Cleantech & Nano Blog Timely insight on emerging legal and business development

Monthly Archives: March 2011

Nanotech, Cleantech, and Printed Electronics Technology News

Posted by J. Steven Rutt on Posted in Cleantech; Nano Biotechnology

I was impressed recently by all of the truly exciting innovations and science policy issues which are now reported in the media so fast that it has become difficult to keep up. Recall the saying: so many books; so little time!

For example, nanotech, cleantech, and printed electronics were all featured in the last Economist Technology Quarterly (March 12, 2011). First, use of nanopores for rapid DNA sequencing was highlighted (pages 13-14). In addition, flexible electronic circuits also were noted (pages 15-16). Finally, Vinod Khosla’s controversial ideas re cleantech were explored (pages 22-23).

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U.S. Patent Explosion for Hydraulic Fracturing Technology: Impact on Marcellus Shale

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

Hydraulic fracturing (HF) continues to be a critical and controversial technology for U.S. energy policy and the larger implications of cleantech. This method can be used to recover natural gas from deep shale such as the Barnett or Marcellus Shale centered in Texas and Pennsylvania, respectively. In particular, the developments in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale in the past several years have attracted much political and media attention, including environmental debate. In this post, some important patent trends are reported which illustrate how critical HF has become to the U.S. economy and innovation.

First, 2010 was a record breaking year for hydraulic fracturing at the USPTO. Patent search results showed 257 patent were issued in 2010 which referred to HF. Moreover, already in 2011, as of today, 47 more HF patents have issued which projects to over 220 in 2011 if that trend continues.
In stark contrast, from 1981 to 2003, the USPTO only issued about 50 HF patents a year. The trend was remarkably steady over these 23 years with a high of 73 in 1993 and a low of 25 in 1982.
 

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DARPA Leading the Way – Nanotechnology Patents

Posted by J. Steven Rutt on Posted in Book Reviews; Electronic Devices; Patent

DARPA is quietly leading the way in nanotechnology as well as other advanced research sectors(DARPA: Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency).  One excellent, readable inside view on DARPA was provided in the recent book, The Department of Mad Scientists, How DARPA is Remaking our World, from the Internet to Artificial Limbs (by Michael Belfiore, 2009). This provided inspiration to look briefly at the impact of DARPA on nanotechnology patenting, as the book mentions the role of nanotechnology in, for example, high efficiency solar cells.

A crude search of 977 nanotechnology patents finds 100 granted patents which apparently derived from DARPA funding based on the government funding clauses. These cover a twenty-one year span, starting with Stanford University’s patent 4,908,519 issued March 13, 1990 (Professor Quate et al., "Loading Mechanism and Support Structure having Improved Vibration Damping Useful in Scanning Tunneling Microscopy").  The most recent issued just last week to Caltech (Professor Heath et al., 7,906,775, "Superlattice Nanopatterning of Wires and Complex Patterns").

The 100 patents cover a balance of both university and corporate research, focusing on areas such as nanopatterning, microfabrication, sensors, assorted nanomaterials, AFM, and transistors. The subjects even include nano biotechnology subjects such as nanofluidic chips, protein printing, and virus arrays.  For example, Princeton’s Professor Chou et al. have patented use of nanochannels for evaluating, isolating, and imaging biopolymers (see US Patent No. 7,670,770).  Sequencing DNA continues to be one of the cutting edge issues in nano biotechnology. Indeed, pulling DNA strands through nanopores is featured in the last Technology Quarterly in the Economist magazine (March 12-18 issue, page 13, "Nanopore Sequencing").

The "mad scientist" label for DARPA projects can create fear of the future.  However, Belfiore’s book says DARPA is not so much frightening as it is inspiring for our future.  For example, DARPA is also contributing to novel alternative energy technology such as high efficiency solar cells.  Based on the review of their nanotechnology patenting results – agreed (at least for civilian applications).   

Obama Continues to Visit Cities for Startup Promotion of Jobs

Posted by J. Steven Rutt on Posted in Cleantech

Public information indicates that President Obama has now visited two of eight cities in the Startup America initiative, designed to make government more supportive of startups, including cleantech, nanotech, and life sciences companies. The remaining cities (or regions) are Boston, Silicon Valley, Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Minneapolis, and Boulder. President Obama has already visited Durham and Austin. 

It is interesting to compare this list to lists of so-called "swing states." However, I did not see cities in Ohio and Florida on this list of cities to visit. A critical national (if not global) issue continues to be whether the remarkable venture journey of Silicon Valley can be replicated elsewhere.

 

Rare Earth Magnets Critical in Nanotech, Cleantech, and Defense

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

CNN recently posted an important article on rare earth magnets and their critical and intriguing role in nanotech and cleantech, as well as defense (“The Race to Make the World’s Strongest Magnet“). Rare earth magnet technology is also supported by the DOE ARPA-E program. One issue is source of supply for this critical technology, where most of the supply of the rare earth metals comes from China (97%).

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Nanotech Commercialization and Regulation Featured

Posted by J. Steven Rutt on Posted in Nanotech Regulation

The most recent issue of Washington Lawyer featured an extensive cover story on nanotech commercialization and regulation.

The current mood for cost-cutting in the federal government, as well as state governments, will perhaps limit nanotech regulatory developments in 2011 – time will tell. The EPA continues to look at nanotechnology, but does so through the use of other phrases such as particulate matter in air quality and safety of chemical under TSCA.

On the commercialization side, patent reform momentum is gaining in Congress and is now a real possibility in 2011.

Electrofuels, Natural Gas, and ARPA-E’s BEEST Project – Areas Slated for Promising Development

Posted by J. Steven Rutt on Posted in Cleantech

By Tianran (T.R.) Yan

A three-day ARPA-E Summit concluded in Washington, D.C. on March 2, 2011. It was held in the midst of unprecedented instability in Middle-East, crude oil price returning to triple digit, imminent federal spending cut, and ambitious clean energy investment announced by China. Nonetheless, the ARPA-E Summit showcased that the United States is still leading in the world effort on clean energy, and reinforced a message to me and the many other attendees that, with focused cooperation between the public and private sectors, the United States is on verge of making breakthroughs towards energy security and economic opportunities.

During the summit, a few technological areas were identified as particularly promising. The first is electrofuels, where bacteria is used to convert chemical or electrical energy and CO2 into high quality liquid fuels. One group of researchers claims that, using electricity harnessed from solar panels, their genetically engineered bacteria are capable of producing liquid fuels three times more efficient than the photosynthetic-biomass route. More than one group projects that electrofuels can be produced at $3 per gallon or less in a few years.

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The Myth of the Rational (Cleantech and Nanotech) Market?

Posted by J. Steven Rutt on Posted in Book Reviews; Cleantech

Justin Fox recently wrote a provocative book, The Myth of the Rational Market (2009). I could not help but consider cleantech and nanotech investing as I read this book, including the IPO market for 2011 which we all hope will be an improvement over the past several years. In his book, Fox looks at the history of finance theory, tackling questions academics have dug into over the decades such as "How was a corporation to decide if an investment was worth pursuing?" Other subjects include index funds and how these finance theories relate to the real world of investing, including bubbles. The gist is that quite possibly the markets are not rational, and shrewd investors can indeed beat the market (e.g., looking for stocks listing at prices below their intrinsic values). In our experience, shrewd (above average) analysis of intellectual property issues can be one source of potentially beating the market.

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More Insights on Nano and President Obama’s Budget – Defense Source of Agreement?

Posted by J. Steven Rutt on Posted in Legislation

The NNI has posted the 2012 Budget Supplement (56 pages) with the following note: 

The NNI is pleased to announce the release of the NNI Supplement to the President’s 2012 Budget. As indicated in this document, the total investment in nanotechnology R&D by NNI member agencies for 2012 is $2.1 billion, an increase of $200 million over the 2010 actual NNI investments. Among the highlights are: (1) increased funding for the three Nanotechnology Signature Initiatives first announced in the 2011 Budget, for a total of over $300 million in the 2012 request; (2) a large increase in the nanotechnology R&D investments at the Department of Energy; and (3) increased funding for nanoscale devices and systems R&D, while maintaining funding for fundamental nanotechnology research.

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ARPA-E Conference Starts in Washington DC

Posted by J. Steven Rutt on Posted in Cleantech

Washington, D.C. will host, on March 1 and 2, an Energy Innovation Summit focusing on ARPA-E.

One important theme is the latest with venture capital and cleantech. See, for example, the blog post on the National Venture Capital Association Web page, which is helping to support the event.

Another important theme which may emerge is the role of natural gas, particularly gas derived from shale, together with the various alternative energies. For example, one morning panel for March 2 is called "Changing the Game in Natural Gas: The Role of Breakthrough Technologies." For more details, the agenda is linked here.