ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 24 -- United States Patent no. 12,561,981, issued on Feb. 24, was assigned to PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT Co. LTD. (Osaka, Japan).

"Storage-retrieval management device, storage-retrieval management system, and storage-retrieval management method" was invented by Kazuhiro Mochinaga (Osaka, Japan), Taku Kariyazaki (Osaka, Japan), Wataru Suda (Osaka, Japan) and Shinichi Horii (Shiga, Japan).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A storage-retrieval management device includes: an image capturer that captures, from above a refrigerator that includes a main body and a door attached to the main body, images of the refrigerator with the door in an open state; a setter that...