Category: Intellectual property
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Microbes Found to Clean Nuclear Waste, Generate Electricity
Researchers at Michigan State University in East Lansing have shown the ability of certain microbes to generate an electric current while cleaning up uranium in wastewater. The team’s findings, for which patents have been filed, appear online in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (paid subscription required). Microbiologist Gemma Reguera (pictured right)…
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Manufacturing Process Devised for More Economical LEDs
Materials scientists at University of Florida in Gainesville have developed a new manufacturing process for light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, used in flat-panel displays and solid-state lighting. The process is described in an article now appearing in the journal Nature Photonics (paid subscription required), and has been licensed to a company for commercialization. Two research teams…
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Engineers Build Compact, Inexpensive Microscope
Researchers at University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) have built a compact, light-weight microscope that uses holograms instead of lenses. The device is described in a paper published today in the journal Biomedical Optics Express, and a company has been formed to take it to market. The team developing the microscope is led by…
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University of Utah Spins-Off 23 Companies in 2010-2011
The University of Utah in Salt Lake City, named the top institution for creating start-up companies, says the school spun-off 23 new companies in its 2010-2011 fiscal year, most of which are based on scientific or engineering discoveries. The new figures were released in the annual report of the university’s Technology Venture Development office. In…
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Bacterial Process Converts Recycled Newspapers to Biofuel
Biologists at Tulane University in New Orleans have found a bacterial strain that produces bio-based butanol directly from cellulose in plants and plant byproducts, including old newspapers. The strain of bacteria, called TU-103, is being tested in the lab of Tulane molecular biologist David Mullin, and a patent is pending on the process. Mullin’s lab…
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USPTO, Taiwan to Pilot Test Reciprocal Patent Reviews
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced a new pilot test of sharing patent reviews with the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO). The trial of the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) program will permit each office to benefit from work previously done by the other office. USPTO says the expedited examination in each office allows…
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New Treatment Fixes Tooth Decay Without Drilling
Researchers at University of Leeds in the U.K. have developed a way of treating dental decay that reverses the damage caused by acid and re-builds teeth, without drilling. The technology developed at Leeds has been licensed to a company in Switzerland for commercialization. Dental cavities are caused by a process that begins with bacteria, which…
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Human Energy Harvesting Technology Developed, Commercialized
Engineers at University of Wisconsin in Madison have created a technology that harvests and converts energy from normal human activities like walking into electrical power for portable electronic devices. The work of Tom Krupenkin and J. Ashley Taylor appears in a paper in the journal Nature Communications, and is the basis of a company formed…
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Radio Antennas Embedded in Clothing Developed, Licensed
Ohio State University engineers in Columbus have developed a process to sew radio antennas directly into clothing, using plastic film and metallic thread. Their work was published recently in the journal IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters (paid subscription required), and licensed to a Virginia company for commercialization. Research engineering professor Chi-Chih Chen says the…
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Self-Powered Prosthetic Leg Developed, Patented, Licensed
Vanderbilt University engineers in Nashville have developed a prosthetic lower leg, which allows amputees to walk without the leg-dragging that characterizes conventional artificial legs. The university has patented basic elements of the device’s design, and licensed the technology to a California company for commercial development. The prosthesis is as much an electronic as an assistive…