Keraderm: Nail-Healing Light

Blacksburg, VA-based Keraderm just raised $2.5 million in an "A" round. The company has invented a device that looks like this that uses phototherapy to fight nail infections.

The firm's President, Bill Cumbie, has two patents:

7,494,502 Alteration of the skin and nail for the prevention and treatment of skin and nail infections

The method of prevention and treatment of microbial infections that occur on, or just below, the skin and nails of a person consisting of applying a means to inactivate the microbes thus rendering them harmless. The treatment consists of applying a means which alters the skin or nail so that the skin or nail will either no longer serve as a food source, will be inhibitory to the organism, will be toxic to the organism, or will be altered in a manner that makes it more responsive to treatment of infections.

7,306,620 Prevention and treatment of skin and nail infections using germicidal light

A method of prevention and treatment of microbial infections that occur on, or just below, the skin and nails of a person consisting of electromagnetic radiation to inactivate the microbes thus rendering them harmless. The treatment consists of irradiating an area of the skin and nails for a period of time long enough to inactivate the organisms. Some additional features which are not integral to the treatment but increase the safety of the treatment include shielding of non-infected areas from irradiation and a cover to prevent damage to sight which may result from viewing the electromagnetic radiation.

The treatment eliminates the potential serious side effects of current medications and has shown encouraging results in preclinical and early clinical testing. The firm believes that the ability to safely and effectively treat nail infections, the low cost, and the shortened treatment time of the Keraderm light-based solution potentially will transform what is a billion-dollar-plus market.

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Kanzius and his Cancer-Zapping Device

Last night 60 Minutes looked at the Kanzius Machine.

John Kanzius invented a radio machine to zap cancer cells. And he tried it on himself.

Kanzius earned one patent and five patent applications.

His patent 7,510,555 is titled Enhanced systems and methods for RF-induced hyperthermia and was issued 3/31/2009:

A method of inducing hyperthermia in at least a portion of a target area—e.g., a tumor or a portion of a tumor or targeted cancerous cells—is provided. Targeted RF absorption enhancers, e.g., antibodies bound to RF absorbing particles, are introduced into a patient. These targeted RF absorption enhancers will target certain cells in the target areas and enhance the effect of a hyperthermia generating RF signal directed toward the target area. The targeted RF absorption enhancers may, in a manner of speaking, add one or more RF absorption frequencies to cells in the target area, which will permit a hyperthermia generating RF signal at that frequency or frequencies to heat the targeted cells.

Kanzius died earlier this year. The company he founded is Therm Med.

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Archer Daniels Midland IP

Decatur, IL-based Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) is one of the largest agricultural processors in the world.

They have 359 U.S. patents and patent apps as of this moment, see them here from the most recent.

The latest is #7,582,777 titled from Long chain (C22-C50) polyunsaturated hydrocarbons, derivatives, synthesis and uses thereof from 9/1/2009--

The present invention is directed to unsaturated or derivatized long chain (C₂₂-C₅₀) polyunsaturated hydrocarbons and a method of preparing the long chain hydrocarbons via electrocoupling of C₁₂-C₂₆ fatty acids. It has been found that soapstock is an inexpensive source of starting materials for the present method. The present invention is also directed to compositions comprising the long chain polyunsaturated hydrocarbons, which can be used as reactive diluents and modifiers in latex, epoxy, alkyd and polymer compositions. In another aspect, the present invention is directed to derivitization or ozonolysis of the long chain polyunsaturated hydrocarbons. The present method is also useful for preparing C_12-26 alkyl esters and C_12-26 carbon chain compounds containing a terminal olefin.

The inventor is Paul Bloom, and the patent was filed on 10/17/2005 (thus almost a 4-year wait).

ADM was founded in 1898.

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Friendster: IP in Social Networking

Friendster has 19 million worldwide monthly unique visitors per Comscore, but has been passed by (see MySpace and Facebook).

Still, they have IP-- five social networking patents between 2006 and 2009 including U.S. Patent 7,478,078, titled “Method for sharing relationship information stored in a social network database with third party databases.” It was awarded 1/13/2009.

Other social networks may violate the patent:

Social network information maintained in a first database is shared with a second database. The operators of the second database use the social network information to better manage services provided to their customers and target particular information to their customers. The process begins with a request made to an application server of the first database by an application server of the second database, for social network information relevant to a set of individuals. The request includes identifying information of each individual in the set. The first database is then searched for matches with the identifying information in the request. If matches are found, the social network information relevant to those individuals for whom matches are found is shared with the second database.


Information supplied by the company:

* In July 2006, Friendster was awarded its first U.S. patent describing how people are connected in the context of an online social network, titled “A System, Method and Apparatus for Connecting Users in an Online Computer System Based on Their Relationships within Social Networks” (U.S. Patent 7,069,308).

* Friendster was granted a second U.S. patent in October 2006, which discloses the process of enriching other users’ profiles with text, video, pictures and additional content, titled “Method of Inducing Content Uploads in a Social Network” (U.S. Patent 7,117,254).

* In March 2007, Friendster added another patent to its portfolio, titled “System and Method for Managing Connections in an Online Social Network” (U.S. Patent 7,188,153), which describes a technology that manages connections in a social network and allows members of the social network to add friends, personalize their network through arranging, ordering and classifying their connections, and search and browse profiles of other members of the social network.

* In December 2008, Friendster was granted its fourth patent, titled “Compatibility Scoring of Users in a Social Network” (U.S. Patent 7,451,161), which discloses a unique methodology used to calculate compatibility based on expressed interests between users of a social network. This includes scoring the compatibility between two members of a social network based on their interests and scoring the correlation between two interests for a given member of a social network.

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