ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 10 -- United States Patent no. 12,291,890, issued on May 6, was assigned to ZODIAC POOL CARE EUROPE (Belberaud, France).

"Devices, systems, and methods for communication with equipment such as automatic swimming pool cleaners" was invented by Arnaud Besnier (Montrabe, France), Mehdi Chafik (Tournefeuille, France) and Arnaud Lancry (Le Vernet d'Ariege, France).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "Devices, systems, and methods may be used for wirelessly communicating underwater (or through air) with equipment such as, but not necessarily limited to, automatic swimming pool cleaners (APCs). Such communication avoids any need for conventional wired communication with the APCs. At l...