | 8/12/2025 |
| Devices for at-home physical examination of the ear and ear canal | 12390161 | Zipline Health Inc (San Francisco, CA) | 8/19/2025 |
| Fully implantable modular cochlear implant system | 12390634 | Envoy Medical Corporation (White Bear Lake, MN) | 8/19/2025 |
| Systems and methods for optimizing spectral resolution for a hearing system | 12390641 | Advanced Bionics AG (Staefa, CH) | 8/19/2025 |
| Audio device having aware mode auto-leveler | 12394402 | Bose Corporation (Framingham, MA) | 8/19/2025 |
| Ear tip, electronic device comprising ear tip, and method for manufacturing ear tip | 12395774 | Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (Suwon-si, KR) | 8/19/2025 |
| Bone conduction acoustic device and wearable device | 12395785 | Suzhou Thor Electronic Technology Co Ltd (Jiangsu, CN) | 8/19/2025 |
| Multimodal hearing assistance devices and systems | 12395799 | AAVAA Inc (Montreal, CA) | 8/19/2025 |
| Hearing loss amplification that amplifies speech and noise subsignals differently | 12395800 | Chromatic Inc (New York, NY) | 8/19/2025 |
| Hearing device system and tool | 12395801 | GN Hearing A/S (Ballerup, DK) | 8/19/2025 |
| Hearing device and earpiece with active vent | 12395802 | GN Hearing A/S (Ballerup, DK) | 8/19/2025 |
| Cover for an earbud charging case
|
D1089080 | Bose Corporation (Framingham, MA) | 8/19/2025 |
| Pair of hearing aids | D1089659 | Tomore Medical (Shenzhen) Co Ltd (Shenzhen, CN) | 8/19/2025 |
| On-ear detection | 12396672 | Cirrus Logic Inc (Austin, TX) | 8/26/2025 |
| Apparatuses, systems, and methods for increasing or manipulating noise attenuation in hearing protection device | 12396893 | Honeywell Safety Products USA Inc (Morris Plains, NJ) | 8/26/2025 |
| Geometric voids for implantable therapeutic delivery device | 12397139 | Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, AU) | 8/26/2025 |
| Selective audio isolation from body generated sound system and method | 12400630 | Bragi GmbH (Munich, DE) | 8/26/2025 |
| Method for charging a battery of a hearing device | 12401952 | GN Hearing A/S (Ballerup, DK) | 8/26/2025 |
| Method for operating a hearing aid and hearing aid | 12401953 | Sivantos Pte Ltd (Singapore, SG) | 8/26/2025 |
| Hearing device with charging areas | 12401955 | Oticon A/S (Smorum, DK) | 8/26/2025 |
| Hearing device with a suspended microphone | 12401956 | GN Hearing A/S (Ballerup, DK) | 8/26/2025 |
| Socket connector for a hearing device | 12401957 | GN Hearing A/S (Ballerup, DK) | 8/26/2025 |
| Cover for an earbud charging case | D1090040 | Bose Corporation (Framingham, MA) | 8/26/2025 |
| Hearing aid | D1090849 | SOUNDUCT (Strasbourg, FR) | 8/26/2025 |
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.
