ALEXANDRIA, Va., Aug. 6 -- United States Patent no. 12,382,731, issued on Aug. 5, was assigned to COMMISSARIAT A L'ENERGIE ATOMIQUE ET AUX ENERGIES ALTERNATIVES (Paris) and COLAS (Paris).

"Functional device integrated into a traversable surface and method for producing a traversable surface with same" was invented by Dick Heslinga (Grenoble, France), Amandine Boulanger (Grenoble, France), Eric Coquelle (Versailles, France), Remi De Bettignies (Grenoble, France), Julien Gaume (Grenoble, France) and Marion Vite (Grenoble, France).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A functional device includes in succession: a first protective film on the front face of the device, with Young's modulus (YM) E1 and the...