ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 28 -- United States Patent no. 12,691,697, issued on July 28, was assigned to Zebra Technologies Corp. (Lincolnshire, Ill.).

"Media application system with autonomous media replenishment" was invented by Seth David Silk (Barrington, Ill.), David F. Beck (Exeter, R.I.), Edward Anthony Hackett (Surbiton, Great Britain) and Anthony Ross Helberg (Attleboro, Morocco).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "An autonomous labeling system is disclosed that includes a media applicator, a robotic device, and a media replenishment system. The media applicator is configured to apply media to objects. The robotic device is operatively coupled to the media applicator and configured to move the ...