ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 19 -- United States Patent no. 12,252,217, issued on March 18, was assigned to Barletta Boat Co. LLC (Bristol, Ind.).
"Pontoon boat" was invented by William Fenech (Elkhart, Ind.) and Mark Neibert (Bronson, Mich.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A pontoon boat includes port and starboard pontoons and cross members connecting the pontoons. A shock absorber may be installed at each point of connection of the pontoons to the cross members. A cross member may be embodied as a double-webbed beam having first and second parallel flanges and first and second webs disposed between and connected to the flanges. Each pontoon may include a two-stage lifting strake having a first sur...