On the rare occasion that a clinical and research audiologist is also a patent author, it deserves notice and acclaim. Yay for University of Pittsburgh’s patent #12672797 Hearing screening and amplification device, which addresses the prevalent but unmet need for hearing loss identification during clinical encounters and the broader cost-of-care burden associated with missed hearing loss.
Yay for Catherine Palmer, PhD, inventor, Pitt faculty member and long-term champion of all things Audiology.
She is joined on the patent by five other inventors whose unusually broad and formidable mix of expertise suggests both substantial support for the invention and the staying power to carry it forward: Jeffrey Vipperman (engineering), Erik Rauterkus (private equity), Jacalynn Ona Sharp (engineering), Christopher Dumm (law), and Joseph Lyle Koch (inventor, portable coolers/Yeti Coolers).
The July 2026 patent list
| Description | Patent Number | Assignee or Applicant | Issued |
| Using a hearable to generate a user health indicator based on user temperature | 12672826 | InvenSense Inc (San Jose, CA) | 7/07/2026 |
| Hearing screening and amplification device | 12672797 | University of Pittsburgh-of the Commonwealth System of Higher Education (Pittsburgh, PA) | 7/07/2026 |
| Measurement of facial muscle EMG potentials for predictive analysis using a smart wearable system and method | 12675163 | Bragi GmbH (Munich, DE) | 7/07/2026 |
| Access control process for a restricted area using a hearing device | 12676039 | Sivantos Pte Ltd (Singapore, SG) | 7/07/2026 |
| Hearing device | 12677086 | GN Hearing A/S (Ballerup, DK) | 7/07/2026 |
| Hearing devices and accessory devices having pairing capability and method of pairing hearing devices with accessory devices | 12677102 | GN Hearing A/S (Ballerup, DK) | 7/07/2026 |
| Method of operating an audio device system and audio device system | 12677103 | Widex A/S (Lynge, DK) | 7/07/2026 |
| Automatic sensor orientation calibration | 12677104 | Bose Corporation (Framingham, MA) | 7/07/2026 |
| Hearing protection device | D1133145 S | Eartainment LLC (Port Orange, FL) | 7/07/2026 |
| Hearing aid device | D1133176 S | Robinson, Todd & Sparks, Rodney (El Dorado Hills, CA) | 7/07/2026 |
| Ear-worn devices for communication with medical devices | 12678056 | Starkey Laboratories Inc (Eden Prairie, MN) | 7/14/2026 |
| Method and apparatus for three-dimensional measurements of the outer ear shape | 12678069 | Aurality Inc (N/A, inventors are in VA) | 7/14/2026 |
| Hearing protector with spring element and a carrier | 12678334 | 3M Innovative Properties Company (St Paul, MN) | 7/14/2026 |
| Inverted F-shaped antenna for hearing instruments | 12683278 | Starkey Laboratories Inc (Eden Prairie, MN) | 7/14/2026 |
| Ear-wearable devices for control of other devices and related methods | 12684280 | Starkey Laboratories Inc (Eden Prairie, MN) | 7/14/2026 |
| Operation of a hearing device in an audio presentation system | 12684301 | Sivantos Pte Ltd (Singapore, SG) | 7/14/2026 |
| Method for providing a self-fitting hearing test | 12684302 | GN Hearing 2 A/S (Ballerup, DK) | 7/14/2026 |
| Field check for hearing protection devices | 12684303 | 3M Innovative Properties Company (St Paul, MN) | 7/14/2026 |
| Methods and apparatus to generate binaural sounds for hearing devices | 12684304 | Intel Corporation (Santa Clara, CA) | 7/14/2026 |
| Communication earbuds
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D1134286 | Hewlett-Packard Development Company LP (Spring, TX) | 7/14/2026 |
| Touchscreen hearing aid | D1134873 | Robinson, Todd & Sparks; Rodney ((CA) | 7/14/2026 |
| Electronic in-ear hearing protection | D1135198 | 3M Innovative Properties Company (St Paul, MN) | 7/14/2026 |
| Gait stabilizing with hearing device | 12685837 | Sonova AG (Staefa, CH) | 7/21/2026 |
| Method for operating a hearing device, hearing device and computer program product | 12689860 | Sivantos Pte Ltd (Singapore, SG) | 7/28/2026 |
| Contextual awareness subsystem for augmented hearing | 12694341 | Meta Platforms Technologies LLC (Menlo Park, CA) | 7/28/2026 |
| Auditory health monitoring system with auricular device and physiological sensor | 12694892 | Masimo Corporation (Irvine, CA) | 7/28/2026 |
| Ear-worn electronic device incorporating gesture control system using frequency-hopping spread spectrum transmission | 12696028 | Starkey Laboratories Inc (Eden Prairie, MN) | 7/28/2026 |
| Howling suppression method, hearing aid, and storage medium | 12696036 | Shenzhen Eartech Co Ltd (Shenzhen, CN) | 7/28/2026 |
| Hearing aid and distance-specific amplifier | 12696037 | Oticon A/S (Smorum, DK) | 7/28/2026 |
| Hearing device with corrosion protection and related method | 12696040 | GN Hearing A/S (Ballerup, DK) a/s | 7/28/2026 |
| Transducer with new spring attachment | 12696041 | Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, AU) | 7/28/2026 |
| Hearing system to be worn at a user’s head | 12696042 | Oticon Medical A/S (Smorum, DK) | 7/28/2026 |
| Earbud headphone case | D1137126 | Skullcandy Inc (Park City, UT) | 7/28/2026 |
About the Author
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.
