ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 12 -- United States Patent no. 12,245,854, issued on March 11, was assigned to Life Technologies Corp. (Carlsbad, Calif.).
"Apparatus for collecting fingerprints and buccal swabs" was invented by Michael Harrold (San Mateo, Calif.), Lori Hennessy (San Mateo, Calif.) and Leonard Klevan (Cave Creek, Ariz.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "Disclosed are devices and methods for collection, labeling and matching biological samples containing nucleic acid in conjunction with collecting at least one ridge and valley signature such as a fingerprint or footprint of an individual. Such devices and methods are used in forensic, human identification, paternity, tissue typing, and scre...