George Whitesides, a Harvard University chemist, is a renowned specialist in nanotechnology, a field built on the behavior of materials as small as one molecule thick. But there is nothing tiny about the patent portfolio that Harvard has amassed over the last 25 years based on work in his lab.
Harvard and Nano-Terra Inc, a company co-founded by Whitesides, planned to announce yesterday the exclusive licensing for more than 50 current and pending Harvard patents to Nano-Terra. The deal could transform the little-known firm into one of nanotechnology's most closely watched startups.
HUGE PORTFOLIO
"It's the largest patent portfolio I remember, and it may be our largest ever," said Isaac Kohlberg, who has overseen the commercialization of Harvard's patent portfolio since 2005.
Nano-Terra, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, said the patent filing and maintenance costs alone top US$2 million.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Harvard said it would receive a significant equity stake in Nano-Terra in addition to royalties.
The patents cover methods of manipulating matter at the nanometer and micron scales to create novel surfaces and combinations of materials.
Such technology could lead to products to make better paints and windows, safer and cleaner chemicals and more efficient solar panels.
The patents cover virtually all non-biological applications of work performed by Whitesides and dozens of doctoral students over the last decade.
The biology related research -- mostly in health care -- had previously been licensed to other companies involving Whitesides, including Genzyme, GelTex (sold to Genzyme for US$1.2 billion in 1993), Theravance, and two privately held startups, Surface Logix and WMR Biomedical.
Nano-Terra, though, is selling no products. It is just offering manufacturing and design skills in realms where flexibility and low cost are crucial.
SOFT LITHOGRAPHY
The best known patents cover soft lithography, Whitesides' method of depositing extremely thin layers of material onto a surface in carefully controlled patterns.
It can work over larger surfaces than photolithography, which is widely used to make microchips. Perhaps even more intriguing, soft lithography can work on highly irregular or rounded surfaces where photolithography is all but impossible.
But while nanotechnology's promise remains immense -- the potential advances in energy, medicine and information technology have attracted billions of dollars in government and private investment in recent years -- it is not yet clear which patents will prove valuable.
"You can't just go to market with a huge patent portfolio and a promising pipeline but no revenues," said Stephen Maebius, a patent lawyer in Washington and a nanotechnology expert.
"That was the lesson of Nanosys," he said, referring to the aborted 2004 public offering of a company based in Palo Alto, California, that was the highest-profile nanotechnology start-up backed by venture capital.
Nano-Terra was founded in 2005 with the goal of creating a home for the Whitesides patents.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
RSS