A Review of Recent Patents on Green Products

Abstract

The manufacturing of any product consumes energy and natural resources and produces multi-media pollution problems. The increasing regulations and better scientific understanding of the manufacturing processes have convinced industry to prevent pollution. Public and corporate interest is increasing, at an alarming rate, on how to apply the concepts of sustainable development to solve pollution problems from manufacturing. This interest has led to inventions and development of sustainable products that contain recycling material, reduced waste, conserved energy, used less packing. All these products are also biodegradable. These products, when compared to traditional products in use, are more socially, economically, and environmentally viable in the long run. They are known as “Green Products.” This article describes the green products as an environmental strategy that focuses on invention, design, and application of new products. A review of patents issued and filed over the last ten years indicate that the number of inventions related to green products are constantly increasing and a significant amount of work is taking place in pharmaceutical and related industries. Included is a discussion of different patents on green products, from different industrial sectors, that have been approved in recent years. The future trends in this area are also discussed. Keywords: Green Products, pollution prevention, roofing panel, coating, degradable disposal products, alternate energy