17 issued U.S. patents, with international equivalents in Europe, Germany, Canada, and Japan. Listed chronologically by issue date.

PATENTS (ISSUED)

Smith, Z., Street, R., Tow, R. - "Spectral Resolving and Sensing Apparatus" - U.S. Patent No. 5,037,201, August 1991. The first design for a page scanner that scans spectra and emits CIE tristimulus triplets – inherently perceptually correct.

Bloomberg, D., Tow, R. - "Adaptive Scaling for Decoding Spatially Periodic Self-Clocking Glyph Shape Codes" - U.S. Patent No. 5,091,966, February 1992. The first DataGlyph (TM) family patent to issue.

Tow, R. - "Methods and Means for Embedding Machine Readable Digital Data in Halftone Images" - U.S. Patent No. 5,315,098, May 1994. The foundational "Smart Paper" (TM) / DataGlyph (TM) halftone-steganography patent.

Tow, R. - "Affect-based Robot Communication Methods and Systems" - U.S. Patent No. 5,832,189, November 1998. One of the two fundamental patents on affective communication between humans and machines; the major prior art cited was Charles Darwin's The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals.

Tow, R. - "Affect-based Robot Communication Methods and Systems" - U.S. Patent No. 6,038,493, March 2000. Continuation of 5,832,189, with claims covering embodied robots in physical space rather than simulated bodies.

Bloomberg, D., Hecht, D., Tow, R., Flores, L. P. - "Self-Clocking Glyph Shape Codes" - U.S. Patent No. 6,076,738, June 2000. Self-clocking glyph technology used in Xerox's Paperworks (TM); reissued as USRE38758 in July 2005.

Tow, R., Rahimi, A., Saunders, S. E., Charnley, D. B., Kotik, G. - "Video Stream Representation and Navigation Using Inherent Data" - U.S. Patent No. 7,266,771, September 2007. A method of presenting navigation through stored video using pre-computed MPEG motion vectors displayed in a perceptually tuned fashion (e.g., a browse bar of hue/saturation/lightness values).

Tow, R., Smith, R. B., Scott, G. C., Meike, R. C. - "Chemical Time Modification of an Object" - U.S. Patent No. 7,321,307, January 2008. A method of providing time-coursed activation/deactivation of RFID and other mechanisms; a programmable chemical timer.

Smith, R. B., Tow, R. - "Method for Detecting Objects Separated from a Group" - U.S. Patent No. 7,538,670, May 2009. A swarm-intelligence approach to theft detection, using sensor-network "motes".

Goldman, R., Tow, R., Smith, R. B. - "Organizing Communications in a Network" - U.S. Patent No. 7,697,488, April 2010. A decentralized swarm-intelligence method for emergent timing of sparse communication windows in wireless networks.

Nolan, J. S., Tow, R., Smith, R. B. - "Method and Apparatus for Spatially Stationary Software on Mobile Hardware" - U.S. Patent No. 7,761,906, July 2010. Software as a ghost-like presence of place – locus genii.

Smith, R. B., Tow, R. - "Method and Apparatus for Transferring Digital Content" - U.S. Patent No. 8,659,546, February 2014. A gesture-based UI method for provisioning digital content.

Hughes, J. P., Tow, R. - "Method and Apparatus for Secure Information Distribution" - U.S. Patent No. 9,015,075, April 2015. A wireless tamper-respondent crypto-key device using MEMS accelerometers for a gesture interface; co-invented at Sun Labs and developed for U.S. Navy SPAWAR.

Chen, T., Tow, R. - "Vision-Assist Systems and Methods for Assisting Visually Impaired Users with Navigating an Environment Using Simultaneous Audio Outputs" - U.S. Patent No. 9,993,384, June 2018. The Toyota AR-for-the-blind (BLADE) project, from the Toyota Research Institute era.

Hughes, J. P., Tow, R. - "Method and Apparatus for Secure Information Distribution" - U.S. Patent No. 10,860,696, December 2020. Continuation of 9,015,075.

Hughes, J. P., Tow, R. - "Method and Apparatus for Secure Information Distribution" - U.S. Patent No. 12,001,526, June 2024. Continuation of 10,860,696.

Hughes, J. P., Tow, R. - "Method and Apparatus for Secure Information Distribution" - U.S. Patent No. 12,235,940, February 2025. Continuation of 12,001,526.

INTERNATIONAL EQUIVALENTS

Five US patent families have foreign-issued counterparts, in Europe (EP), Germany (DE), Canada (CA), and Japan (JP):

Spectral Resolving and Sensing Apparatus (US 5,037,201): EP 0449638 B1; DE 69113664 T2; CA 2036114 C; JP H07-117455 B2.

Adaptive Scaling for Self-Clocking Glyph (US 5,091,966): JP H07-78819 B2.

Embedding Machine Readable Digital Data in Halftone Images (US 5,315,098): EP 0493053 B1; DE 69119882 T2; JP H07-97822 B2.

Affect-based Robot Communication (US 5,832,189 / US 6,038,493): WO 1998/013782 A1 (PCT publication).

Self-Clocking Glyph Shape Codes (US 6,076,738): CA 2,044,404 C; JP H04-233683 A; reissued in the US as USRE38758 (July 2005).