Category Archives: Intellectual Property

Nanotechnology Could Make Blood Glucose Monitoring Less of a Pain

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Jake Meyer by Jake Meyer

In our lifetime, we may see nanotechnology offer improvements in nearly every facet of modern life.  The field of medicine is no exception and nanotechnology research looks to provide technology breakthroughs that will change the way diseases are treated.  Nanotechnology has the potential to improve the treatment of malignant diseases like cancer.  For example, U.S. Patent No. 6,727,065 describes a quantum dot which attaches itself to a cancerous tumor and upon exposure to infrared radiation releases a substance toxic to the tumor.  Nanotechnology also has the potential to improve the treatment of chronic diseases such as diabetes.  Diabetes affects millions of Americans and recent nanotechnology research may lead to a new way of monitoring blood glucose that doesn't involve sticking yourself with a needle.

Researchers at Purdue University have created a biosensor which precisely detects blood glucose.  The biosensor is composed of a single-wall carbon nanotube attached to a gold-coated "nanocube."  The nanocube acts as a sensor and the carbon nanotube acts as a wire to carry electrical signals to electronic circuitry.  The design has been referred to as a tether ball and is well-suited for sensing applications because the sensing portion of the system extends out from the rest of the system allowing it to contact target molecules more easily.  Attached to the nanocube is an enzyme called glucose oxidase.  When the enzyme is in the presence of glucose and oxygen there is an electrochemical reaction that generates an electrical signal, which then travels along the carbon nanotube.

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Space Elevators and Carbon Nanotube Patents

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Jake Meyer by Jake Meyer

Space elevators are a simple idea that could make transporting passengers or cargo into space relatively easily and inexpensively as compared to our current method of space transport – igniting millions of pounds of fuel to blast a rocket out of our atmosphere.  Most concepts for a space elevator involve a tether anchored to the earth, for example on a floating platform somewhere in the Earth’s oceans.  The tether would stretch 100,000 kilometers or so from Earth, past the Earth’s atmosphere and into space where the tether would be attached to a large counterbalance.  This counterbalance would orbit the Earth while the centrifugal forces from the earth’s rotation would keep a constant tension on the tether.  Under a constant tension, the tether could be used as a rail for a lift or “climber” that could ascend the tether into space carrying with it a payload of cargo or passengers.

Besides making space transport inexpensive, space elevators could also solve our need for environmentally friendly energies.  Space elevators could be used to install large solar power satellites in space that could provide us with inexpensive and continuous energy.  These types of projects are not feasible with our current rocket technology.

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Five Major Intellectual Property Offices to Share Work

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Jake Meyer by Jake Meyer

On October 31, 2008, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced a work-sharing initiative between five major intellectual property offices.  The initiative is the result of a meeting on October 27 and October 28, 2008, at Jeju, Korea, between the heads of the five major intellectual property offices to discuss collaboration among the offices.  The Korean Intellectual Property Office, the European Patent Office, the Japan Patent Office, the State Intellectual Property Office of the People’s Republic of China, and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office stated that they were creating an initiative with the goal of: “The elimination of unnecessary duplication of work among the offices, enhancement of patent examination efficiency and quality, and guarantee of the stability of patent right.”

The five intellectual property offices established 10 “Foundation Projects,” such as creating a common application format or standardizing the training of patent examiners, to further the initiative’s goal.  The projects are designed to harmonize the examination process and searches for prior art and to standardize the information-sharing process.  Each office will oversee two of the “Foundation Projects.”  The offices agreed that by the end of April 2009 they would exchange detailed proposals on each “Foundation Project.”

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