ALEXANDRIA, Va., April 21 -- United States Patent no. 12,610,171, issued on April 21, was assigned to Apple Inc. (Cupertino, Calif.).
"Earbuds" was invented by Yi Zou (Cupertino, Calif.), Chad J. Miller (Oakland, Calif.), Daniel A. Podhajny (Morgan Hill, Calif.), Joshua A. Hoover (Boulder, Colo.), Kristen L. Cretella (San Francisco), Nicholas R. Trincia (San Francisco), Seul Bi Kim (San Mateo, Calif.), William Leith (San Francisco) and Yue Chen (Saratoga, Calif.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "Wireless earbuds may be provided with adjustable-shape housings. The housings may have bendable portions. Bendable metal members, hinges, or other flexible structures may be used in forming bendable stru...