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Nanotechnology in U.S. Patents: Classification, Search, and Analysis

Explore the intricate world of nanotechnology patents in the U.S., covering classification methods, filing processes, and the importance of thorough searching. Discover key insights and how they impact technological advancements.

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Nanotechnology in U.S. Patents: Classification, Search, and Analysis

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  1. Nanotechnology in U.S. Patents: Classification, Searching and Analysis Charlotte A. Erdmann Siegesmund Engineering Library Purdue University

  2. Apples and Oranges: A Work in Progress Similarities and Differences

  3. Nanotechnology is emerging area • Multi-faceted and interdisciplinary • Common threads for emerging areas • Basic research is found in journal and conference literature • Specific facets that have commercial possibilities are found in patents

  4. Patents --- Global perspective • One must have a patent in a country in order to have protection in that country • Prior art includes literature from journal articles, conference papers, patents, etc.

  5. United States Patents • Issued Patents and Pre-Grant Publications (beginning in 2001) are available • Classification (class/subclass) based on claims. • Classification for issued patents is more thorough since it is assigned by the examiner. It may change from date of issue. • Classification for published application is machine assigned • Keyword searching is an option but it should not be the only search method

  6. Molecular nanowires from single walled carbon nanotubes U.S. Patent 7,112,315 Issued September 26, 2006 Inventor: Kiang; Ching-Hwa (Los Angeles, CA) Assignee: The Regents of the University of California (Oakland, CA) Appl. No.: 09/354,531 Filed: July 15, 1999 Current U.S. Class: 423/447.1 ; 435/182; 977/702; 977/705; 977/750; 977/762 Current International Class: D01F 9/12 (20060101); C12N 11/04 (20060101) Field of Search: 435/176,177,180,182

  7. Molecular nanowires from single walled carbon nanotubes US Published Application 20010051367 Inventor: Kiang; Ching-Hwa (Los Angeles, CA) Serial No.: 354531 Serial Code: 09 Filed: July 15, 1999 Current U.S. Class: 435/182 U.S. Class at Publication: 435/182 International Class: C12N 11/04

  8. Starting Point Index to the U.S. Patent Classification System Nanotechnology……………Class 977 Manual of Classification   700          NANOSTRUCTURE   701          . Integrated with dissimilar structures on a common substrate   702          .. Having biological material component   703          ... Cellular   704          … Nucleic acids (e.g., DNA or RNA, etc.)   705          ... Protein or peptide   706          ... Carbohydrate

  9. A New Class Starts with a Classification Order • Members of work team that created the class and when it was done • Changes from previous classifications • Topics included and excluded • See also classes and/or subclasses to examine and search. More than 31 other classes are represented for Nanotechnology • Glossary of terms • Class schedule, i.e. subclasses • Definitions of class and subclasses with see references

  10. Class 977 for Nanotechnology • Created in 2005/2006 as a Cross-Reference Art Collection • Provides supplemental art collections for searching and is not used as a basis for assigning patent applications for examination purposes • US patents or pre-grant publications can only be classified in class 977 as Cross-references (XR) or Secondary (SEC) classification, and not as Original (OR) or Primary (PRI) classifications.

  11. Class 977 includes: • Nanostructure and chemical compositions of nanostructure • Device that include at least one nanostructure • Mathematical algorithms, e.g., computer software, etc., specifically adapted for modeling configurations or properties of nanostructure • Methods or apparatus for making, detecting, analyzing, or treating nanostructure • Specified particular uses of nanostructure

  12. Issued Patent and Pre-grant Publication • Limited number of patents in Class 977 • Used Cassis Patent Bib for statistics from 1970-October 2006 • 4546 Issued Patents • 872 Pre-grant Publications • Using Access and Excel, it was possible to get stats for country and state for the first inventor • Using GIS software, Chris Miller of Purdue’s Library tested some mapping capabilities. International locations caused more errors than US cities

  13. Issued Patents US – 2603 International - 1770 Pre-Grant Publications US – 500 International - 302 Even Simple Statistics may not be meaningful due to small numbers

  14. Goal: Acquire meaningful statistics • Add relevant class/subclasses for all nanotechnology areas • Cleanup Cassis data • Inventor cities and countries for geographic data • Multiple inventors • Multiple assignees • Acquire data from other sources and cleanup as needed

  15. Alternate searches on esp@cenet, WIPO, or Commercial Services • International Classification (IPC) • European Classification (ECLA) • Derwent World Patents $$ • Questel Orbit INPADOC $$

  16. International Patent Classification http://www.wipo.int/classifications/ipc/en/

  17. PCT published application http://www.wipo.int/pctdb/en/ (WO/2005/015579) METHODS OF FORMING THREE-DIMENSIONAL NANODOT ARRAYS IN A MATRIX International Classification G11B 5/855 (2006.01), H01F 1/00 (2006.01), H01F 41/20 (2006.01), H01F 41/30 (2006.01), H01L 29/12 (2006.01)

  18. ECLA offers some possibilities Broad Technical Fields Characterised by Dimensional Aspects Y01 Nanotechnology YO1N More than 100,000 Nanobiotechnology Y01N2 14727 Nanotechnology for Information Processing, Storage and Transmission Y01N4 31627 Nanotechnology for Materials and Surface Science Y01N8 11622 Nanooptics Y01N10 19536 Nanomagnetics Y01N12 16764

  19. Services from European Patent Office • Esp@cenet web site http://ep.espacenet.com • Patent family • Legal status • Open download in XML possible from http://ops.espacenet.com

  20. esp@cenet • International: G11B5/855; H01F1/00; H01F41/20; H01F41/30; H01L29/12; G11B5/855; H01F1/00; H01F41/14; H01L29/02; (IPC1-7): H01F • European: G11B5/855; H01F1/00E10M; H01F1/00E12; H01F41/20; H01L29/12W4; Y01N4/00; Y01N12/00

  21. VantagePoint Possible access to improved software used by many patent analysis specialists and professional searchers

  22. Alan Porter and colleagues at Search Technology, Inc. • Completed funded research while at Georgia Tech • Created VantagePoint software and wrote Tech Mining: Exploiting New Technologies for Competitive Advantage (2005) • Presented papers on results of research: • “Defining the Nanotechnology Domain in a Real Time Technology Assessment” • “Mining Patents + Research Publications to Improve Technology Management: Nano Illustrations

  23. VantagePoint capabilities • Importing • Cleaning • Analyzing • Reporting • Automating

  24. In conclusion • Classification offers several systems that work with patents • Searching several system is necessary • At the same time, it is going to take a lot of work to show good patent analysis in any field

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