ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 12 -- United States Patent no. 12,296,501, issued on May 13, was assigned to TUSCAN STONEWORX USA LLC (Orem, Utah).

"System and method for manufacturing architectural blocks with stone-like appearance" was invented by Mat T. Nielson (Orem, Utah).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "Apparatus, systems, and methods for applying plaster compositions to block substrates to yield a product having the appearance of cut stone. An example apparatus includes: a manifold; a mold connected to the manifold with a channel to receive the block substrate; a delivery hose connected to a top of the manifold to deliver plaster composition to the manifold for application to the block substrate; a...