ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 14 -- United States Patent no. 12,680,307, issued on July 14.
"Magnetic downspout retention clip" was invented by John Ellison (Friend, Neb.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "In accordance with embodiments of this disclosure, a magnetic downspout retention clip comprises: a metallic sheet forming a flat bar with two clips on opposite ends of the flat bar, wherein the two clips are configured to secure the flat bar to a distal end of a downspout; and a magnet fastened to a middle portion of the flat bar, wherein the magnet is configured to join the distal end of the downspout to an upstream portion of the downspout when the distal end of the downspout is in a raised position...