ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 21 -- United States Patent no. 12,686,647, issued on July 21, was assigned to Solventum Intellectual Properties Co. (Eagan, Minn.).
"Metal-coated zirconia articles" was invented by Margaret M. Vogel-Martin (Forest Lake, Minn.), Jacqueline C. Rolf (River Falls, Wis.), Samuel R. Hei (White Bear Township, Minn.) and Stephen A. O. Olson (Maplewood, Minn.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "Metal-coated zirconia articles have at least one surface that is a surface-treated surface. The surface-treated surface is a phosphate-treated surface. At least a portion of the surface-treated surface is covered with a layer of metal. The metal covering adheres more strongly to the surface-tre...