ALEXANDRIA, Va., Dec. 9 -- 6 River Systems, Waltham, Massachusetts, has been assigned a patent (9,834,380) developed by four co-inventors for "warehouse automation systems and methods." The co-inventors are Rylan Hamilton, Boston, Massachusetts, Jerome Dubois, Waltham, Massachusetts, Christopher Cacioppo, Somerville, Massachusetts, and Timothy Higgins, Rockport, Massachusetts. The abstract states: "A warehouse automation system adapted to improve warehouse operating productivity includes a plura . . .