Mississippi Patent of the Month – October 2022

SPOT Tracker, LLC has been modernizing data to help companies streamline their analytics. Their software platform leverages processes to analyze, integrate, and securely store data so that it can be used to inform decisions. With applications in fields such as renewable energy, oil and gas, and powerlines, SPOT Tracker tracks data to support compliance, inspections, inventory and more.

In the oil and gas field, anti-corrosive coatings are regularly applied to pipes and various metal structures. Over time, these coatings erode, exposing the underlying pipe to the environment. These gaps in coatings are termed “holidays”. Typically, detecting these holidays is achieved using electrical voltages to identify unexpected closed electrical circuits which will occur wherever there is insufficient coating to resist the electrical voltage. 

SPOT Tracker has developed a label for these holiday testing procedures. The labels are applied to the pipe with a layer of conductive material between the pipe and label. This conductivity layer prevents the label from interfering with the holiday testing by allowing the holiday detector to complete an electrical circuit below the label if a holiday is present. Each label has a barcode to effectively mark and track individual pieces of pipe. 

These types of solutions streamline inspection and maintenance protocols, ensuring no holiday is missed. The greatest threat to any project budget is time. With that in mind, any solution that improves efficiency is a friend to a project’s budget.

Are you developing new technology for an existing application? Did you know your development work could be eligible for the R&D Tax Credit and you can receive up to 14% back on your expenses? Even if your development isn’t successful your work may still qualify for R&D credits (i.e. you don’t need to have a patent to qualify). To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today or check out our free online eligibility test.

Who We Are:

Swanson Reed is one of the U.S.’ largest Specialist R&D tax advisory firms. We manage all facets of the R&D tax credit program, from claim preparation and audit compliance to claim disputes.

Swanson Reed regularly hosts free webinars and provides free IRS CE and CPE credits for CPAs. For more information please visit us at www.swansonreed.com/webinars or contact your usual Swanson Reed representative.

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