ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 16 -- United States Patent no. 12,357,116, issued on July 15, was assigned to Tembo Paper B.V. (Kampen, Netherlands).
"Straw made from paper or paper-like material" was invented by Sebo Erik Popken (Nieuwleusen, Netherlands), Erik Marcel Snijder (Enschede, Netherlands), Barend Jorrit Achterkamp (Zwolle, Netherlands) and Oscar Slurink (Heino, Netherlands).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A straw (1) made from paper or paper-like material and comprising a tubular body (3) having a circumference formed by a wall (5) surrounding a central axis and a bendable part extending axially along the central axis (6), wherein said bendable part comprises at least two corrugated profiles ...