US Hearing Device Patents for October 2017
The Hearable Lament: Hearing Economics looks forward to this time next year when we get to see the 2017 Hearables Hot Potato finalists. Of course they’ll be tinier and cuter, but we hope they’ll also be multitalented, highly articulate, and dedicated to assisting everyone with ears, even people with hearing loss who want to listen…
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US Hearing Device Patents for August 2017
When it comes to imagining hearing devices in the patent world, the range is broad, both in terms of goals and body regions. It’s a Simple Ear-Thing “Simplified Hearing Aid” is the title of USPTO patent #9,724,241 by Japanese inventor/owner Ogura. The device (see feature image), which hearkens back to ear trumpets and the…
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US Hearing Device Patents for June and July 2017
Sound has been used throughout history as a way of exerting power and control. (Lawrence English, 2016) The age of Personal Sound devices comes with a variety of names: PSAPs, OTCs, hearing aids, Hearables. Regardless of the name, manufacturer, or means of distribution, the core goal of such devices is to “aid” and improve communication,…
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Dominance in a Patent Class
Charting patent trends can track technological innovation and stagnation by proxy variables such as geography (countries, metropolitan areas), industry concentration, education (proximity of universities, proportion of PhDs), income per capita, etc. One measure is growth and dominance of patent classes by an industry or company. Of interest to the hearing aid industry is its representation…
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Emily Blunt Calling, Courtesy of Samsung
Samsung phone and washer technologies exploded in 2016, but and not in a good way. Thankfully, those technologies didn’t show up in hearing aids because Samsung has yet to enter the FDA-approved US hearing aid market, despite strong expectations that it would do so in 2016. That hasn’t stopped Samsung from its end run…
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