Patents and Spinouts - Annual Report 2020

31 March, 2021

Patenting to achieve market access

The White Rabbit microfluidic syringe pump.

One of the early considerations on the path to market for materials science is what should be patented and why.

Our researchers are developing a deep pipeline of intellectual property (IP), including some that are best published, some that need to be patented in order to achieve their intended benefit, and some that demand a combined patent and publish strategy.

Our CIE team works closely with our researchers and member Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs) to explore the potential impact of scientific discoveries that could be commercialised. Early consideration of the IP strategy helps researchers plan their research to achieve optimal academic and commercial impact. Through our early ‘seed funding’ rounds we have financially supported five research projects this year to refine their market research or IP strategy and by doing so, increased their speed to market and likelihood of ultimate success. MacDiarmid Institute researchers have submitted ten patent applications in 2020 (see additional detail in following table).

Patenting activity by MacDiarmid Researchers in 2020

Patent Applications

(only MacDiarmid Investigators named)

Volker Nock	Microfluidic sealing valve and microfluidic circuit
Margaret Brimble	Methanogen Inhibitors (1)
Margaret Brimble	Methanogen Inhibitors (2)
Rob Ward and Bill Williams	Syringe pump
Aaron Marshall	Process to extract dissolved metals and recover hydrochloric acid and apparatus thereof
Simon Brown	Nanoparticle networks
Simon Brown, Saurabh Bose	Percolating Switching Devices
Jérôme Leveneur, John Kennedy	Ion beam sputtering apparatus and method
Chris Bumby	A superconducting switch
Laura Domigan	Biomaterials and Methods Related Thereto

Patents Granted

(only MacDiarmid Investigators named)

Marcus Jones	Quantum Dot Light Emitting Devices
Marcus Jones	Methods and Compositions for Biosensing
Simon Granville, Eva Anton, Ben Ruck, Franck Natali, Joe Trodahl	Magnetic materials and devices comprising rare earth nitrides
Simon Granville, Ben Ruck, Franck Natali, Joe Trodahl	Doped rare earth nitride materials and devices comprising same
Eric Le Ru	Spectrometer apparatus for measuring spectra of a liquid sample using an integrating cavity