ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 10 -- United States Patent no. 12,291,876, issued on May 6, was assigned to UNILIN BV (Wielsbeke, Belgium).
"Floor or wall panel" was invented by Jan De Rick (Geraardsbergen, Belgium), Benjamin Clement (Waregem, Belgium), Jose Meirlaen (Deinze, Belgium) and Marijn Seynaeve (Moen, Belgium).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "The floor or wall panel has a substrate and a top layer applied thereon. The substrate consists mainly of a mineral material. The panel is provided, on at least two opposite edges, with coupling means that allow two such panels to be coupled together at the respective edges, wherein in the coupled state there is locking in the vertical direction perpendicul...