Patents

University of North Texas' newly granted patent describes a deepfake-detection system — called "FakeShield" in the patent — designed to spot synthetic images and videos circulating on social media. According to the patent, "These deepfakes look, sound, and feel real. … Due to people's inherent tendency to trust what they see, deepfakes and synthetic media can be useful in disseminating misinformation." Fig. 1 shows a person passing a suspect image through the system from a phone, tablet, or laptop. Dallas-based UNT researchers Saraju P. Mohanty, Elias Kougianos, and Alakananda Mitra are the inventors named on the patent. [Composite image: Sources, U.S. Patent No. 12626532, Fig. 1; DI Studio]

Verizon's patented system is designed to detect "spoofing attacks" (U.S. Patent No. 12587857) on cellular base stations by comparing a station's known "true position" with a "real time position" calculated from satellite signals, generating an alert when the distance between the two exceeds a set threshold. Grapevine inventor Jerry Gamble, Jr. and Flower Mound inventor Sumanth S. Mallya are named on the patent. [Image: istock Illustration: ThinkNeo/iStockphoto; DI Studio]

A newly patented system assigned to Cornell University generates custom-fit garment patterns from a 3D body scan, "unwrapping" the image into 2D using defined datapoints on the body's surface. Greenville inventor Jie Pei is among those named on the patent. [Composite illustration: Sources, U.S. Patent No. 12555341-B2, Fig. 7A; DI Studio]

SC Autosports has received a newly granted design patent for a solar roof for a golf cart. Dallas-based Johnny Tai is the listed inventor. [Composite illustration: Sources, U.S. Patent No. D1109067, Fig. 8; Pikusisi-Studio/istockphoto; DI Studio]