Foley & Lardner: Water IP

Among seven categories of water technologies, more US patents were issued during 2008 for inventions in the “water purification” category than in any other, says a report from Foley & Lardner LLP, a large international law firm based in Milwaukee known for innovating in the IP arena.

The report, Water Technology U.S. Patent Landscape Annual Report, indicates that among 384 water technology patents issued last year, there were 124 patents and 1,958 claims made in the “water purification” category. Other leading categories were water reclamation and treatment (96 patents, 1,534 claims) and water conservation (65 patents, 1,051 claims). The category with the least patent activity was “metering,” with 16 patents and 274 claims. Data were also presented for these other water technology categories: irrigation, desalinization and/or distillation, and hydro/wave/tidal power.

Looking at the types of devices described in the patents, the report said the largest number of claims made under their respective patents were for “water flow-reducing fixtures or flow-limiting valves” (277 claims). Other top categories of claims were “appliances with water conservation characteristics” (263 claims), “treatment of industrial processing or wastewater” (263 claims), “sub-surface current-driven hydropower generation (hydro turbine flow ducts or flow accelerators)” (241 claims), and “purification devices using ionization or electrodes” (199 claims).


The report also identified so-called “white space,” or technological areas where there seems to be the greatest potential for additional patents and technical innovation. The top “white space” category, in the firm’s analysis, was “water treatment with biological agents,” followed by “materials and compositions for water treatment.

More than 30% of 2008 water technology patents were granted to individual inventors as opposed to corporations, the report indicates. Corporations tended to file more patents in more sophisticated water treatment technologies such as desalination, where barriers to market entry typically are higher.

Foley & Lardner has been incredibly prolific helping inventors and companies earn patents-- peruse this lengthy list.

To see the full report in PDF format, click here.

And Foley is on Twitter-- http://twitter.com/FoleyandLardner.

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On Twitter, we're inventionsofman. And check out our University Patent Portfolios here.

Buzz Aldrin's 3 Patents

Buzz Aldrin, the 2nd man ever on the moon, has three patents-- see them here.

Multi-crew modules for space flight was issued in 2004--

A system for launching a space for humans into orbit comprises a launch vehicles. There are multiple separate crew modules mounted in relationship to the launch vehicle. The multiple crew modules are nested around the circumference of the launch vehicle. Alternatively or additionally, there are multiple separate crew modules located in a pod relatively directed along the length of the launch vehicle. A single rocket is for launching the multiple space crew modules. The separate crew module return from orbit to Earth separately.

Mr. Aldrin not only has a website, but is also on Twitter-- @therealbuzz.

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On Twitter, we're inventionsofman. And check out our University Patent Portfolios here.

Pharmalicensing.com

The well-crafted www.Pharmalicensing.com is a division of UTEK Corporation; a business development company that has created a progressive open innovation business model to help companies grow rapidly with university, research laboratory and corporate technology.

They have the notion of Company Profiling--

Our profiling service maximizes your potential of finding the most suitable partner for your opportunities by targeting our focused global business development and licensing audience.

Pharmalicensing provides a central meeting point for potential partners from all around the world. Whether you are looking to in- or out-license, your profile allows interested parties to contact you directly with solutions that match your needs.

This 9/16/09 press release gives a sense of the power of profiling, in this case for Exotic Naturals, a company based in India:

New Research Formula for Heart Disease with effective control over CRP levels.

According to American Heart Association, High levels of CRP consistently predict new coronary events in patients with unstable angina and acute myocardial infarction (heart attack). Research shows that people have heart attacks due to high levels of CRP; high levels of LDL cholesterol are also a major risk. Various studies have proved that statin is a drug of choice for patients with high CRP levels with or without elevated blood lipid levels However; statins have few important side effects. The most serious side effect is liver failure as it causes increase in liver enzymes and rhabdomyolysis which can impair kidney function & lead to kidney failure.

Considering all these facts Exotic Naturals has focused to develop a unique formula which helps to reduce CRP levels considerably and to improve quality of life. E - LL - 01 was developed because of intensive R&D process and intellectual knowledge of Exotic Team. Exotic naturals is proud to present E-LL-01 which has shown lipid lowering activity with reduction in CRP levels in 62 patient clinical studies.

An open label randomized study to compare the safety and efficacy of two doses of E-LL-01 in lowering blood lipids and reducing risk of myocardial infarction was conducted as per ICH-GCP guidelines. 62 patients with LDL > 160 mg/dl and/or Total Cholesterol > 240 mg/dl were given therapy of E-LL-01 as mono therapy for 12 weeks. Both the doses of E-LL-01 have shown significant reduction (P < 0.05) in LDL-C, VLDL-C, and Total Cholesterol at the end of the study as compared to baseline. There was 34% reduction in CRP levels in one group (C-Reactive Proteins) indicating reducing the risk of Ischemic heart diseases.

Exotic has developed products in some of the fastest growing health categories - Male Sexual Dysfunction, Lipid Lowering and Diabetes Type 2, Allergies, Insomnia, Osteoarthritis & Antioxidants and lots more at the R&D stage. Exotic Naturals is offering these exclusive opportunities to alliance partners for co-development and co-marketing worldwide.

For more information on Exotic Naturals & its products visit www.exoticnatural.com or contact Rekha Patel (bizdev@exoticnatural.com)

Learn more about Pharmalicensing's powerful approach to IP bizdev here.

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On Twitter, we're inventionsofman. And check out our University Patent Portfolios here.

23andMe & IP

23andMe has two patent apps, let's take a look:

United States Patent Application 20090119083, Family Inheritance (5/7/2009)
Displaying a comparison of genetic data is disclosed, including receiving an indication of a first individual, receiving an indication of a second individual, retrieving the genotypic information for the first individual and the second individual, comparing the genotypic information of the first individual and the second individual, displaying an indication of the comparison of the genotypic information of the first individual and the second individual graphically. A first graphical symbol is used to display an indication of the genome regions for which the first individual and the second individual are identical. A second graphical symbol is used to display an indication of the genome regions for which the first individual and the second individual are half identical.

United States Patent Application 20090118131, Genetic comparisons between grandparents and grandchildren (5/7/2009)
Displaying a comparison of genotypic information between relatives is disclosed, including receiving an indication that a first individual is a grandparent, receiving an indication that a second individual is a grandchild of the first individual, comparing the genotypic information of the first individual and the second individual and calculating a similarity score, and displaying an indication of the similarity score graphically using colors.

Here's the 23andMe eStore; per Compete.com they see about 37K unique visitors per month to their website.

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On Twitter, we're inventionsofman. And check out our University Patent Portfolios here.

Coverplay

Here's the key patent behind Coverplay, featured on ABC's Shark Tank show last week.

Allison Costa's patent 7,401,366 titled Children's play yard and elastic, removable liner was issued on 7/22/2008--

Various embodiments of the invention are directed towards a baby play yard cover or lining that lines the walls and floor of a baby play yard in order that the play yard is protected from soiling by the baby. Various embodiments of the invention are re-attachable such that the play yard liner may be washed separately from the play yard. The play yard cover has a plurality of elastic reinforcing portions which facilitate the securing of the cover to its corresponding play yard.

And yes, the company won funding from the Sharks....

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On Twitter, we're inventionsofman. And check out our University Patent Portfolios here.