ALEXANDRIA, Va., Aug. 26 -- United States Patent no. 12,398,547, issued on Aug. 26, was assigned to Kohler Co. (Kohler, Wis.).

"Touchless faucet assembly and method of operation" was invented by Jonathan P. Loeck (Sherwood, Wis.) and Ramesh Annapindi (San Francisco).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A faucet assembly includes a base for mounting adjacent a basin of a sink and a spout projecting upward and outward away from the base and terminating at a water outlet. A light emitter is mounted to one section of the spout and emits a beam of light directed toward another section of the spout, wherein the beam of light does not intersect a region beneath the outlet. A light sensor, mounted to the sp...