Prize of $24M to 12 scientists WSJ

Breakthrough Prize awards $24 million to 12 scientific researchers.

This is in the WSJ article ...  via @WSJ ... By  GEORGIA WELLS  
Updated Dec. 4, 2016 8:11 p.m. ET

Categories from Genetics to Black holes. Big players from FB to Alphabet/GOOG were on site to promote these awards and recognition. 

Very cool.

It is unclear if these prizes are attached to business engines or incubators. However, with that level of notoriety, and the prize money, these winners should be able to move forward with inventions that hold promise of commercialization.

Congrats to all winners.

Phosphate World and Patent World. Sir John Bennet Lawes, Father of Fertilizer!

Check out the post at our sister blog SustainZine.com: Phosphate World.

This blog talks about the phosphate industry in Florida and the nice resort being built out of the rubble of past Phosphate mines over in the Tampa Bay area. That actually is pretty cool, but the point that phosphate fertilizer from mines is non-sustainable, and consequently is a broken business model. Peak Phosphate in the world could arrive by 2030.

Innovation in preserving and recycling phosphate is critical. More sustainable uses of fertilizer is essential and a responsible way forward.

But this blog looks at one of the key patents and technological breakthroughs that built the phosphate industry -- and consequently, modern farming as we know it.

Sir John Bennet Lawes is credited as the father of artificial fertilizer. He developed what is referred to as the superphospate fertilizer.... (Many politicians can make such a super fertilizer, only without the patented processes.)

The inherited owner of the Rothamsted Manor in England, John Bennet Lawes, is credited with inventing the process for extracting useful phosphate from phosphate rock using sulfuric acid. In 1842 he obtained a patent on the process. (This must be only a UK patent since it seems hard to find in the USPTO.)

Britannica had this to say about Sir John.
"Lawes inherited his father’s estate, Rothamsted, in 1822. In 1842, after long experimentation with the effects of manures on potted plants and field crops on his estate, he patented a process for treating phosphate rock with sulfuric acid to produce superphosphate. That year he opened the first fertilizer factory, thus initiating the artificial fertilizer industry. The following year, the chemist J.H. (later Sir Henry) Gilbert joined him, and they began a collaboration lasting more than a half century; Lawes considered 1843 the year of the station’s foundation. Together, the pair studied the effects of different fertilizers on crops. They also researched animal nutrition, including the value of different fodders and the sources of animal fat."

There are several patents/applications within the last few years related to phosphate (fertilizer). Check out this one, first filed in China, related to extracting phosphate from low-grade rock using a microbial strain.

And, of course, virtually all GMO seeds/plants are patented -- Monsanto, Dupont, a university, etc. 

Here's a longer look at Sir John's life history from Oxford's DB.  The Rothamsted Research center is still active today, including GMO research.  

The Energy Roadmap - The Edison of our Age: Stan Ovshinsky ... Who killed the Electric Car?... a who dun it of history.

The Energy Roadmap - The Edison of our Age: Stan Ovshinsky and the Future of Energy [Video Interview Part 1]:

Ovshinsky is compared to Edison as a prolific inventor... He hold patents on NiMH batteries. His solar cells power the MIR space station.

Good question on Cobasys and the restrictions on next-gen batteries by the patents held within the company.!:-) The batteries that have become so critical in the next generation of batteries, electric cars, etc. are subject to patents by Ovshinsky (and the Cobasys company).

Cobasys is a 50/50 joint venture with Chevron/Texico and Ovonics. Ovonics has the Stan Ovshinsky inventions and GM now has a big ownership stake in that company.

So let's see, a BIG oil and a BIG auto have a BIG stake in the very batteries that make an electric car viable.

Look at "Patent encumbrances" at Wikipedia. The discussion on "Who Killed the Electric Car?" seem far truer than I ever imagined. This whole topic requires a lot more reading. But before picking up the thread again, I want to watch the movie.

Anybody out there have big ideas (substantiated by facts, I hope) on the issue.

Keywords: electric car, EV, oil, auto, battery, patent, patent encumbrances, inventor, Ovshinsky 

See similar blog over in www.SustainZine.com. 

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eBook Patent Primer 2.0, Patents, the Great Equalizer of our Time! An Overview of Intellectual Property with Patenting Cost Estimates for Inventors and Entrepreneurs (Perpetual Innovation): Elmer B. Hall, Robert M. Hinkelman: Amazon.com: Kindle Store

Patent Primer 2.0, Patents, the Great Equalizer of our Time! An Overview of Intellectual Property with Patenting Cost Estimates for Inventors and Entrepreneurs (Perpetual Innovation): Elmer B. Hall, Robert M. Hinkelman: Amazon.com: Kindle Store:

Kindle eBook version of the Patent Primer 2.0 is here!!!

Of course you can still buy the hard copy of the Primer 2.0 over a LuLu Press: http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/SBPlan

Patent Primer 2.0 is an overview of IP protection in the US and globally with a focus on patents and the patenting process. Intellectual property – especially patents – provides one of the greatest competitive advantages of our time. Patents are a great equalizer, putting the individual inventor on the same footing as corporate giants.  The Patent Primer is an update from the original edition that was included as Appendix B in Perpetual Innovation, Hall and Hinkelman’s 2007 patent commercialization book. (Look for edition 2.0!)

With so much depending on intellectual property, inventors and entrepreneurs must have a good understanding of IP tools to be successful. Patent Primer 2.0 is what everyone needs before launching new product development and invention commercialization. It gives a quick overview of IP and brand building. It addresses the various patent-protection alternatives. The Primer offers example of costs for a small entity to bring a patent-protected invention to market-readiness. The 2.0 version of the Primer includes major changes in U.S. patent laws and the new fees initiated in March 2013.

Hall and Hinkelman are executives of Strategic Business Planning Company (SBP), a company that helps businesses and individuals Plan for Sustainable Success™. SBP helps innovators build strong IP Business Plans. The company is active in sustainability and advocates initiatives that offer payback of investment in 1 to 5 years while delivering perpetual savings to the business, to the community and to the environment – win, win, win!

'via Blog this'

Patent Primer 2.0 is released. Overview of IP and Patent Process.

Perpetual Innovation™: Patent Primer 2.o

Patents, the Great Equalizer of our Time!

An Overview of Intellectual Property with Patenting Cost Estimates for Inventors and Entrepreneurs

By Elmer Hall & Robert Hinkelman

Visit LuLu Press storefront at: www.lulu.com/spotlight/SBPlan

The Patent Primer 2.0 is an overview of intellectual property (IP) protection in the US and globally with a focus on patents and the patenting process. Intellectual property – especially patents – provides one of the greatest competitive advantages of our time. Patents are a great equalizer, putting the individual inventor on the same footing as corporate giants.

   Intangible assets have expanded such that most of the value of most companies is non-tangible, especially patents. Even though there is such a huge competitive advantage associated with IP, intangible assets often go unmanaged. IP is generally omitted from the books on new product development, marketing, and business strategy.

With so much depending on intellectual property, inventors and entrepreneurs must have a good understanding of IP tools to be successful. Patent Primer 2.0 is what everyone needs before launching into new product development and invention commercialization. It gives a quick overview of IP and brand building. It addresses the various patent-protection maneuvers. The Primer offers example of costs for a small entity to bring an invention to market-readiness with patent protection. The 2.0 version of the Primer includes major changes in U.S. patent laws and the new fee schedule initiated in March 2013.

   The information at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (U.S. PTO web site) has evolved over 200 years into a mixed collage of information. Details are buried within laws, regulations, policies and procedures. Additionally, books on patenting and do-it-yourself patent tools are complicated and obtuse. Less-than-reputable companies with 800 numbers target inventors to “help” with the patenting, licensing and funding.

The 2.0 version of the Patent Primer is a complete rewrite and update of the original primer included in Appendix B of Hall and Hinkelman’s 2007 book on patent commercialization. (Visit: www.lulu.com/spotlight/SBPlan) 

   Hall and Hinkelman are executives of Strategic BusinessPlanning Company, a company that does consulting, helping businesses and individuals Plan for Sustainable Success™. SBP helps innovators build strong IP Business Plans. The company is active in sustainability and advocates initiatives that offer payback of investment in 1 to 5 years while delivering perpetual savings to the business, to the community and to the environment – win, win, win!