INTELLECTUAL
PROPERTY PAGE
This
page (link above) is directed at addressing intellectual
property
concerns of scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs working
in
the solar energy field.
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IS
SOLAR ENERGY HARMFUL?
The
wide scale interest in the commercial potential of cadmium telluride
(CdTe)
and copper indium diselenide (CIS) photovoltaic modules is tempered by
the use
of toxic metals such as cadmium and selenium in their manufacture.
Research found these fears to be groundless.
Click
here to read full article.
ARCHIVE
October 2007
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August-September
2008 October-December 2008

Cherry Blossoms in Arlington

Trails End in Berlin
Bicycles in Berlin
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Patent
Day
The United States Patent and Trademark
Office (USPTO) issues patents
once a week, on Tuesday.
Today, the USPTO issued 3,462 patents.
Of the 3,462 patents issued,
17
contained the word "photovoltaic";
13
contained the phrase "solar cell";
3
contained the term "biodiesel";
6 contained the word "geothermal";
and
0
contained the term "wind turbine".
An interesting patent for today is by Wei Du et al., who
developed a method for synthesizing biodiesel from renewable oils. See: USP
7,473,791. Anonther interesting patent is by Alexander Greenspan et al. of Wave Energy Recovery for a bouy that generates electricity. See: USP 7,474,013. Robert E. Goozner - January 6, 2009 Tales From The Crypt
I just got a graphic reminder of why the American automobile industry is going under. My
wife is being given a company car for her job as a sales
representative. Her company decided to give her a Chevrolet
Equinox. Since she is going on an extended business trip this
week she called the Chevrolet dealership and asked if she could pick up
the car this weekend. She was informed with a great deal of
hauteur that although the car was ready, it would be impossible to pick
up the vehicle because nobody from the fleet leasing department comes
in on weekends and there would be nobody there to give her the keys. I
can’t imagine this type of scenario happening at a Toyota or Honda
dealership. I guess the American automobile companies think that
since they are already on government support, that they are part of the
government. Well GM, if I can buy postage stamps from the
government on a weekend, why can’t we get a car on the weekend? Since we are still trying to extract the Equinox from the Chevy dealership, I am declining to mention who they are. As
for me, the last American car I bought was a Ford SHO, which was a Ford
Taurus with a powerful Japanese engine. Since, there was no
follow up engineering to accommodate the powerful engine, the SHO had a
tendency to blow clutches, even though I am not a hot dog driver. Since
I had bought the SHO from Young Ford in Charlotte, North Carolina, I
took it there to get the clutch replaced (at least the first
time). When I got the car back they handed me a bill that was
three times the estimate. No only that, but the car had been left
out in the rain overnight with the sun roof open. So they handed
me the keys (after charging triple) and discovered that there was three
inches of water inside the car in which about a dozen cigarette butts
were floating. The people at Young Ford had used my car as an ash tray. That SHO was the last American car I ever purchased. These
days, I drive a Toyota. When I leave my car there for servicing,
they charge me the estimate and return the car to me dry and free of
cigarette butts. Robert E. Goozner - January 5, 2009
Patent
Day (The Last of 2008)
The United States Patent and Trademark
Office (USPTO) issues patents
once a week, on Tuesday.
Today, the USPTO issued 3,510 patents.
Of the 3,510 patents issued,
14
contained the word "photovoltaic";
8
contained the phrase "solar cell";
0
contained the term "biodiesel";
4 contained the word "geothermal";
and
9
contained the term "wind turbine".
An interesting patent for today is by Gert W. Brunig of Philips Electronics, who
developed a wireless battery charger. See: USP
7,471,062. Alternative Energy in North Carolina The Charlotte Observer has published an article on how North Carolina busnesses thrive on renewable energy. The article features Sencera,
which manufactures thin film solar modules and boasts fast film
deposition rates. However, the real spark plug behind North
Carolina alternative energy seems to beDuke Energy. (Thanks to Bill Drinkard for the tip). Robert E. Goozner - December 30, 2008 Patent
Day
The United States Patent and Trademark
Office (USPTO) issues patents
once a week, on Tuesday.
Today, the USPTO issued 2,411 patents.
Of the 2,411 patents issued,
11
contained the word "photovoltaic";
8
contained the phrase "solar cell";
1
contained the term "biodiesel";
2 contained the word "geothermal";
and
2
contained the term "wind turbine".
An interesting patent for today is by Richard M. Swanson of Sunpower, who
developed a back side contact solar cell with doped polysilicon regions. See: USP
7,468,485.
Robert E. Goozner - December 23, 2008 When Dinosaurs Consort
An article in the Wall Street Journal today reported on U.S. firms joining forces to build car batteries.
Among the names dropped were Argonne National Labs, 3M, FMC,
Johnson Controls and the Detroit big 3. This represents the
triumph of hope over experience. For example, the semiconductor
consortium Sematech never went anywhere, but somehow the article says
that Sematech was a success. That is, having competitors
cooperate is a non-runner. I don't think the article mentioned the U.S. Advanced Battery Consortium.
At the top of the web page one may note the logos of the Detroit
big three: GM-saurus, Ford-saurus and Chrysler-saurus. Also of
interest is the battery section on Argonne's website.
The only way this would work would be by micro-managing by the U.S.
Government, that is, Argonne. Let's not forget that a large
component of this consortium would the the coalition of the incapable:
GM-saurus, Ford-saurus and Chrysler-saurus. Otherwise, this
consortium will just end up laying a big dinosaur egg. In orther news, the New York Times had an article today about new jobs in solar power.
I t seems that there was a 45% increase in installed solar energy
systems from 2006 to 2007. It is estimated that there will be
more than than 110,000 direct solar jobs by 2016.
Also of note is that the price of oil is below $40 per barrel today
despite the production cutbacks announced by OPEC. * * * * *
Publication
Day
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issues
publications
once a week, on Thursday.
On Thursday, the USPTO issued 6,230 publications .
Of the 6,230
publications,
51contained the word "photovoltaic";
41contained the phrase "solar
cell";
6
contained the term "biodiesel";
9 contained the word "geothermal";
and
11
contained the phrase "wind turbine".
The
featured publication for today is
from Darwin K. Decker, who
developed a solar powered air vehicle that can stay aloft for indefinite periods of
time. The vehicle employs photovoltaic solar cells for primary power and
high speed counter-rotating flywheels for energy storage and steering of
the vehicle.
See: U.S
Publication 20080308685.
Robert E. Goozner - December 18,
2008
BICYCLES IN BERLIN
TRAILS END IN
BERLIN
Patent Attorney
Office River-Vu

My law firm, Young & Thompson, moved into nice new offices at
the
northern edge of Old Town Alexandria, Virginia. Somehow
I was given a prestigious (but not corner) office with a view
of
the Potomac river.
Although you can barely see it, the Alexandria boathouse is at the end
of Madison street, and one can see the rowing team practice in the late
afternoon.
AACHEN GEOTHERMAL ENERGY

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The Goozner
Solar Review arises from my
long standing interest in all
forms of alternative energy. This not only includes solar
energy,
but all kinds of energy that are non-carbon based. Above,
you
see me in front of the geothermal project at the University of Aachen
(Germany). The geothermal energy is obtained by sinking a
shaft
about 1km straight into the ground, and exploiting the temperature
gradient between the abyss and the surface. This shaft will
supply most of the energy used by the University.
LINKS
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INTELLECTUAL
PROPERTY PAGE
BOB
GOOZNER'S
PATENTS
Before I became a patent attorney, I worked in the alternative
energy and environmental fields as a scientist and engineer.
I also was an inventor on several patents, including:
SOLAR COOKER PROJECT
All alternative
energy
is not necessarily high tech. Even low tech
solutions may
have a great impact on people's lives.
For example, you may wish to consider
the Solar
Cooker Project, which aids Darfur refugees.
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