ALEXANDRIA, Va., Dec. 9 -- United States Patent no. 12,494,100, issued on Dec. 9, was assigned to InVue Security Products Inc. (Charlotte, N.C.).

"Merchandise display security systems and methods" was invented by Christopher J. Fawcett (Charlotte, N.C.) and Jeffrey A. Grant (Charlotte, N.C.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "Merchandise security systems and methods are provided. In one example, a security system includes a plurality of locking hooks configured to protect one or more items from theft, each of the plurality of locking hooks comprising a lock configured to be locked to prevent removal of the one or more items and unlocked to allow removal of one or more of the items. Each lock is co...