The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issues patents once a week, on Tuesday.  On Tuesday, the USPTO issued 3,705 patents.

      Of the 3,705 patents issued,

  9 contained the word "photovoltaic";

   10 contained the phrase "solar cell";

   7 contained the term "biodiesel";
   
  2 contained the word "geothermal"; and

  2 contained the term  "wind turbine".

  An interesting patent for today is by Mark Banister, who developed electric tile modules including a thermovoltaic element 20 and a photovoltaic element 22 .  See U.S. Patent 7,578,102.

    The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issues patents once a week, on Tuesday.  On Tuesday, the USPTO issued 3,705 patents.

      Of the 3,705 patents issued,

  17 contained the word "photovoltaic";

   12 contained the phrase "solar cell";

   1 contained the term "biodiesel";
   
  0 contained the word "geothermal"; and

  4 contained the term  "wind turbine".

      An interesting publication for today is from Gail Busch and Jaques M. Dupont, who developed systems and methods for hydroponically growing microorganisms within a self-contained air-supported structure, in which microorganisms are grown in an organic slurry, harvested, and processed to obtain and process and distribute molecules useful for biofuel or other purposes.   See,  U.S. Publication 20090203115.

Robert E. Goozner - August 13, 2009

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    The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issues patents once a week, on Tuesday.  On Tuesday, the USPTO issued 3,698 patents.

      Of the 3,698 patents issued,

  14 contained the word "photovoltaic";

   13 contained the phrase "solar cell";

   2 contained the term "biodiesel";
   
  6 contained the word "geothermal"; and

  8 contained the term  "wind turbine".

     Five publications were published today be Srinivasm Sivaram et al. for methods to form a photovoltaic cell comprising a thin lamina, where a very thin photovoltaic cell is formed by implanting gas ions below the surface of a donor body such as a semiconductor wafer.  See, for example,  U.S. Publication 20090197368.

Robert E. Goozner - August 6, 2009

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    The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issues patents once a week, on Tuesday.  On Tuesday, the USPTO issued 3,706 patents.

      Of the 3,706 patents issued,

  21 contained the word "photovoltaic";

   13 contained the phrase "solar cell";

   0 contained the term "biodiesel";
   
  3 contained the word "geothermal"; and

  5 contained the term  "wind turbine".

  An interesting patent for today is by Hiroshi Matsui and Nobuo Tanabe of Fujikura, Ltd.,  who developed a photovoltaic cell having a dye sensitized layer, where the dye is in porous semiconductor layer 7.   See U.S. Patent 7,569,765.

Robert E. Goozner - August 4, 2009

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     The featured publication for today is from Abhishek Tyagi et al. of Honeywell, who developed a micro wind turbine technology for small scale power generation in which a wind energy converter has a generator adapted to be coupled directly to a wind turbine without need for a mechanical gear unit.   See U.S. Publication 20090189393.

    The appplication for this invention was filed on January 24, 2008.  Since the Patent Office is now so sclerotic that it takes about 3 years until an Office Action in an alternative energy application is issued, it will probably be about early 2011 before an Office Action is issued.  

    If alternative energy is such a national priority (see, for example, Obama's campaign promises  or the administration's current position), why can't the USPTO move faster?  

Robert E. Goozner -  July 30, 2009

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    The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issues patents once a week, on Tuesday.  On Tuesday, the USPTO issued 2,992 patents.

      Of the 2,992 patents issued,

  7 contained the word "photovoltaic";

   7 contained the phrase "solar cell";

   2 contained the term "biodiesel";
   
  2 contained the word "geothermal"; and

  3 contained the term  "wind turbine".

  An interesting patent for today is by Gene S. Fein and Edward Merrill of Genedics CLean Energy, who developed a system and method for creating a geothermal roadway utility with alternative energy pumping system.   See U.S. Patent 7,566,980.

Robert E. Goozner -  July 28, 2009

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     The featured publication for today is from Chengjun Julian Chen, who developed a solar-powered cooling and heating system comprising one or more vertical water containers of special design as the thermal  storage device.  See U.S. Publication 20090183853.

BEER BIKE

    The German's have developed what may be the ultimate bicycle - Das BierBike.  The BierBike conbines the features of a bicycle and a barroom to produce a rolling tavern that seats up to 12 thirsty customers.  But watch out, they say it's patented.  See: BierBike.

Robert E. Goozner -  July 24, 2009

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Patent Day 

    The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issues patents once a week, on Tuesday.  On Tuesday, the USPTO issued 3,756 patents.

      Of the 3,756 patents issued,

  11 contained the word "photovoltaic";

   16 contained the phrase "solar cell";

   7 contained the term "biodiesel";
   
  7 contained the word "geothermal"; and

  0 contained the term  "wind turbine".

     The featured publication for today is from Anjun Jerry Jin et al. of Hoda Globe Corporation, who developed a multi-cores stack solar thermal electric generator that converts light directly into DC electricity.  See U.S. Publication 20090178705.

Michael Jackson Exhibit at the Patent Office

   
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the National Inventors Hall of Fame and Museum are presenting a special exhibit featuring material from Michael Jackson’s patent and trademark applications. The exhibit is free and open to the public starting Wednesday, July 15 and runs through Labor Day.

    Mr. Jackson is the co-inventor of a “system for allowing a shoe wearer to lean forwardly beyond his center of gravity by virtue of wearing a specially designed pair of shoes which will engage with a hitch member movably projectable through a stage surface.” Included in the patent application is an original sample of Michael Joseph Jackson’s signature and drawings of his invention.

    The exhibit will also feature an example of Mr. Jackson’s registered trademarks, including United States Registration No. 1,908,209, which provides exclusive rights to use the words, “MICHAEL JACKSON,” on, “sound recordings; namely, pre-recorded phonograph records, audio tapes, compact discs, videotapes, and motion picture films featuring music and entertainment.”

    The museum is open to the public Monday through Friday 9 am to 5 pm, Saturday Noon to 5:00 p.m. (closed on Sundays and federal holidays). The museum is in Alexandria, Virginia at the United States Patent and Trademark Office. It is located in the atrium of the Madison Building, 600 Dulany Street, Alexandria, VA, and is easily accessible from the King Street and Eisenhower Avenue Metro stations (Blue Line and Yellow Line). USPTO Museum Info: (571) 272-0095. Admission is free of charge.

    The above is a copy of a pross released issued by the USPTO yesterday.

Robert E. Goozner -  July 16, 2009

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    The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issues patents once a week, on Tuesday.  On Tuesday, the USPTO issued 3,763 patents.

      Of the 3,763 patents issued,

  13 contained the word "photovoltaic";

   22 contained the phrase "solar cell";

   2 contained the term "biodiesel";
   
  8 contained the word "geothermal"; and

  4 contained the term  "wind turbine".

  An interesting patent for today is by Shalini Menezes, who developed a flexible or rigid thin film copper indium selenide photovoltaic cell under an SBIR grant.   See U.S. Patent 7,560,641.

   
    Yesterday, DESERTEC announced that they will be proceeding to establish an industrial initiative to develop carbon free power generation in North Africa, according to their press release.

    DESERTEC is developed by consortium of German companies led by Munich Re. The consortium consists of Deutsche Bank, Siemens, ABB, E.ON, RWE, Munich Re, Abengoa Solar, Cevita and several other partners, as noted in Wikipedia.  However, experts are sceptical and believe that the technology is too complicated which, if you can read German, is reported in Spiegel.

     Robert E. Goozner -  July 14, 2009

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     The featured publication for today is from Matthew Rubin, who developed a solid state thermovoltaic device for isothermal power generation.  See U.S. Publication 20090173082.

T. Boone Throws in Towel

    The Texas Tycoon T. Boone Pickens seems to have given up his plan for a massive Texas wind farm, as is reported in the Washington Post.  He is blaming the capital markets and the downturn of natural gas prices.  Or maybe the U.S. Government is not giving him an enormous subsidy for his plan.  

 Robert E. Goozner -  July 9, 2009

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    The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issues patents once a week, on Tuesday.  On Tuesday, the USPTO issued 3,785 patents.

      Of the 3,785 patents issued,

  22 contained the word "photovoltaic";

   13 contained the phrase "solar cell";

   7 contained the term "biodiesel";
   
  6 contained the word "geothermal"; and

  0 contained the term  "wind turbine".

  An interesting patent for today is by Brian J. Flaherty and Timothy M. Davey of Lumeta, who developed a photovoltaic module for roofs.   See U.S. Patent 7,557,291.

Robert E. Goozner -  July 7, 2009

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     The featured publication for today is from Achyut Kumar Dutta, who developed a hybrid photovoltaic device that includes nanostructures embedded in a matrix.  See U.S. Publication 20090165844.

                                            WSJ and Toyota's Patents

    A couple of days ago the Wall Street Journal published a small article about how Toyoda has accumulated about 2,000 patents and patent applications surrounding their hybrid technology used in cars like the Prius.  The article noted that this is tending to prevent other companies from using this technology and, for example, Ford had to license some of Toyota's patents.  In all, the article seemed to be a little bit negative about patents.

    However, the article forgot to stress that Toyota was first with a hybrid vehicle that made sense.  Toyoda put a great deal of time and effort and took a great risk to bring out the Prius.  So why shouldn't Toyota be rewarded?

    I worked up an analysis of Toyota's number of patents over the last ten years in the chart below.  I think it is very clear that the increased level of effort in pursuing their patents has paid off for them.  

 
    Robert E. Goozner -  July 2, 2009

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