FedInvent™ Patents
New Taxpayer Funded Patents for Tuesday, July 11, 2023
This page was updated on Tuesday, July 11, 2023 at 11:37 PM GMT
FedInvent analyzed 96 taxpayer-funded patents this week.
On Tuesday, July 11, 2023, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) granted 96 taxpayer-funded patents; including 89 patents containing government interest statements and 26 patents where federal government agencies were an assignee or applicant. Together, 96 patents granted this week are the result of US government-funded research & development.
Learn More About Taxpayer Funded Patents HereThe List of This Week's Patents
Just a list — patent number with a link and the title, for those patentistas who like to browse.
About the Icons On Patent ListAbout The Icons On the List Below
- The icon takes you to the full text version of the patent at USPTO;
- The icon takes you to the PDF version of the patent at USPTO; and
- The icon takes you to the details about the patent on the FedInvent Details page.
- When you use the icon the patent you are interested appears at the top of the list on the details page.
Patent Count By Department
This is the count of taxpayer-funded patents granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) this week. These patents contain a Government Interest Statement in the body of the patent document or are patents where the government is an assignee. Agency numbers are aggregated by the agency named in the Government Interests Statement and the contract number cited in the government interest section of the patent.
| Department | This Week | This Year |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) | 40 | 1309 |
| Department of Defense (DOD) | 22 | 1001 |
| National Science Foundation (NSF) | 17 | 574 |
| Department of Energy (DOE) | 16 | 581 |
| National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) | 4 | 108 |
| United States Postal Service (USPS) | 4 | 24 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) | 2 | 32 |
| Small Business Administration (SBA) | 2 | 53 |
| Department of Justice (DOJ) | 1 | 5 |
Patents By Funding Agency
FedInvent Patents are patents funded by US taxpayers. Taxpayer-funded patents have Government Interest Statements in the body of the patent or are patents where an agency of the US federal government has retained the title to the patent and is listed as an assignee. The presence of a government interest statement, as required by the Bayh-Dole Act, indicates the holder of a federal contract, grant, or cooperative research agreement has elected to retain the title of inventions conceived and reduced to practice during that contract.
About the Icons On Patent ListAbout The Icons On the List Below
- The icon takes you to the full text version of the patent at USPTO;
- The icon takes you to the PDF version of the patent at USPTO; and
- The icon takes you to the details about the patent on the FedInvent Details page.
- When you use the icon the patent you are interested appears at the top of the list on the details page.
Click the Panel to See The Patents for Each Agency
Department of Defense (DOD) Agencies
Department of the ARMY (DOA)
Department of the Navy (DON) | United States Marine Corps (USMC)
Department of the Air Force (DAF)| United States Space Force (USSF)
| Patent | Title | |
|---|---|---|
| 001 | 11696568 |
Training aid |
Emerging Technology
Emerging Climate Change Technologies
Patents containing 'Y" CPC symbols indicate emerging climate change and clean technology inventions.
About the Icons On Patent ListAbout The Icons On the List Below
- The icon takes you to the full text version of the patent at USPTO;
- The icon takes you to the PDF version of the patent at USPTO; and
- The icon takes you to the details about the patent on the FedInvent Details page.
- When you use the icon the patent you are interested appears at the top of the list on the details page.
| Class | |
|---|---|
| Y02D | Climate Change Mitigation Technologies in Information and Communication Technologies [ICT] i.e Information and Communication Technologies Aiming at the Reduction of Their Own Energy Use |
| 11698791 On-demand programmable atomic kernel loading | |
| Y02E | Reduction of Greenhouse Gas [GHG] Emissions, Related to Energy Generation, Transmission or Distribution |
| 11697829 Chemoautotrophic cells comprising an engineered carbon fixation pathway |
About Y Emerging Technology Symbols
Patent documents that contain a Y02 or Y04 CPC symbol are already classified elsewhere. USPTO adds the Y symbols to the classification data to monitor new technological developments covering clean technology and inventions impacting climate change, important American science and technology interests.
Y02 — Green House Gas Mitigation
Y02 covers selected technologies, that control, reduce, or prevent anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG), in the framework of the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement, and technologies that allow adapting to the adverse effects of climate change. Y02A covers technologies for adaptation to climate change, — technologies that allow adapting to the adverse effects of climate change in human, industrial (including agriculture and livestock), and economic activities. Y02P covers climate change mitigation technologies in any kind of industrial processing or production activity, including the agroalimentary industry (relating to agriculture and food), agriculture, fishing, ranching and the like.
Y04 — Enabling Technologies
Y04 is focused on the information and communications inventions that facilitate climate change technology. Y04S covers systems integrating technologies related to power network operation, communication, or information technologies for improving electrical power generation, transmission, distribution, management, or usage. Examples of the art covered here are technologies related to smart grids, home appliances, and systems supporting the interoperability of electric or hybrid vehicles.
The Health Complex
This section contains the count of patents funded by The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) organized by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) institute; and HHS subagencies including the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Center for Disease Control (CDC), and others. These agencies together are called the Health Complex.
| Department | Agency | This Week | This Year |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) | 40 | 1309 |
| National Institutes of Health (NIH) | 38 | 1265 |
| National Cancer Institute (NCI) | 12 | 329 |
| National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) | 6 | 143 |
| National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) | 5 | 106 |
| NIH Office of the Director (NIHOD) | 4 | 33 |
| National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) | 4 | 175 |
| National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) | 4 | 101 |
| National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) | 4 | 168 |
| National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) | 3 | 119 |
| National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) | 3 | 54 |
| National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) | 2 | 29 |
| National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) | 2 | 32 |
| National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) | 1 | 12 |
| National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) | 1 | 24 |
| National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) | 1 | 40 |
| National Institute on Aging (NIA) | 1 | 51 |
| National Eye Institute (NEI) | 1 | 41 |
| Food and Drug Administration (FDA) | 2 | 6 |
Higher Education Research and Development (HERD)
FedInvent follows the HERD the Higher Education Research and Development institutions — the colleges and universities; research institutions, and medical schools that benefit from federal funding and rely on it to make important discoveries that drive American innovation. Taxpayer-funded patents coming from American and sometimes foreign universities are an important indicia of the vitality of the American innovation ecosphere.
MEMBERS OF THE HERD
The National Science Foundation (NSF) Higher Education Research and Development (HERD) Survey is the primary source of information on R&D expenditures at 916 US colleges and universities that expended at least $150,000 in separately accounted for R&D in the fiscal year. We use the NSF list to keep track of which colleges and universities are receiving taxpayer-funded patents and filing patent applications.
WATCH This SPACE
We're working on our data analytics and will be reporting taxpayer-funded patents and patent applications shortly. In the meantime, FedInvent will post interesting information about the HERD Innovation Ecosphere here.
Top Ten Universities By R&D Expenditures
- Johns Hopkins University
- University of Michigan
- University of Washington
- University of California, San Diego
- University of California, San Francisco
- Columbia University in the City of New York
- Stanford University
- University Pittsburgh
- University Pennsylvania
- Duke University
Count By Tech Center
Patents organized by count and Technology Center where the patent was examined.
| Tech Center | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 1600 | Biotechnology and Organic Chemistry | 33 |
| 2800 | Semiconductors, Electrical and Optical Systems and Components | 22 |
| 1700 | Chemical and Materials Engineering | 17 |
| 3700 | Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing, Gaming and Medical Devices/Processes | 8 |
| 2100 | Computer Architecture Software and Information Security | 5 |
| 2400 | Computer Networks, Multiplex, Cable and Cryptography/Security | 4 |
| 3600 | Transportation, Electronic Commerce, Construction, Agriculture, Licensing and Review | 4 |
| 2600 | Communications | 3 |
For more information on the types of inventions examined in each Technology Center, see the About Tech Centers section of this page.
Patents By Scientific Domain.
This section contains the number of patents by high level scientific and technical domain. The data is arranged by the first Cooperative Patent Classification System (CPC) patent symbol assigned to the patent. This indicates the scope and nature of the invention for a patent or a patent application.
Global patent offices use patent classification as their lingua franca — the common language — for exchanging information about inventions and what scientific and technical art a patent contains. The classifications assigned to a patent are used by patent examiners to find prior art and to determine if a particular patent's claims are novel. Patent classifications are also used for global enforcement of patent rights, treaties, and agreements.
| Class | Class Definition | First (Original) |
Inventive (CrossRef) |
|---|---|---|---|
| CPC A61 | Medical or Veterinary Science; Hygiene | 18 | 176 |
| CPC C12 | Biochemistry; Beer; Spirits; Wine; Vinegar; Microbiology; Enzymology; Mutation or Genetic Engineering | 13 | 94 |
| CPC G01 | Measuring; Testing | 14 | 66 |
| CPC G06 | Computing; Calculating; Counting | 12 | 58 |
| CPC H01 | Basic Electric Elements | 7 | 59 |
| CPC G02 | Optics | 4 | 21 |
| CPC C07 | Organic Chemistry | 4 | 19 |
| CPC B01 | Physical or Chemical Processes or Apparatus in General | 1 | 21 |
| CPC H04 | Electric Communication Technique | 4 | 15 |
| CPC C08 | Organic Macromolecular Compounds; Their Preparation or Chemical Working-up; Compositions Based Thereon | 4 | 11 |
| CPC F02 | Combustion Engines; Hot-gas or Combustion-product Engine Plants | 1 | 10 |
| CPC G16 | Information and Communication Technology [ICT] Specially Adapted for Specific Application Fields | 1 | 10 |
| CPC B29 | Working of Plastics; Working of Substances in a Plastic State in General | 2 | 8 |
| CPC B22 | Casting; Powder Metallurgy | 0 | 10 |
| CPC B64 | Aircraft; Aviation; Cosmonautics | 1 | 7 |
| CPC F16 | Engineering Elements and Units; General Measures for Producing and Maintaining Effective Functioning of Machines or Installations; Thermal Insulation in General | 2 | 4 |
| CPC H02 | Generation; Conversion or Distribution of Electric Power | 1 | 4 |
| CPC C10 | Petroleum, Gas or Coke Industries; Technical Gases Containing Carbon Monoxide; Fuels; Lubricants; Peat | 1 | 3 |
| CPC A01 | Agriculture; Forestry; Animal Husbandry; Hunting; Trapping; Fishing | 1 | 2 |
| CPC B28 | Working Cement, Clay, or Stone | 1 | 2 |
| CPC G21 | Nuclear Physics; Nuclear Engineering | 1 | 2 |
| CPC B03 | Separation of Solid Materials Using Liquids or Using Pneumatic Tables or Jigs; Magnetic or Electrostatic Separation of Solid Materials From Solid Materials or Fluids; Separation by High-voltage Electric Fields | 1 | 1 |
| CPC Y02 | Technologies or Applications for Mitigation or Adaptation Against Climate Change | 0 | 2 |
| CPC G05 | Controlling; Regulating | 1 | 0 |
Count of Inventors by Country and U.S. State
Patent count by country and state based on the location information of first named inventors and of all inventors on the patent.
| Country | First Named Inventors | All Inventors |
|---|---|---|
| United States of America | 92 | 335 |
| Italy | 1 | 5 |
| South Korea | 1 | 5 |
| United Kingdom | 1 | 3 |
| Germany | 1 | 2 |
| China PRC | 0 | 3 |
| Brazil | 0 | 1 |
| Israel | 0 | 1 |
| Sweden | 0 | 1 |
| U.S. State | First Named Inventors | All Inventors |
| California | 23 | 86 |
| Massachusetts | 9 | 40 |
| Maryland | 5 | 16 |
| North Carolina | 5 | 13 |
| Washington | 4 | 21 |
| Indiana | 4 | 18 |
| New York | 4 | 14 |
| Tennessee | 3 | 13 |
| Texas | 3 | 9 |
| Florida | 3 | 7 |
| Arizona | 3 | 6 |
| District of Columbia | 3 | 6 |
| Michigan | 3 | 6 |
| Illinois | 3 | 5 |
| Virginia | 2 | 14 |
| Missouri | 2 | 8 |
| Ohio | 2 | 7 |
| New Mexico | 2 | 6 |
| South Carolina | 2 | 6 |
| Idaho | 2 | 5 |
| New Jersey | 1 | 7 |
| Pennsylvania | 1 | 6 |
| Colorado | 1 | 5 |
| Georgia | 1 | 2 |
| Louisiana | 1 | 1 |
| Alabama | 0 | 4 |
| Minnesota | 0 | 2 |
| Kentucky | 0 | 1 |
| Nevada | 0 | 1 |
Count of Assignees and Applicants by Country and U.S. State
Patent count by country and state based on location information of Assignees and Applicants.
| Country | Assignees | Applicants |
|---|---|---|
| United States of America | 107 | 120 |
| United Kingdom | 2 | 2 |
| Germany | 1 | 1 |
| Italy | 1 | 1 |
| South Korea | 1 | 1 |
| U.S. State | Assignees | Applicants |
| California | 25 | 28 |
| Massachusetts | 13 | 18 |
| District of Columbia | 11 | 7 |
| Washington | 4 | 5 |
| Idaho | 4 | 4 |
| New York | 4 | 4 |
| North Carolina | 4 | 4 |
| Virginia | 4 | 4 |
| New Mexico | 4 | 3 |
| Missouri | 3 | 7 |
| Illinois | 3 | 4 |
| Maryland | 3 | 4 |
| Florida | 3 | 3 |
| Indiana | 3 | 3 |
| Michigan | 3 | 3 |
| Tennessee | 3 | 3 |
| Arizona | 2 | 3 |
| Ohio | 2 | 2 |
| Pennsylvania | 2 | 2 |
| Texas | 1 | 2 |
| Alabama | 1 | 1 |
| Colorado | 1 | 1 |
| Georgia | 1 | 1 |
| Minnesota | 1 | 1 |
| New Jersey | 1 | 1 |
| South Carolina | 1 | 1 |
| Louisiana | 0 | 1 |
Technology Center Explainer
How Tech Centers and Art Units Are Organized And Why It Matters
The USPTO's patent corps is organized into Technology Centers (TCs), groups of patent examiners with specific scientific and technical domain expertise. Technology Centers are further divided into Art Units (AUs) organized by major types of inventive art within a scientific or technical domain. Art Units are organized into Group Art Units, even more specialized and granular teams of examiners.
Group Art Units (GAUs) are where patent examiners prosecute patent applications. Patent applications are docketed to examiners based on specific subject matter classifications of a particular GAU.
Understanding Technology Centers, Art Units, and Group Art Units helps you understand what type of inventions are being prosecuted within each scientific and technical domain, how long it takes from the date a patent application is filed to the time a final decision on the patentability of the invention is made.
Technology Centers and Art Units
Click or touch the accordion panel to open it and see the way different types of inventions are grouped together within Art Units.
Patents examined here cover:
| Art Unit | Technical & Scientific Domains |
|---|---|
| 1610 | Organic Compounds: Bio-affecting, Body Treating, Drug Delivery, Steroids, Herbicides, Pesticides, Cosmetics, and Drugs |
| 1620 | Organic Chemistry |
| 1630 | Molecular Biology, Bioinformatics, Nucleic Acids, Recombinant DNA and RNA, Gene Regulation, Nucleic Acid Amplification, Animals and Plants, Combinatorial/ Computational Chemistry |
| 1640 | Immunology, Receptor/Ligands, Cytokines Recombinant Hormones, and Molecular Biology |
| 1650 | Fermentation, Microbiology, Isolated and Recombinant Proteins/Enzyme |
| 1660 | Plants |
About Plant Patents
Plant Patents are granted to an inventor who has invented, or discovered and asexually reproduced a distinct and new variety of plant, other than a tuber propagated plant or a plant found in an uncultivated state. If you've ever eaten a pluot, you've enjoyed the fruit of a plant patent.
Plant patent numbers begin with a "PP" followed by a five digit number. The first Plant Patent was issued in 1931. Plant patents are valid for 20 years from the filing date.
Patents examined here cover:
| Art Unit | Technical & Scientific Domains |
|---|---|
| 1710 | Coating, Etching, Cleaning, Single Crystal Growth |
| 1720 | Fuel Cells, Batteries, Solar Cells, Liquid Crystal Composition |
| 1730 | Metallurgy, Metal Working, Inorganic Chemistry, Catalysts, Electrophotography, Photolithography |
| 1740 | Tires, Adhesive Bonding, Glass/Paper making, Plastics Shaping & Molding |
| 1760 | Organic Chemistry, Polymers, Compositions |
| 1770 | Chemical Apparatus, Separation and Purification, Liquid and Gas Contact Apparatus |
| 1780 | Miscellaneous Articles, Stock Material, Adhesive Composition, Fabrics |
| 1790 | Food, Analytical Chemistry, Sterilization, Biochemistry, Electrochemistry |
Patents examined here cover:
| Art Unit | Technical & Scientific Domains |
|---|---|
| 2110 | Coating, Etching, Cleaning, Single Crystal Growth |
| 2120 | Miscellaneous Articles, Stock Material, Adhesive Composition, Fabrics |
| 2130 | Fuel Cells, Batteries, Solar Cells, Liquid Crystal Composition |
| 2140/2170 | Metallurgy, Metal Working, Inorganic Chemistry, Catalysts, Electrophotography, Photolithography |
| 2150/2160 | Tires, Adhesive Bonding, Glass/Paper making, Plastics Shaping & Molding |
| 2180 | Organic Chemistry, Polymers, Compositions |
| 2190 | Chemical Apparatus, Separation and Purification, Liquid and Gas Contact Apparatus |
Patents examined here cover:
| Art Unit | Technical & Scientific Domains |
|---|---|
| 2410/2460/2470 | Multiplex, VoIP |
| 2420 | Cable and Television |
| 2430/2490 | Cryptography and Security |
| 2440/2450 | Computer Networks |
| 2480 | Recording and Compression |
Patents examined here cover:
| Art Unit | Technical & Scientific Domains |
|---|---|
| 2610 | Computer Graphic Processing, 3D Animation, Display Color Attribute, Object Processing, Hardware and Memory |
| 2620 | Selective Visual Display Systems |
| 2630 | Digital and Optical Communications |
| 2640 | Telecommunications: Analog Radio Telephone; Satellite and Power Control; Transceivers, Measuring and Testing; Bluetooth; Receivers and Transmitters; Equipment Details |
| 2650 | Videophones and Telephonic Communications; Audio Signals; Digital Audio Data Processing; Linguistics, Speech Processing and Audio Compression |
| 2660 | Digital Cameras; Image Analysis; Applications; pattern Recognition; Color and Compression; Enhancement and Transformation |
| 2670 | Facsimile; Printer; Color; halftone; Scanner; Computer Graphic Processing; 3-D Animation; Display Color; Attributes; Object Processing; Hardware and Memory |
| 2680 | Telemetry and Code Generation; Vehicles and System Alarms; Selective Communication; Dynamic Storage Systems; Mechanical parts of Disk Drives; Signal Processing and Control Processing in Disk Drives |
| 2690 | Selective Visual Display Systems |
More broadly TC 2800 Art Units cover Semiconductors/Memory, Circuits/Measuring and Testing, Optics/Photocopying, Printing/Measuring and Testing.
Patents examined here cover:
| Art Unit | Technical & Scientific Domains |
|---|---|
| 2810/2820/2890 | Semiconductors/Memory |
| 2830/2840 | Electrical Circuits and Systems |
| 2850/2860 | Printing/Measuring and Testing |
| 2870/2880 | Optics |
About Design Patents
The design FOR an article. Not to the design OF an article.
Patents examined here cover Design patents cover the appearance of an article. The design for an article consists of the visual characteristics embodied in or applied to an article. Since a design is manifested in appearance, the subject matter of a design patent application may relate to the configuration or shape of an article, to the surface ornamentation applied to an article, or to the combination of configuration and surface ornamentation.
Design is inseparable from the article to which it is applied and cannot exist alone merely as a scheme of surface ornamentation. It must be a definite, preconceived thing, capable of reproduction and not merely the chance result of a method.
Design patent numbers begin with a "D" followed by a six digit number. The first Design Patent was issued in 1843. The term of a design patent is 15 years measured from the date of grant, if the design application was filed on or after May 13, 2015 (or 14 years if filed before May 13, 2015).
Patents examined here cover:
| Art Unit | Technical & Scientific Domains |
|---|---|
| 3610 | Surface Transportation |
| 3620 | Business Methods — Incentive Programs, Coupons; Operations Research; Electronic Shopping; Health Care; Point of Sale, Inventory, Accounting; Cost/Price, Reservations, Shipping and Transportation; Business Processing |
| 3630 | Static Structures, Supports and Furniture |
| 3640 | Aeronautics, Agriculture, Fishing, Trapping, Vermin Destroying, Plant and Animal Husbandry, Weaponry, Nuclear Systems, and License and Review |
| 3650 | Material and Article Handling |
| 3660 | Computerized Vehicle Controls and Navigation, Radio Wave, Optical and Acoustic Wave Communication, Robotics, and Nuclear Systems |
| 3670 | Wells, Earth Boring/Moving/Working, Excavating, Mining, Harvesters, Bridges, Roads, Petroleum, Closures, Connections, and Hardware |
| 3680 | Business Methods — Incentive Programs, Coupons; Electronic Shopping; Business Cryptography, Voting; Health Care; Point of Sale, Inventory, Accounting; Business Processing, Electronic Negotiation |
| 3690 | Business Methods — Finance/Banking/ Insurance |
Patents examined here cover:
| Art Unit | Technical & Scientific Domains |
|---|---|
| 3710 | Amusement and Education Devices |
| 3720 | Manufacturing Devices and Processes, Machine Tools and Hand Tools |
| 3730 | Sheet Container Making, Package Making, Receptacles, Shoes, Apparel, and Tool Driving or Impacting |
| 3740 | Thermal and Combustion Technology, Motive and Fluid Power Systems |
| 3750 | Fluid Handling and Dispensing |
| 3760 | Refrigeration, Vaporization, Ventilation, and Combustion |
| 3770 | Medical & Surgical Instruments, Treatment Devices, Surgery and Surgical Supplies |
| 3780 | Body Treatment, Kinestherapy, and Exercising |
Patents examined here cover:
| Art Unit | Technical & Scientific Domains |
|---|---|
| 3970 | Express Abandonments |
| 3990 | Central Reexamination Unit |
FedInvent Patents
Each week FedInvent analyzes newly granted patents and published patent applications whose origins lead back to funding from the US federal government. We assemble a weekly patent catalog and analyze the inventions, the inventors, and the entities who received the patents. We map the patents back to the agency that funded the R&D that led to the new invention. FedInvent uses the funding opportunity descriptions, the grants, and the contracts that define the research areas of interest, and the R&D policies and priorities of that drove and are driving the funding to organize each week's patents.
ABOUT OUR DATA
The weekly patent catalog includes patents with government interest statements indicating federal funding; and patents where the assignee, the owner of the invention, is the federal government. This includes work on federal grants, work on federal contracts, innovation by Federal Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs) funded by Federal Departments and University Affiliated Research Centers funded by DoD.
Not every inventor is a government contractor. There are many inventions conceived and patented by scientists and engineers working for the federal government or serving in the military.
THE NUMBERS MAY NOT MATCH THE NUMBER OF PATENTS WE ANALYZE EACH WEEK
The numbers in the tables presented on this page will not add up to the number of patents granted each week because patents are counted by each agency that funded the creation of the invention. Patents and funding have a many-to-many relationship. One patent may have more than one funding grant or contract associated with it. A grant or contract may lead to more than one patent. More than one agency may have funded the inventors or the contract. More than one university or business may have worked together on an invention. When we report the numbers here, we associate a patent with all of the entities and funding that are reflected on the patent and report them to you. This approach presents a more complete picture of what's going on in the federal innovation ecosphere. Put another way, the numbers in the tables presented on this page may not always add up to the number of patents each week because patents are counted by each agency that funded the creation of the invention.