US Patent Issued to Merlin Technology on March 24 for "Directional drilling communication protocols, apparatus and methods" (Washington Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 24 -- United States Patent no. 12,584,404, issued on March 24, was assigned to Merlin Technology Inc. (Kent, Wash.).

"Directional drilling communication protocols, apparatus and methods" was invented by Albert W. Chau (Woodinville, Wash.), Loc Viet Lam (Renton, Wash.) and Scott Phillips (Kent, Wash.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A transmitter is carried proximate to an inground tool for sensing a plurality of operational parameters relating to the inground tool. The transmitter customizes a data signal to characterize one or more of the operational parameters for transmission from the inground tool based on the operational status of the inground tool. A receiver receiv...