ALEXANDRIA, Va., Dec. 23 -- United States Patent no. 12,503,259, issued on Dec. 23.
"3-D printed packaging" was invented by Shay C. Colson (Bellingham, Wash.), David A. Divine (Nine Mile Falls, Wash.), David S. Thompson (Spokane, Wash.), Patrick Molvik (Newport, Wash.) and James L. Schmeling (Brookeville, Md.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "Items may be packaged for shipping or storage using additive manufacturing techniques, also known as three dimensional (3-D) printing. Packages made by such processes may be referred to as 3-D printed packages and may include packing material printed at least partially around the item(s) and/or an outer cover printed about at least a portion of an exterior ...