Chrona is somewhat infamous for raising almost $100,000 in a 2015 Kickstarter campaign and failing to deliver the promised "smart pillow cover," which promised to turn any pillow into a high-tech sleep improvement device. The company was one of three acquired by Telluride Medical Partners (TMP) in 2017 (now a part of Johnson and Johnson Innovation, JLABS). Though a product was never delivered to campaign backers, Chrona still shows some signs of activity. As of now, the pillow remains available for pre-order, and the TMP blog indicates staff member activity as recently as November of 2018.
The issuance of Chrona's patent this week indicates that the company is still interested in deriving value from its intellectual property. Whether this means developing and selling a product is as of yet unknown. However, the most recently issued patent and at least one other Chrona-assigned patent are notably void of any continuing patent activity, which either indicates a lack of IP strategy or a lack of confidence in the inventions' potential for significant business value.
