ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 9 -- United States Patent no. 12,349,680, issued on July 8, was assigned to ADVANCED INTEGRATED TECHNOLOGIES SpA (Chile).

"Multipurpose product with prolonged antimicrobial action and method of producing" was invented by Edison Salas Huenuleo (Huechuraba, Chile), Rodrigo Torres de la Fuente (Huechuraba, Chile), Nicolas Wainstein Messing (Huechuraba, Chile) and Tomas Federico Houdely Saieg (Huechuraba, Chile).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "Multipurpose product with prolonged antimicrobial action comprising at least one quaternary ammonium and copper nanoparticles in non-oxidized metallic state (Cu0), where copper nanoparticles in non-oxidized metallic state (Cu0) are found...