Patent Grants Research Articles

Synthesis and Pharmacological Properties of the Benzimidazole Scaffold: A Patent Review

AbstractBenzimidazole derivatives were first discovered in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, marking a significant milestone in the field of chemistry. These compounds have since played a pivotal role in pharmacology, demonstrating a wide array of pharmacological properties that have had a profound impact on medicine and healthcare. The significance of benzimidazole derivatives in pharmacology is undeniable. These compounds have been extensively studied and developed for their diverse and valuable properties. They exhibit potent anticancer activity, with some derivatives displaying the ability to hinder the growth of cancer cells, offering hope in the fight against this disease. Furthermore, benzimidazole derivatives have been involved in the management of cardiovascular conditions as antihypertensive agents, aiding in the control of high blood pressure. Their potential as antidiabetic agents, by influencing glucose metabolism and insulin secretion, holds promise in diabetes treatment. The recent patent literature has focused on structural modifications to the benzimidazole core to expand the arsenal of effective drugs. This review takes a disease‐centric perspective on patented benzimidazoles from 2016 to 2023. The relevant granted patent applications were located using patent databases, USPTO, Google Patents, EPO, WIPO, Lens and Espacenet.

Bank Digital Transformation and Enterprise Innovation—Evidence from China

With the rapid advancement of digital technology, the banking industry has embarked on a journey of digital transformation. While existing literature primarily examines how these changes impact the banks themselves, our study focuses on a relatively unexplored aspect: the direct influence of bank digital transformation on the performance and behavior of borrowing enterprises. The research objective of this study is to explore the influence of bank digital transformation on the innovation performance of borrowing enterprises and the underlying mechanisms. Leveraging data from Chinese listed companies and commercial banks, we find a positive effect of bank digital transformation on enterprise innovation output as measured by firms’ patent applications. The findings remain robust across alternative model specifications, controls for regional digital economy development levels, and bank financial performance, as well as alternative measures of bank digital transformation. Mechanism tests show that bank digital transformation contributes to corporate innovation by alleviating corporate financial constraints and improving corporate governance. Further research demonstrates that bank digital transformation also helps promote corporate innovation efficiency as measured by the proportion of patent output to total R&D input and corporate innovation output as measured by firms’ invention patent applications and patent grants. Additionally, borrowing firms’ own digital transformations may substitute for bank digital transformation in their effect on innovations.

The Effect of Innovation on Employment in Türkiye

This study examines the impact of innovation on employment in the Turkish labor market between the years 1991-2021, using monthly patent grants and annual R&D expenditure statistics. As for empirical technique, ARDL (autoregressive distributed lag) approach is used. The reason for choosing this approach is that it separates the long-term and short-term results and gives better results in analysis with a lower number of observations than other methods. The difference between the results of this study from the literature is that the analysis was performed in two different time periods, with two different proxy variables, and they gave the same result as proof of the robustness of the results. When the long-run model and the short-run model are investigated separately, it is found that while the effect of innovation on employment is negative in the short-run, it turns out to be positive in the long-run. Thus, during the period 1991-2021 in the Turkish labor market, while innovation might negatively affect employment levels to some extent in the short run, innovation could exert a more structural and sustainable positive impact on employment levels in the long run. In the short-run, the negative effect of innovation on employment can be seen as a kind of creative destruction, but in the long-run, the positive effect of innovation supports the hypothesis that the increase in the education and training levels of workers along with the profit and productivity provided by innovation increases employment by adapting workers to innovation. The aim of this study is to make an inference with macro data sets but, using micro-level, firm data may provide significant results on the effect of innovation on employment.

The effect of patent disclosure quality on innovation

The patent system grants inventors temporary monopoly rights in exchange for a public disclosure detailing their innovation. These disclosures are meant to allow others to recreate and build on the patented innovation. We examine how the quality of these disclosures affects follow-on innovation. We use the plausibly exogenous assignment to patent applications of examiners who differ in their enforcement of disclosure requirements as a source of variation in disclosure quality. We find that some examiners are significantly more lenient with respect to patent disclosure quality requirements, and that patents granted by these examiners include significantly lower-quality disclosures and generate significantly less follow-on innovation. Overall, our evidence suggests that high-quality patent disclosures create knowledge spillovers that spur follow-on innovation.

Analysis of impacts of climate change on the grant and protection of patents related to the water industry

Abstract Various inventions are presented in the water industry, essential for the water supply, distribution, treatment, storage, and consumption optimization. It is necessary to confirm their novelty, innovative steps, and industrial applicability to protect water-related patents. However, the impacts of climate change are not considered in the granting of patents, and water-related inventions are registered or rejected regardless of these impacts. For example, an invention that causes greenhouse gas emissions may be patented because it is new. This research addresses this significant challenge using a descriptive-analytical approach and a library-field method. Based on the results, it is necessary to impose strictness on inventions that aggravate climate change (29% of the inventions investigated) and protect inventions that adapt to climate change impacts (71%). Furthermore, it is possible to use the tool of compulsory licensing to adapt to climate change and reduce its negative impacts. Moreover, the patent offices should evaluate climate change impacts by examining innovative steps and industrial applications. An invention that has negative impacts will be deprived of patent protection and considered one of the limitations and exceptions. Also, it is necessary to provide new interpretations of protection elements of the patent system.

Green Technologies: The Role of Green Patents for Innovation, Preservation and Sustainable Development

Objective: Demonstrate how the Green Patents Program contributes to the encouragement and development of technologies that benefit the environment. Theoretical framework: In the current scenario of environmental degradation, green technologies are linked to the need for technological and economic development in order to contribute to the environment and sustainable development. In fostering research and development of environmentally sustainable products, the patent system acts in favor of innovation and technology aimed at solving environmental issues around the world. In Brazil, the Green Patents Program of the National Institute of Intellectual Property (INPI) seeks to speed up the examination of patent applications related to technologies aimed at the environment. Method: Systematic review of the literature with a qualitative approach to the data. Results and conclusion: Green patents stimulate the creation and development of technologies capable of reducing and/or controlling environmental impacts by making use of the industrial property system by accelerating procedures involving the granting of patents, favoring both socioeconomic growth and development sustainable as today's society and future generations. Research implications: The academic, managerial and social contribution of knowing green patents lies in their relevance in innovation, preservation and sustainable development that reach the environment, public and private institutions and society. Originality/value: Contribute to the enrichment and dissemination of information on actions that encourage the use of green patents.

Protection of Patent Holders’ Rights in Indonesia: Between Theories and Practices

Intellectual property constitutes a vital aspect of rights, with patents being a crucial element of intellectual property rights (IPRs). A patent grants an inventor the exclusive right, recognized by the state, to their technological invention for a specified duration, either for personal implementation or through agreements with others. Patents hold great strategic and economic significance for their owners, offering legal protection under national law. This protection serves to incentivize creators to advance quantity and quality, fostering prosperity and a healthy business environment within society. Indonesia, as an active participant in international trade, ratified the establishment of the WTO on November 2, 1994, encompassing the TRIPs agreement, which sets international standards for intellectual property rights. Presently, the safeguarding of patent rights in Indonesia is governed by Law No. 13 of 2016, encompassing both patents and simple patents. This legal framework underscores the government’s commitment to enforcing intellectual property rights protection. The study adopts a qualitative approach, aiming to explore and optimize the legal protection of patent holders in Indonesia.

Partisan patent examiners? Exploring the link between the political ideology of patent examiners and patent office outcomes

Patents are key strategic resources which enable firms to appropriate innovation returns and prevent rival imitation. Patent examiners – individuals who may be subject to various sources of bias – play a central role in determining which inventions are awarded patent rights. Using a novel dataset, we explore if one increasingly prevalent source of bias – political ideology – manifests in examiner decision-making. Reassuringly, our analysis suggests that the political ideology of patent examiners is largely unrelated to patent office outcomes. However, we do find evidence suggesting politically active conservative-leaning examiners are more likely to grant patents relative to politically active liberal-leaning examiners, but only for patent applications where there is ambiguity regarding what constitutes patentable subject matter and hence examiners have greater discretion.

Sub-central city’s green innovation in regional integration: Can it be a bridgehead even if it is far away?

The green innovation level of sub-center cities in regional integration must be addressed in promoting high-quality economic development. Therefore, governments and policymakers should pay attention to its positive effects. In the Yangtze River Delta integration context, this paper uses Hefei as an example sub-center city to assess its green innovation in two indicators, green total factor productivity (GTFP) and the number of green patent grants (GPG). The first step is to measure GTFP using the SBM-ML model. The second step is to evaluate the policy effects of sub-center city experiences on green innovation using Synthetic Control Methods. The empirical findings of this study indicate that sub-centers play an essential role in promoting green innovation even if they are located outside the core area of an urban agglomeration. Additionally, the placebo trial confirmed the reliability and significance of the results. This paper proposes some policy recommendations to realize global green innovation based on these findings.

Therapeutic charisma of imidazo [2,1-b] [1,3,4]-thiadiazoleanalogues: a patent review.

Imidazothiadiazole was discovered around the 1950s era, containing an imidazole ring fused to a thiadiazole ring. Imidazothiadiazole exhibit versatile pharmacological properties including anticonvulsant, cardiotonic, anti-inflammatory, diuretic, antifungal, antibacterial and anticancer. Despite of the being discovered in 1950s, the imidazothiadiazole derivatives are unable to being processed to clinical trials because of lack of bioavailability, efficacy and cytotoxicity. The recent patent literature focused on structural modification of imidazothiadiazole core to overcome these problems. This review limelight a disease-centric perspective on patented imidazothiadiazole from 2015-2023 and to understand their mechanism of action in related diseases. The relevant granted patent applications were located using patent databases, Google Patents, USPTO, EPO, WIPO, Espacenet and Lens.

The impact of R&D incentives and sectoral knowledge stocks on R&D outcomes

ABSTRACT Given the importance of technological improvement for economic growth, policies are designed to enhance technological progress. A very common policy approach is to provide incentives to R&D (research and development) activities to improve the possibility of favorable outcomes. This study investigates the impact of R&D incentives on R&D outcomes measured in terms of patent applications and patent grants. The analysis focuses on the data for four sectors from 15 high-income countries covering the 2007 to 2019 period. A U-shaped pattern is observed to dominate the relationship between R&D incentives and R&D outcomes. For incentives to have positive impacts on R&D outcomes, they must be of a considerable portion of the national income. The study also covers the knowledge stocks and the implied spill-overs across sectors. The analysis does not reveal a single sector that generates innovative spill-overs to all the other sectors.

Prediction of patent grant and interpreting the key determinants: an application of interpretable machine learning approach

Prediction of patent grant and interpreting the key determinants: an application of interpretable machine learning approach

When does patent protection spur cumulative research within firms?

Abstract We estimate the effect of patent protection on follow-on investments in corporate scientific research. We exploit a new method for identifying an exogenous reduction in the protection a granted patent provides. Using data on public, research-active firms between 1990 and 2015, we find that firms respond to a decrease in patent protection by reducing follow-on research, as measured by a drop in internal citations to an associated scientific article. We study this effect across firms with varying commercialization capabilities and across varying thickness levels of markets for technology. We find that the effect is stronger in technologies where patents are traded less frequently. Our findings are consistent with a stylized model whereby patent protection is a strategic substitute for commercialization capability. Our results imply that stronger patents encourage follow-on research, but also shift the locus of research from big firms toward smaller firms and startups (JEL D22, O31, O32, O34).

CROWDSOURCING ENGINEERING DESIGN PROBLEMS: LEARNING FROM EXPERIENCES

AbstractThe availability of digital data in the fourth industrial revolution brings different trends with new opportunities and challenges for the engineering design community. As an opportunity, these trends would impact engineering design. However, the challenge is finding applications for these trends in engineering design. Crowdsourcing is one of the trends inspired by digital data. It is outsourcing an individually performed task to be mass-performed. This paper explores the application of crowdsourcing in identifying engineering design problems. Identifying an engineering design problem is an aspect of engineering design considered challenging but necessary for inventions. Secondary data from 63 invention-related cases and an interview with a renowned UK inventor are presented. The data contains scenarios on how the engineering design problems solved to qualify for a UK patent grant or application are identified. Lessons from the case studies are presented and discussed, especially regarding crowdsourcing engineering design problems. These seem to be promising ways of supporting the identification of new engineering design problems with inventive benefits once solved.

Artificial Intelligence and its Patentability: A Comparative Study Between India,UK, and USA

This dissertation examines the patentability of artificial intelligence (AI) based inventions in India, UK, and USA. The study provides an overview of the history and development of AI, the patent law framework in each jurisdiction, and the patentability requirements for AI-based inventions. The dissertation conducts a comparative analysis of the patentability standards for AI-based inventions in each jurisdiction, highlighting the similarities and differences in the approach taken by each country. The study finds that while the three countries have similar patentability requirements for AI-based inventions, there are notable differences in their interpretation and application. For example, India's patent law explicitly excludes software and algorithms from patentability, while the UK and USA have a more permissive approach, allowing patents for software that demonstrate a technical effect. Furthermore, the dissertation highlights the challenges of patenting AI-based inventions, such as the difficulty of determining inventorship and the lack of clear guidelines for assessing the novelty and non-obviousness of AI-generated inventions. The study also provides case studies of patent applications and grants for AI-based inventions in each jurisdiction, highlighting the challenges and opportunities presented by these inventions. The case studies illustrate the potential impact of AI on innovation and patenting, as well as the potential implications for access to technology and competition in the market. Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming the way we live, work, and interact with each other. AI is increasingly being used to generate new and innovative solutions to complex problems, and its potential impact on innovation and intellectual property is profound. As AI becomes more integrated into our daily lives, it is crucial to understand the legal and ethical implications of AI and patenting. This dissertation provides a comprehensive review of the history and development of AI, tracing its evolution from the early days of expert systems to the cutting-edge machine learning algorithms used today. It examines the role of AI in the invention process and its potential impact on the patentability of inventions. The dissertation also provides a detailed analysis of the patent law framework in India, UK, and USA, exploring the patentability requirements and challenges associated with AI-based inventions. The study highlights the importance of patenting AI-based inventions to promote innovation and ensure that the benefits of AI are shared widely. However, the study also notes the challenges associated with patenting AI-based inventions, such as the difficulty of determining inventorship and the lack of clear guidelines for assessing the novelty and non-obviousness of AI-generated inventions. The study concludes that there is a need for further research to explore the role of AI in the invention process and its impact on patentability. There is also a need for clearer guidelines and standards for assessing the patentability of AI-based inventions. This could involve exploring the application of existing patentability requirements to AI- based inventions, as well as considering the development of new standards and criteria better suited to AI technology's unique characteristics. Overall, the study provides a timely and comprehensive analysis of the patentability of AI-based inventions in India, the UK, and the USA. The study highlights the importance of developing effective and equitable innovation and intellectual property protection systems in the context of rapidly evolving AI technology. The study also concludes that there is a need for clearer guidelines and standards for assessing the patentability of AI-based inventions and for further research to explore the role of AI in the invention process and its impact on patentability. The study highlights the importance of developing effective and equitable innovation and intellectual property protection systems in the context of rapidly evolving AI technology.

A 10-Year Analysis of Representation of Women in Patent Applications and NIH Funding in Vascular Surgery

There has been an increasing focus on gender disparities in the medical field and in the field of vascular surgery specifically. We aimed to characterize gender representation in vascular surgery innovation over the past 10years, using metrics of patents and National Institutes of Health (NIH) support. We performed a retrospective review of all vascular-related patent filings (Google Scholar) and NIH-funded grants (NIH RePORTER) over a 10-year period (January 1st, 2012, to December 31st, 2021). Gender-API (Application Programming Interface) was used to identify the gender of the inventors, with manual confirmation of a 10% random sample. Gender representation for patent inventors and grant principal investigators (PIs) were compared using Chi-squared and Student's t-tests as appropriate. Yearly temporal changes in representation were analyzed using Wilcoxon signed-rank tests and linear regression analyses. We identified 2,992 unique vascular device patents with 6,093 associated inventors over 10years. Women were underrepresented in patent authorship overall (11.5%), and were least likely to be listed as first inventor (8.9%) and most commonly fourth and fifth inventors (15.5% and 14.1%, respectively) compared to men. There was no significant change in representation of women inventors over time (-0.2% females per year, 95% confidence interval (CI) -0.54 to 0.10). We identified 1736 total unique NIH grants, with 23.8% of funded projects having women PIs. There was an increase in the proportion of women PIs over time (+1.31% per year, 95% CI 0.784 to 1.855; P<0.001). Projects with women PIs received mean total awards that were significantly lower than projects with men PIs ($350,485±$220,072 vs. $451,493±$411,040; P<0.001), but the overall ratio of funding:women investigators improved over time (+$11,531 per year, 95% CI $6,167 to $16,895; P=0.0011). While we have made strides in increasing the number of women in the surgical research space, there is still room for improvement in funding parity. In addition, we found substantial and persistent room for improvement in representation of women in surgical innovation. As we enter a new frontier of surgery hallmarked by equalizing gender representation, these data should serve as a call-to-action for initiative aimed at rebuilding the foundation of surgical innovations upon equal gender representation.

The Jurisprudence of Patentable and Non-patentable Inventions: Nigerian in Perspective

Patent is an industrial property right granted by the government of a state to a patentee. It is an intangible, incorporeal and exclusive right granted under the Law to an invention. While an invention is something that has never been made or existed before. Patents are granted to inventions, but not every invention qualify for grant of patent, hence there are patentable and non-patentable inventions. An invention is patentable if it is new, results from an inventive activity and is capable of industrial application (s.1(1) of the Patent and Designs Act 2004). Several textbooks, case laws, statutes(local and International), internet sources reveal that Nigerian legislation inadequately granted patent to inventions, wherein it did not grant patent to some inventions which International intellectual property regime stated patent should be granted. The Laws of developed countries like USA have wider protection of inventions than Laws of developing countries like Nigeria. Hence the Nigerian Law is narrow in the inventions that should be patentable as against the International Intellectual Property Regime.&#x0D;

Lessons from India and Thailand for Cambodia's future implementation of the TRIPS Agreement for pharmaceutical patents

AbstractCambodia is expected to graduate from least developed country (LDC) status in the near future, at which time it will be required to make patents available for pharmaceutical products and processes to meet its obligations under the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). Given its impending transition from LDC status, there is a need to balance Cambodia's intellectual property (IP) policies and regulations with public health priorities to ensure access to affordable life‐saving medicines. This will be critical to achieving universal health coverage, one of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. This paper examines Cambodia's IP laws and regulations to identify provisions which could reduce access to affordable generic medicines when it starts to grant patents for pharmaceuticals. It systematically compares Cambodia's IP laws and regulations applicable to patents with those of Thailand and India—two developing countries which have had some successes in preserving access to medicines despite the introduction of pharmaceutical patents. It identifies lessons for Cambodia from the experiences of Thailand and India in implementing TRIPS and using TRIPS flexibilities such as compulsory licensing to ensure access to a sustainable supply of affordable generic medicines. India's experience of implementing TRIPS offers a practical and valuable lesson in applying TRIPS for the greatest public benefit. Thailand, although it has not utilised TRIPS flexibilities as extensively as India, also offers valuable lessons in adapting and interpreting IP law to ensure sustainable access to generic medicines, especially in relation to compulsory licencing. Key recommendations for reform for Cambodia include strengthening the use of preventive and remedial TRIPS flexibilities and removing criminal sanctions for patent infringements. Cambodia should reject any TRIPS‐plus provisions in its patent legislation, avoid membership of bilateral or plurilateral trade agreements that include TRIPS‐plus provisions and avoid signing patent treaties and agreements designed to facilitate the granting of patents.

Corporate Patenting, Customer Capital, and Financial Market Outcomes

AbstractWe study how patenting enhances customer capital and creates financial value in a product market characterized by information asymmetry between firm insiders and customers. We find that firms with more and higher quality patents develop greater customer capital, as measured by more positive customer perceptions of product novelty and quality. To establish causality, we exploit the exogenous variation in the random assignment of patent examiners to review applications and use the average examiner leniency as an instrument for patent grants. Our mediation analysis documents a positive impact of patenting on firm performance and financial market valuation through enhanced customer capital.

Strategic similarity in the co-evolution of technological and business diversification for firm growth: Evidence from smart-manufacturing related firms

The reflection of external firms' strategies enables a firm to optimize its evolutionary processes that keep a balance between path-dependent and self-renewing evolution. This study employs firm-level strategic similarity and defines it as the extent to which a firm's technological or business profile resembles those of other firms. The study investigates the role of firm-level strategic similarity in the co-evolutionary relationship of technological and business diversification for firm growth. To this end, it constructs a panel dataset of applicant firms obtaining granted patents of smart-manufacturing technologies during 2010–2019 from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The results show that a firm's strategic similarity is a significant driving force of the variation of technological and business profiles through diversification within the firm. Particularly, the firm's business strategic similarity is the imperative determinant of the co-evolutionary path through technological and business diversification for firm sales growth. The findings suggest firm-level strategic similarity plays a critical role in the firm's evolutionary paths to balance between exploitative and exploratory innovation for firm growth.