ALEXANDRIA, Va., April 21 -- United States Patent no. 12,605,516, issued on April 21, was assigned to Altria Client Services LLC (Richmond, Va.).
"Electronic cigarette" was invented by Christopher S. Tucker (Midlothian, Va.), Geoffrey Brandon Jordan (Midlothian, Va.), Barry S. Smith (Richmond, Va.), Ali A. Rostami (Richmond, Va.) and Michael J. Mullins (Richmond, Va.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "An electronic smoking article includes an outer tube extending in a longitudinal direction, an inner tube within the outer tube and including a pair of opposing slots, a liquid supply comprising a liquid material, a coil heater, a wick and a mouth end insert. The coil heater is located in the inner ...