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Monthly Archives: February 2010

Public Trading of Patent License Rights: Has the Search for a Reasonable Royalty Come to an End?

Posted by Barry S. Wilson on Posted in Licensing; Patent

The "reasonable royalty," that mythical and highly elusive number that some expert witnesses have built careers on, may at long last condense out of the ether. As Law360 has reported, Intellectual Property Exchange International ("IPXI") may soon become the first financial exchange for selling patent licensing rights as units (similar to stocks). As a result, publicly available financial information on the price of the license rights units could, for example, provide a frame of reference for the market value of such licenses.

For universities negotiating with start-ups, or start-ups negotiating with OEMs to commercialize intellectual property, the exchange may provide a valuable alternative to time-consuming and sometimes expensive development of complex license agreements. This may especially be true very early on with license negotiations for nanotechnology innovations.
 

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AuraSense Strikes Gold to Treat Cardiovascular Disease

Posted by J. Steven Rutt on Posted in Financing Strategies; Invest; Patent

Nano biotechnology innovations offer some of the more promising opportunities for the development of medical imaging and diagnostic tools.  According to U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2009/0324706, assigned on its face to Northwestern University, gold-nanoparticles can be used to direct the synthesis of structures on which lippid bilayers may be supported.  Because the lippid structures sequester cholesterol, the structures can be imaged in localized regions within a blood vessel where plaque may be present.

AuraSense LLC, a Northwestern University start-up founded by Chad Mirkin (listed as an inventor in the 2009/0324706 publication), has recently received a $2.5 million investment to commercialize its cholesterol sequestering technology that can be used to image cholesterol hot-spots. Such an investment in a university start-up may be seen as evidence that investment rounds are proceeding after a dismal 2009.  Indeed, more investments like these will help keep American innovation primed with job growth and exciting new nanotech- and nano biotechnology-based products.

Recent Nanotech Patent Trends: Top Ten Observations

Posted by J. Steven Rutt on Posted in Cleantech; Patent

While the snowfall may have closed the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) for a fourth day in a row, a fresh crop of patents have issued again as happens each Tuesday. Many of these patents are vital to the future of nanotechnology and cleantech. Below are my top 10 patent observations based on a brief review of the most current PTO data available online.

Starting with the last, but not the least: 

10. The PTO has now classified 5,909 patents as being under Class 977 as nanotechnology patents. This number continues to grow solidly. As highlighted in our posting Update on USPTO Nanotechnology Class 977 in August 2009, the number of 977 patents then was only 5,594. So over 300 nano patents have been granted in six months, which is higher than average (typically, the annual number of granted nano patents is only 250 – 500 patents per year).

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Tech Transfer Debate Brews: Provide More Options for Faculty to License Their Inventions?

Posted by J. Steven Rutt on Posted in General; Licensing

A technology transfer debate may be brewing which could impact nanotechnology heavily. First, the Kauffman Foundation set forth the idea that U.S. innovation could be improved by allowing faculty to choose their own licensing agents and not be limited by the university technology licensing office. Then, the Harvard Business Review recently elected this idea as a top 10 idea for innovation in 2010. Now, the Association of University Technology Manager (AUTM) plans to rebut the Kauffman Foundation idea:

“Kauffman alleges that technology licensing offices are “underperforming” and are a “major impediment.” AUTM does not believe this is the case and wants its membership to know that it is taking a proactive stance by preparing a response to the article. Stay tuned for details as they emerge.”

Nanotechnology relies heavily on federal funding, technology transfer, and university inventions so the outcome of this debate is vital. We see in practice examples of complicated, successful, and/or difficult relationships among the complicated triangle of professors, university technology transfer offices, and private sector companies seeking to license from the university. An initial perspective: it might be interesting to see how the system would work in some “test case situations” where a university voluntarily allows its professors to work with other licensing agents.

We will continue to follow this issue as it develops.

Lithium-Ion Battery Start-Ups Gain Stimulus Funding

Posted by J. Steven Rutt on Posted in Cleantech

If A123Systems receipt of a $249 million Department of Energy grant and later success as the largest IPO of 2009 was any indicator, battery start-ups in 2010 are likely to lead the wave of cleantech success. For example, hybrid cars are taking on an increasing portion of the automotive market and in turn, the development of efficient lithium-ion batteries is a continuing hot topic in the research world. 

As earth2tech recently highlighted in, 20 Battery Startups Hitting the Road With Lithium-ion, many battery start-up companies are currently focused on lithium-ion and some will likely succeed.

Nanotechnology, albeit small in size, is driving big impacts on advanced materials and cleantech.

Alternatives to Lead-Acid Batteries: Paper or Plastic?

Posted by Barry S. Wilson on Posted in Electronic Devices

Since the accidental discovery of metal-like doped polyacetylene in the 1970s, polymer battery research has been driven by the potential of low-cost and environmentally friendly power alternatives to lead-acid batteries. More recent discoveries of new conductive organic materials with higher power densities have also accelerated the the development of flexible "plastic" batteries. 

When it comes to batteries of the future, Professor Yi Cui of Stanford University may soon have us asking, "Paper or Plastic?"

Cui’s research group has recently demonstrated a highly conductive storage device formed by coating a sheet of commercially available paper with ink made of carbon nanotubes and silver nanowires.  Like ink absorbs into paper, the nanotube ink is similarly absorbed due to the small diameters of the solution processible nanomaterials.

With the potential of lasting through 40,000 charge-discharge cycles, these paper batteries may also offer a much longer lifetime than lithium batteries.