ALEXANDRIA, Va., April 9 -- United States Patent no. 12,268,342, issued on April 8, was assigned to Kohler Co. (Kohler, Wis.).
"Toilet seat" was invented by Erich Slothower (Mill Valley, Calif.) and Mary J. Reid (Sheboygan, Wis.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "Disclosed is a flexible toilet seat including a top surface; a bottom surface; an inner edge, at which the top and bottom surfaces meet; an inner region, configured to elastically and vertically deform inward relative to the outer edge in response to an applied load; and an outer region supported by an upper surface of a toilet and configured to support the inner region."
The patent was filed on July 25, 2023, under Application No. 18/2...