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Patent Truths

Writer's picture: Mishkat BhattacharyaMishkat Bhattacharya

A few days ago I was informed that my first - hopefully not my last - scientific patent has been granted.


Prehistory


Some people might think I should have a few patents already, considering that I have been a professor for about twelve years now. My excuse is that patents are not given for abstract ideas (the things theoretical physicists are best at producing); but rather for inventions of devices or processes, which fall more naturally into the domain of experimental physicists.


Maybe there are more theoretical physicists who hold patents now, but when I was in school and college the number was so few that I remember only a few historically important exceptions. Einstein has some patents, including a fridge and a light-intensity adjusting camera. Feynman had none. Dirac refused to participate in the patenting of a uranium-enrichment process that he had helped develop.


Interestingly, when I was a postdoc in Maryland, I used to live down the street from the US Patents and Trademark Office in Alexandria, VA. I also remember meeting a classmate from university who used to work there.


A few years into my faculty position I revisited the USPTO specifically to see the National Inventors Hall of Fame, which is on the ground floor. Among many interesting exhibits I remember a Mustang convertible on display which consisted of half of an old model seamlessly joined to a more modern model making up the other half, both sides with steering wheels.

History


Of course, my patent would not have been possible without the participation of my co-inventor, Nick Vamivakas at the University of Rochester, the experimentalist who turned the theoretical proposal into an experiment.


As we had already published the first paper before we applied for the patent, this one had to be a US and not an international patent. The process was a bit more involved than usual as two universities were involved, but the IP people were able to coordinate well.


First, paperwork internal to the two respective institutions was filed in 2020. Then an application was submitted to the USPTO. A provisional patent, basically notice of filing, was granted by the USPTO (2021). Finally, a patent was granted on March 5, 2024.


As can be seen from the patent pdf available online, the patent focuses on 'prior status' (what had been done before), the working of the device, and future applications.


Future

Though we were not focused on producing an 'off-the-shelf' commercial version, nor does the invention has any 'killer app' immediate applications, we found about ten companies which are capable of developing these platforms. So we are hopeful someone will pick up the technology.


The patent expires in 2042. So we have about 18 years to get rich! Actually since patents take a while to get adopted, it is not recommended that one patent an invention as soon as it is made; rather, the strategy is usually to wait a few years so that the patent license gathers revenue at its peak utility, or at least as it goes up in value. However, in our case, it was not clear when the product would peak, so we just decided to file anyway. (Not basing my retirement on this patent -:).


Other patents


Some famous patents (lightbulb, telephone...) can be found here. 'Patent wars' - have been fought in court, for monetary reasons, bragging rights, etc. for a long time. Today, in our heavily industrialized society, they are quite commonplace: for example, Apple and Samsung have spent large sums of money suing each other over infringement of patents in various countries. Presumably, the monetary benefits far outweigh the legal costs.


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