Envoy Medical, a hearing health company developing fully implanted hearing solutions, has secured two additional international patents, taking its global intellectual property portfolio to 97 granted patents.

The company now holds 40 US patents and 57 foreign patents, along with 35 pending applications comprising 26 foreign and nine US applications.

The Canadian Patent Office has granted Canadian Patent No. 3,130,978, titled ‘Implantable Cochlear System with Integrated Components and Lead Characterization.’ The patent covers technology for characterising electrical conductors within an implantable cochlear system and supports Envoy Medical’s development of integrated implantable hearing technologies.

The Hong Kong Patent Office has granted Hong Kong Patent No. HK40108431, titled ‘Implantable Cochlear System and Corresponding Method of Compensating for Variability in a Middle Ear Sensor.’ The patent covers systems and methods for addressing variability in a middle ear sensor, including signal processing and normalisation techniques.

According to Envoy Medical, the patents strengthen intellectual property protection for its fully implanted hearing platform, which incorporates technologies related to sensing, signal processing, implantation and system integration.

Brent Lucas, Chief Executive Officer, Envoy Medical, said the company will continue investing in domestic and international intellectual property protection as it expands its portfolio and develops differentiated fully implanted hearing technologies.

Envoy Medical’s technology platform is designed to use the natural anatomy of the ear to capture sound rather than relying on an external or sub-dermal microphone.

The company’s portfolio includes the fully implanted Esteem active middle ear implant, commercially available in the US since 2010, and the Acclaim Cochlear Implant, which remains an investigational device.

The Acclaim Cochlear Implant is being evaluated in a US-based pivotal clinical trial for adults with severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss that is not adequately addressed by hearing aids. The device received Breakthrough Device Designation from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2019.

The Acclaim Cochlear Implant is an investigational device and is limited by US federal law to investigational use.