Ear Device Patents for June 2022

Ear Device Patents for June 2022
Holly Hosford-Dunn
August 14, 2022

Minding Our Auditory Manners

OtoUSA’s patent #1367348 aims to outfit traffic signals to automate and improve IDing and chastising those who scorn noise ordinances on the road:

“for a mobile audio signal source which makes loud noise at arbitrary places and time, for example illegally modified car, old vehicle or speeding motorcycle, it is hard to give evidence, or a lot of manpower would be required to collect evidence.”

Oticon’s 11375322 patent introduces a new term and interesting data to Hearing Economics. Entitled Hearing aid determining turn-taking, it defines turn-taking as the dynamic behaviour of a conversation or dialog between two persons…quantified by gaps or overlaps in their speech (paraphrased).

Figure 1, Patent #D956232

It turns out that those with hearing difficulties and the type of background noise influence gaps and overlaps in turn taking. Overlaps decrease, gaps increase and speaking rate decreases when one of the speakers in the conversation has hearing loss.

A New Twist on an Old Idea?

Amidst all the earbud design patenting, here comes Vincent-Yuval R&D’s Therapeutic ear device (see Figure 1), which looks like a vintage ear horn (D956232).

The June 2022 Patent List

DescriptionPatent NumberAssigneeIssued
Monophasic stimulation pulses with alternating polarity and extraordinary polarity changes11351373MED-EL Elektromedizinische Geraete GmbH (Innsbruck, AT)6/07/2022
Charging-induced implant operation11351389Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, AU)6/07/2022
Venue seat assignment based upon hearing profiles11354604AT & T Intellectual Property I, L.P.)6/07/2022
Ear-worn electronic device incorporating an antenna substrate comprising a dielectric gel or liquid11355834Starkey Laboratories Inc (Eden Prairie, MN)6/07/2022
Communication architecture between ear bud device and charging device based on fewer pins11355946Audiowise Technology Inc (Hsinchu, TW)6/07/2022
Individually assignable transducers to modulate sound output in open ear form factor11356757Bose Corporation (Framingham, MA)6/07/2022
Dynamic earbud profile11356764Sonos Inc (Santa Barbara, CA)6/07/2022
Hearing device comprising an own voice processor11356783Oticon A/S (Smorum, DK)6/07/2022
Method of operating a hearing device system, and hearing device system11356784Sivantos Pte Ltd (Singapore, SG)6/07/2022
Method for hearing test and hearing test system11357424Merry Electronics (Shenzhen) Co Ltd (Guangdong, CN)6/14/2022
Wireless streaming sound processing unit11357982Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, AU)6/14/2022
System for articulation training for hearing impaired persons11361677King Abdulaziz University (Jeddah, SA)6/14/2022
Method and apparatus for using hearing assistance device as voice controller11361766Starkey Laboratories Inc (Eden Prairie, MN)6/14/2022
Audio control using auditory event detection11362631Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation (San Francisco, CA)6/14/2022
Ear tip including partition wall structure with improved active noise canceling function11363368Azla Inc (Seoul, KR)6/14/2022
Audio/visual device with central control, assistive listening, or a screen11363379Galaxy Next Generation Inc (Toccoa, GA)6/14/2022
Dynamic adjustment of earbud performance characteristics11363383Logitech Europe SA (Lausanne, CH)6/14/2022
Hearing device comprising a beamformer filtering unit for reducing feedback11363389Oticon A/S (Smorum, DK)6/14/2022
Perceptually guided speech enhancement using deep neural networks11363390Starkey Laboratories Inc (Eden Prairie, MN)6/14/2022
Systems and methods for biomarker analysis on a hearing device11363391Sonova AG (Staefa, CH)6/14/2022
Method for influencing an auditory direction perception of a listener and arrangement for implementing the method11363400Technische Universitat Dresden (Dresden, DE)6/14/2022
Communication device having a wireless interface11363440Sonova AG (Staefa, CA)6/14/2022
Cochlear implants having impact resistant MRI-compatible magnet apparatus11364384Advanced Bionics AG (Staefa, CH)6/21/2022
EarbudD954684Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Seattle, WA)6/21/2022
Distributed hearing system for use with traffic signals11367348OtoUSA Inc (Rowland Heights, CA)6/21/2022
Local auditory display using ultrasonic encoding and decoding11368231Facebook Technologies LLC (Menlo Park, CA)6/21/2022
Method of manufacturing a hearing device housing, a preform of a hearing device housing, a hearing device housing and a hearing device11368773Sonova AG (Staefa, CH)6/21/2022
Ear tip including comfortable wearing structure11368774AZLA Inc (Seoul, KR)6/21/2022
Hearing aid for placement in a user’s ear canal11368795GN Hearing A/S (Ballerup, DK)6/21/2022
Binaural hearing system comprising bilateral compression11368796GN Hearing A/S (Ballerup, DK)6/21/2022
Compact hearing aids11368797Nanoear Corporation Inc (Houston, TX)6/21/2022
Method for the environment-dependent operation of a hearing system and hearing system11368798Sivantos Pte Ltd (Singapore, SG)6/21/2022
Hearing device customization systems and methods11368799Securboration Inc (Melbourne, FL)6/21/2022
Implantable vibratory device using limited components11368802Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, AU)6/21/2022
Implant toolD955578Cochlear Limited (Macquarie University, AU)6/21/2022
Implant magnet distance determination11369283MED-EL Elektromedizinische Geraete GmbH (Innsbruck, AT)6/28/2022
Earmuff hearing-protection device comprising sound-attenuating members113695213M Innovative Properties Company (St Paul, MN)6/28/2022
Compositions, systems, and methods for generating inner ear hair cells for treatment of hearing loss11369607The Brigham and Women’s Hospital Inc (Boston, MA) & Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, MA)6/28/2022
Efficient delivery of therapeutic molecules to cells of the inner ear11370823Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary (Boston, MA) & President and Fellows of Harvard College (Cambridge, MA)6/28/2022
Online automatic audio transcription for hearing aid users11373654Sonova AG (Staefa, CH)6/28/2022
System for real time, remote access to and adjustment of patient hearing aid with patient in normal life environment11375061Manchester, Deborah M (Studio City, CA)6/28/2022
Near to the ear subwoofer11375303Panasonic Automotive Systems Company of America, Division of Panasonic Corporation of North America (Peachtree City, GA)6/28/2022
Eartip venting in a contact hearing system11375321Earlens Corporation (Menlo Park, CA)6/28/2022
Hearing aid determining turn-taking11375322Oticon A/S (Smorum, DK)6/28/2022
Hearing device with model control and associated methods11375323GN Hearing A/S (Ballerup, DK)6/28/2022
Method for operating a hearing device, and hearing device11375325Sivantos Pte Ltd (Singapore, SG)6/28/2022
Customizable ear insert11375326Logitech Canada Inc (Mississauga, CA)6/28/2022
Sleep aiding in-ear audio device with noise-reduction finish11375327Bose Corporation (Framingham, MA)6/28/2022
Extended bandwidth hearing aid with dynamically adjustable sampling rate for power optimized deployment of coordinated reset (CR) neuromodulation for the treatment of subjective tonal tinnitus11375328Aureliym GmbH (Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, DE)6/28/2022
Charging unit for hearing aidD955986Sonova AG (Staefa, CH)6/28/2022
Wireless earbudD956018Google LLC (Mountain View, CA)6/28/2022
Wireless earbudD956019Google LLC (Mountain View, CA)6/28/2022
Wireless earbudD956020Google LLC (Mountain View, CA)6/28/2022
Therapeutic ear deviceD956232Vincent-Yuval R&D Limited (Hong Kong, HK)6/28/2022

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.

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