{
  "edition": "1",
  "verifiedAt": "2026-10-12",
  "scope": "Two specific aerial electrostatic grants; not a comprehensive patent landscape or freedom-to-operate opinion.",
  "records": [
    {
      "id": "us11116150b2-aerial-electrostatic-weather-modification",
      "title": "Aerial electrostatic system for weather modification",
      "kind": "patent",
      "patentNumber": "US11116150B2",
      "jurisdiction": "United States",
      "applicationNumber": "16/377,276",
      "filingDate": "2019-04-08",
      "earliestClaimedPriorityDate": "2018-07-09",
      "priorityApplication": "62/695,259",
      "applicationPublication": "US20200008370A1",
      "applicationPublicationDate": "2020-01-09",
      "grantDate": "2021-09-14",
      "inventors": [
        "Daniel E. Martin",
        "Arquimedes Ruiz-Columbie"
      ],
      "assigneesAtGrant": [
        "The United States of America, as represented by the Secretary of Agriculture",
        "Active Influence and Scientific Management, SP"
      ],
      "independentClaims": [
        1
      ],
      "totalClaims": 17,
      "claimSummary": "Independent claim 1 describes aircraft cloud seeding with an atomizing nozzle surrounded by an electrode. It includes finding a cloud with an updraft of at least about 100 feet per minute and charging pressurized spray that is drawn into the cloud. Claims 2–17 depend on claim 1. This is not a general claim to every electrostatic fog collector.",
      "evidenceBoundary": "Patent claims and the inventors’ described field observations are distinct from independent experimental validation. The grant does not establish Weatherhill performance or permission to operate a proposed device.",
      "status": "Issued grant verified; current maintenance, ownership changes and enforceability not independently cleared",
      "url": "https://image-ppubs.uspto.gov/dirsearch-public/print/downloadPdf/11116150",
      "readableUrl": "https://patents.google.com/patent/US11116150B2/en",
      "verificationScope": "Official USPTO grant front page and all 17 granted claims retrieved and checked on 11 October 2026. Independent claim 1 appears in columns 5–6, PDF page 18.",
      "verifiedAt": "2026-10-11"
    },
    {
      "id": "us12588606b2-aerial-electrostatic-weather-modification",
      "title": "Aerial electrostatic system for weather modification",
      "kind": "patent",
      "patentNumber": "US12588606B2",
      "jurisdiction": "United States",
      "applicationNumber": "17/387,348",
      "filingDate": "2021-07-28",
      "earliestClaimedPriorityDate": "2018-07-09",
      "priorityApplication": "62/695,259",
      "relationship": "Continuation-in-part of application 16/377,276, which issued as US11116150B2",
      "applicationPublication": "US20210352856A1",
      "applicationPublicationDate": "2021-11-18",
      "grantDate": "2026-03-31",
      "inventors": [
        "Daniel E. Martin",
        "Arquimedes Ruiz-Columbie"
      ],
      "assigneesAtGrant": [
        "The United States of America, as represented by the Secretary of Agriculture",
        "Active Influence and Scientific Management, SP"
      ],
      "independentClaims": [
        1
      ],
      "totalClaims": 19,
      "claimSummary": "Independent claim 1 describes an aircraft spraying negatively charged pressurized fluid through an atomizing nozzle surrounded by an electrode into a targeted cloud. The listed outcomes include fog dissipation, smog remediation, rain or snow enhancement and hail suppression. Dependent claims 11–14 address fog or smog; claims 17–19 address UAVs. Every granted claim retains the aircraft-based method through claim 1.",
      "evidenceBoundary": "Fog dissipation appears in the granted claim language; this does not demonstrate measured outdoor fog-clearing efficacy. The claimed priority date is not a conclusion that every continuation-in-part claim is entitled to that earliest date.",
      "status": "Issued grant verified; current ownership changes and enforceability not independently cleared",
      "url": "https://image-ppubs.uspto.gov/dirsearch-public/print/downloadPdf/12588606",
      "officialGazetteUrl": "https://patentsgazette.uspto.gov/week13/OG/html/1544-5/US12588606-20260331.html",
      "readableUrl": "https://patents.google.com/patent/US12588606B2/en",
      "verificationScope": "Official USPTO grant front page and all 19 granted claims retrieved and checked on 11 October 2026. Independent claim 1 begins in column 8 and continues in column 9, PDF pages 19–20. The USPTO Official Gazette independently confirms the lineage and claim 1.",
      "verifiedAt": "2026-10-11"
    }
  ]
}