ALEXANDRIA, Va., Jan. 13 -- United States Patent no. 12,522,376, issued on Jan. 13, was assigned to THE BOEING COMPANY (Arlington, Va.).

"System and method to detect anomalous wingtip extension for a folding wing tip aircraft" was invented by Patrick McCormick (Mukilteo, Wash.), Christopher Bujnowski (Everett, Wash.), George Moy (Seattle), Sarah Sheehy (Shoreline, Wash.), Endri Kerci (Mountlake Terrace, Wash.), Austin Schantz (Everett, Wash.), Paul Ryan Leonard (Seattle), Caitlin Boxell (Lancaster, Calif.), Erin Campbell (Lake Forest Park, Wash.) and John W. Gunderson (Issaquah, Wash.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A method includes implementing, via an electronic controller of an aircraft, a...