ALEXANDRIA, Va., April 1 -- 3M Innovative Properties, St. Paul, Minnesota, has been assigned a patent (8,991,239) developed by Kurt J. Halverson, Lake Elmo, Minnesota, Stephen C.P. Joseph, Woodbury, Minnesota, and Matthew T. Scholz, Woodbury, Minnesota, for a "system and method for preparing samples."

The patent application was filed on Aug. 10, 2012 (13/571,748). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL& . . .