First, the good news. Here’s an update from Physorg.com on the nanoactuator work reported previously. Not much new technical info, but new thoughts on cool applications: Researchers at the University of Portsmouth, UK, have developed an electronic switch based on DNA – a world-first bio-nanotechnology breakthrough that provides the foundation for the interface between living… Continue reading Patents on fundamental nanotechnology devices may slow progress
Roger Brent, director of the Molecular Sciences Institute in Berkeley, is a leader in open source biotech: Putting his patents where his principles are, Dr. Brent’s institute has drafted an “Open Source Policy” which commits to “[making] reagents and methods freely available to the research community.” You can see MSI’s open source policy and a… Continue reading Nanotechnology: Lessons from open source biotech
Patrick Lin over at the Nanoethics Group let us know that the principals of that group have received a US$250,000 grant from the NSF to study the ethics of using nanotechnology to do human enhancement, through their academic affiliations at Dartmouth and Western Michigan U. The questions to be investigated by the nanoethics research team… Continue reading U.S. nanotechnology funds study ethics of human enhancement
We don’t usually like to link to subscription sites, but as an editorial advisory board member, I’ll make an exception for Nanotech Briefs (you can download a free sample). The August issue has the usual hard-core technical news: SiGe transistor operates at frequencies above 500 GHz, Method creates hollow nanocrystals, nanopore technique sequences DNA [note:… Continue reading Nanotechnology patents delayed, nanotech public understanding mixed
From Newswire Today: Raj Bawa, a former patent examiner and now biotech consultant and Adjunct Assistant Professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, writes in the journal Nanomedicine on his concerns about the growing nanotech “patent thicket” and its negative impact on innovation: “According to Dr. Raj Bawa, author of a recent paper titled ‘Will the nanomedicine… Continue reading Former patent examiner concerned about nanotech patent thicket
From the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, via ag-IP-News: a “Nanotechnology Customer Partnership meeting will be held on March 28, 2006 in the Madison Auditorium, North Side, located at 600 Dulany Street, in Alexandria, Virginia. This Nanotechnology Customer Partnership initiative is designed and developed to be a forum to share ideas, experiences, and insights between… Continue reading US Patent office open to nanotech user input
In the U.S., patent rights from federally-funded grants to university researchers generally go to the universities. Sometimes, the research professors benefit personally, depending on the school. This situation results from the Bahy-Dole Act of 1980. Most observers regard this act as an improvement over what came before, but it’s not clear that it is the… Continue reading Malaysia to split nanotech IP three ways
Writing in The Jakarta Post, Indonesia’s leading English language newspaper, is attorney Mohamad Mova Al ‘Afghan. He looks specifically at molecular nanotechnology, which he defines as “the capability to assemble any product than can be designed directly from atoms and molecules.” See the full article, or these excerpts: “The revolution in manufacturing resulting from MNT… Continue reading Nanotech: a view from Indonesia
An article in InformationWeek, while focused primarily on information technology, has lessons for nanotech as well (emphasis added): “U.S. universities need to recognize they’re in a global showdown for research dollars. But sometimes they’re their own worst enemies in landing such funding. The culprit: The conflict over who gets the right to collect royalties on… Continue reading Growing conflict over nanotech intellectual property
Having trouble keeping up with patents in nanotechnology? Sure you are! The folks at Nanotechnology Now have a new nanopatent info service, the NanoTech Transfer Report, which they will send you free. OK, not forever, but free for 90 days, which should be long enough to see if it’s worth $39.95 a month to you.… Continue reading Free nanotech patent reports
