US Patent Issued to Kohler on March 17 for "Coloration via laser oxidation" (Wisconsin Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 17 -- United States Patent no. 12,577,683, issued on March 17, was assigned to Kohler Co. (Kohler, Wis.).

"Coloration via laser oxidation" was invented by Dustin Lobner (Port Washington, Wis.), Kjerstin Gronski (Milwaukee) and Cody Schwark (Sheboygan, Wis.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A composition includes a first coating electrolytically or electrolessly deposited on a surface of a fixture, a middle layer on the first coating, and a colored oxide in contact with at least a portion of the middle layer, wherein the middle layer includes two or more of zirconium, chromium, titanium, hafnium, and aluminum."

The patent was filed on July 6, 2023, under Application No. 18...