ExxonMobil: 13,453 Patents & Patent Apps

ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) is the biggest company in the USA, with $443 billion in revenue, up 19% from 2007.

The Irving, Texas company has 13,453 U.S. patents and patent applications as of this moment (short URL = http://cli.gs/ExxonIP).



Their most recent patent is #7,464,756, Process for in situ recovery of bitumen and heavy oil from 12/16/2008, for pulling more useful "black gold" out of a given well--

A process is described for in situ recovery of bitumen or heavy oil from a reservoir having a horizontal injection well and a horizontal production well. The process includes a first phase in which steam and a heavy hydrocarbon solvent are injected into the reservoir, a second phase in which the steam and heavy hydrocarbon injections are transitioned to a light hydrocarbon solvent injection, and a third phase in which a light hydrocarbon solvent is injected without further steam or heavy hydrocarbon injection. A displacement gas may be added during any of the phases, and production of hydrocarbons continues throughout all phases. The process employs a high-production start-up phase, followed by lower cost phases which progress a depletion chamber within the reservoir.

The inventors are--

1. Gates, Ian Donald (Calgary, CA)
2. Gutek, Anthony Martin Harold (Calgary, CA).

ExxonMobil isn't just about fossil fuels-- in our hometown of Baltimore last month they announced support for an Electric Car Program.

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On Twitter, we're inventionsofman. And check out our University Patent Portfolios here.

Coleman Company Cooking In New Ways

In 1900, W.C. Coleman needed money to finish law school, so he got a job selling lamps in what is now Kingfisher, Oklahoma. But shopkeepers in Kingfisher had just been burned by a lighting salesman with a sub-par product. So W.C. decided to sell a lighting service instead of the lamps themselves. He drew up contracts with a "no light, no pay" clause and, with the risk reduced, customers signed on.

Flash forward to today, and The Coleman Company (based in Wichita, Kansas) offers a broad array of outdoor gear, and sit atop 326 US patents/patent applications as of this moment (short URL = http://cli.gs/ColemanIP).



Eating out while camping has become more sophisticated. Witness their U.S. Patent Application 20090000493, ROTISSERIE OVEN FOR A GRILL from 1/1/2009--

A rotisserie oven. The rotisserie oven includes a cooking chamber, a spit, a motor assembly, and a fuel burning burner. The motor assembly rotates the spit about an axle. The spit is located horizontally in the cooking chamber so that any liquids dripping from any food on the spit do not fall on the burner. The spit may be removed and replaced by a grate and a heat shield. The grate is oriented horizontally inside the cooking chamber and the heat shield distributes heat from the burner evenly about the grate. The rotisserie oven may be configured to be removably attached to a grill.

The inventor is one Robert Mosher, who also has an earlier patent application entitled OUTDOOR GRILL WITH INTERCHANGEABLE MODULAR COOKING ASSEMBLIES.

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On Twitter, we're inventionsofman. And check out our University Patent Portfolios here.