Tag Archives: graphitic carbon-based nanotechnology

Law firm, McDermott Will & Emery presents 2013 nanotechnology patent review

A report titled, ‘2013 Nanotechnology Patent Literature Review: Graphitic Carbon-Based Nanotechnology and Energy Applications Are on the Rise‘ published by the law firm, McDermott Will & Emery, was first profiled in a Feb. 13, 2014 news item on Nanowerk,

In past years, the McDermott Will & Emery Nanotechnology Group has investigated trends in nanotechnology patent literature as a means of identifying research trends, pinpointing industry leaders and clarifying the importance of the United States in this technology revolution. McDermott Will & Emery offer their Special Report “2013 Nanotechnology Patent Literature Review: Graphitic Carbon-Based Nanotechnology and Energy Applications Are on the Rise” as a continuing study of trends observed in our 2013 and 2012 reports, and also present a renewed focus on trends in the energy sector.

… the McDermott team performed a more detailed analysis of the innovation trends in graphitic carbon-based nanotechnology innovations. Graphitic carbon-based nanoparticles (fullerenes, carbon nanotubes and graphene) have unique structures that give rise to interesting electrical, spectral, thermal and mechanical properties that can be exploited in applications across many technology sectors. While some of the same trends were seen when comparing graphitic carbon-based nanotechnology innovation to nanotechnology innovation in general, some surprising observations were made with respect to graphitic carbon-based nanotechnology innovation including the following:

  • While 50 percent of the graphitic carbon-based nanotechnology patent literature published in 2013 was assigned to U.S.-based entities, Eastern Asia’s market share is about 37 percent, which is 9 percent more than for nanotechnology patent literature in general.
  • While the United States has at least one of the top three assignees in each of the six technology sectors analyzed, Eastern Asia-based companies are more prevalent players in graphitic carbon-based nanoparticles as compared to nanotechnology innovation in general.
  • The Energy sector is also the fastest-growing sector for graphitic carbon-based nanotechnology innovation, with an 18 percent increase in 2013.

A Feb. 27, 2014 posting by Iona Kaiser, Carey Jordan & Valerie Moore (of the McDermott Will & Emery law firm) for the IP Watchdog blog provides more details about the law firm’s report published earlier this month (Feb. 2014),

… According to a recent GAO report [Nanomanufacturing: Emergence and Implications for U.S. Competitiveness, the Environment, and Human Health (?) published in January 2014 and mentioned in my Feb. 10, 2014 posting], many experts in industry, government, and academia anticipate that nanotech innovations could match or exceed the economic and societal impacts of the digital revolution.  The nanomedicine market, which has been estimated at about 20 percent to about 40 percent of the overall nanotechnology market, was valued at 78.54 billion USD in 2012 and is expected to grow to 117.60 billion USD by 2019, according to a new market report published by Transparency Market Research “Nanomedicine Market (Neurology, Cardiovascular, Anti-inflammatory, Anti-infective, and Oncology Applications)–Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast, 2013 – 2019.”

… Overall, the total volume of published nanotechnology patent literature increased 5 percent in 2013 and has more than tripled since 2003.  The number of U.S. patents issued in nanotechnology was more than 6,000 in 2013, a 17 percent increase over 2012.  Given the novelty and nonobviousness requirements of patenting, a 17 percent increase in issued U.S. patents indicates that nanotech innovation is growing rapidly.

As a measure of regional innovation and potential economic impact, the location of the assignees of nanotechnology patent literature was analyzed by region and country.  The assignee location may be a metric useful in forecasting where commercialization and economic impact will be greatest.  In a regional analysis, three epicenters for nanotechnology innovation emerge– North America, Eastern Asia, and Europe each with about 57 percent, 28 percent, and 20 percent, respectively, of the patent literature being assigned to entities residing therein. For individual countries, the U.S. maintains its dominance observed in previous years with about 54 percent of the nanotechnology patent literature published in 2013 being assigned to U.S.-based entities, followed by South Korea at 8.3 percent, Japan at 8.0 percent, and Germany at 5.8 percent.

Time will tell as to whether or not this portends a new patent thicket such as the one surrounding smartphones where the situation was sufficiently concerning that the UN held a telecommunications patent summit in 2012 (mentioned in my Oct. 10, 2012 posting). I also wrote a general piece mentioning patent trolls and other IP issues in a June 28, 2012 posting titled: ‘Billions lost to patent trolls; US White House asks for comments on intellectual property (IP) enforcement; and more on IP’.