2009 Record Year for Nanotechnology Patents, 4400+ Granted, 49,000+ Pending

Nanotechnologists are working at a fever pitch to stake early claims in the intellectual gold mines of nanotechnology.  2009 was a record year for patents concerning nanotechnology with more than 24,440 granted that reference either nano or nanotubes. 

For the year 2000, 578 U.S. Patents were granted that referenced nano within the patent text.  In 2009, more than 360 nano patents were granted each month.

A total of 4,398 patents referencing nano were granted in 2009, setting an all time record that will likely be eclipsed in 2010 if the current trend continues as there are more than 49,000 pending U.S. Patent Applications that reference nano as of December 29, 2009. 

In nine out of the past ten years the number of patents has increased every year except for 2005 (1,556 patents granted) and 2006 (1500). Those numbers were easily surpassed in both 2007 (2,763) and 2008 (3,044). The table tracks the number of patents that reference nano by year and show the cumulative total for each year end.

The following figure illustrates the steadily increasing cumulative number of U.S. Patents granted referencing a nanotechnology, although a small percentage refer to nano measurements of time.  

2009 was a record year for U.S Patents that reference nano with more than 4,398  granted exceeding the previous record set in 2008 of 3,044 by 1354.  What’s more there are 49,208 pending U.S. Patent Applications that reference either nano or nanotube, of those 41,097 refer only nano. The following figure shows that the number of patents granted in 2009 exceeded all of  the patents referencing nano in 1999 and all the years prior (2,890) by 1508 patents.

24,442 U.S. Patents have been granted that reference either nano or nanotube.   The total number is even higher when patents that involve nanomaterials such as fullerenes or molecular manipulators but which do not use the word nano or nanotube in the patent are counted.

The following table counts U.S. Patents that reference either nano or nanotube in the various patent categories such as Title, Abstract, Claims, References, Specifications & Descriptions and finally all fields.  The first column shows total number U.S. Patents granted (24,441)  while the third column counts references by patent applications (49,208). (Update on Dec. 31, the number of pending patent applications referencing nano or nanotubes increased to 49,498).

 If patents and patent applications are considered as representative of an individual product or process, one could surmise that there are more than 73,600 nanotechnology products or processes in production or under development especially as many of the patents and applications refer to more than one applicable use for a process or product using the nanotechnology referenced in the patent document.

The applications range from just about every modern electronic and photonic device to making better clothing, more nutritious and abundant food and cleaner water and air.  Other applications apply to automobiles, aerospace applications, energy production and chemical manufacturing as well as major uses in the construction industry to name only a few. 

European Council Agrees on Next Steps for EU Patents, Envisions Unified Patent Litigation System

Key elements

On 4 December 2009 the EU Council reached agreement on a number of key elements constituting the future EU patent ¹ system:

• Proposal for a Council Regulation on the EU patent - General approach;
• Council conclusions on
  • renewal fees for EU patents and their distribution,
  • Enhanced Partnership under the EU patent system, and
  • certain features of the envisaged unified patent litigation system.

The basic concept underlying the future EU patent system is that the EU accedes to the European Patent Convention (EPC) and that the EPO grants EU patents. Such patents will be European patents having unitary effect in the territory of the European Union.
The main outstanding issues to be considered further are:

• the translation arrangement, and
• the EPC revision.
  

Proposal for a Council Regulation on the EU patent

The general approach to the draft Regulation on the EU patent mainly deals with post grant issues, eg the effects of the EU patent, compulsory licences, or the lapse and invalidity of the EU patent. It does not contain provisions on the translation regime as these will be dealt with in a separate regulation. The general approach will now be submitted to the European Parliament for discussion.

Regulation on translation arrangements

The translation arrangements of the Community patent will form part of a separate regulation to be elaborated on the basis of a proposal of the European Commission. The Regulation on the EU patent should come into force together with the separate regulation on the translation arrangements. The adoption of the latter requires unanimous agreement of the EU Council.

EPC Revision

Due to the fact that the EU is intended to accede to the EPC as a contracting party it will be necessary to amend the EPC at a Diplomatic Conference. Furthermore, institutional issues, such as the establishment of a Select Committee of the Administrative Council which is exclusively composed of the EU member states, and the voting rights of the EU and its member states, or the parallel designation of EU member states and the EU in a patent application will have to be regulated in the EPC. The revised EPC will have to be ratified by all  EPC contracting states. At present, there are 36 contracting states.

Renewal fees

Concerning the renewal fees and their distribution the EU Council agreed that the Select Committee of the Administrative Council should, once the Regulation on the EU patent enters into force, fix both the exact level of the renewal fees and the distribution key for their allocation. It is foreseen that the EPO retains 50% of the renewal fee income.

Enhanced Partnership

As regards the Enhanced Partnership it is suggested in the conclusions that it should enable the Office to make regular use, where appropriate, of the result of any patent search carried out by a central industrial property office of the EPC contracting states on a national patent application, the priority of which is claimed in a subsequent filing of a European patent application. This utilisation will be carried out in accordance with the already established utilisation scheme of the European Patent Network (EPN) among the EPC states. The Enhanced Partnership should be based on a European Standard for Searches (ESS), containing criteria for ensuring quality which are based on the agreed quality systems of the EPN. In addition to searches, the ESS should include standards on inter alia training, tools, feedback and assessment.

Unified Patent Litigation System

As regards the features of the envisaged unified patent litigation system, it is proposed in the conclusions to establish such a system through an agreement including EU member states and EPC contracting states which are not members of the EU. The envisaged treaty will establish a patent court which has exclusive jurisdiction in respect of infringement and validity issues concerning European and EU patents. This so called "European and EU Patents Court (EEUPC)" should be comprised of a Court of First Instance, a Court of Appeal and a Registry. The Court of First Instance should be comprised of a central division, as well as local and regional divisions in the contracting states to the agreement. The draft agreement is currently being examined by the European Court of Justice which has to deliver an opinion on the compatibility of the draft agreement with the EC Treaty. The opinion is expected at the earliest by summer 2010.
Further information

• Council of the European Union - Conclusions on an enhanced patent system in Europe (PDF, 154 KB)
• Community patent: Background information
  

---

¹ The "Community patent" is now called the "EU patent" under the Lisbon Treaty.