FedInvent™ Patents

New Taxpayer Funded Patents for Tuesday, May 19, 2009 

This page was updated on Monday, March 27, 2023 at 01:25 AM GMT

FedInvent analyzed 88 taxpayer-funded patents this week.

On Tuesday, May 19, 2009, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) granted 88 taxpayer-funded patents; including 77 patents containing government interest statements and 21 patents where federal government agencies were an assignee or applicant. Together, 88 patents granted this week are the result of US government-funded research & development.

Learn More About Taxpayer Funded Patents Here

The List of This Week's Patents

Just a list — patent number with a link and the title, for those patentistas who like to browse.

About The Icons On the List Below

  • The icon takes you to the full text version of the patent at USPTO;
  • The icon takes you to the PDF version of the patent at USPTO; and
  • The icon takes you to the details about the patent on the FedInvent Details page.
  • When you use the icon the patent you are interested appears at the top of the list on the details page.
Patent Title
001 07533483
 
Composite magazine for chambering ammunition in a firearm 
002 07533557
 
Impact tensile test machine 
003 07533597
 
Adapter mechanism for explosive ordnance disrupter apparatus 
004 07533612
 
Projectile height of burst determination method and system 
005 07533719
 
Wellhead with non-ferromagnetic materials 
006 07533786
 
Personal water and additive apparatus 
007 07533797
 
Short depth cash drawer with a moveable base 
008 07534067
 
Coupling assembly for animal management systems 
009 07534296
 
Electrically conductive diamond electrodes 
010 07534315
 
Method for dialysis on microchips using thin porous polymer membrane 
011 07534330
 
Epoxy enhanced polymer membrane to increase durability of biosensors 
012 07534334
 
Apparatus and method for concentrating and filtering particles suspended in a fluid 
013 07534336
 
Continuous flow particle concentrator 
014 07534372
 
Catalytic partial oxidation of hydrocarbons 
015 07534377
 
Borate crystals for optical frequency conversion 
016 07534394
 
Potentiometric titration method for quantitative determination of hydrogen peroxide 
017 07534402
 
Method for forming a chemical microreactor 
018 07534414
 
Clathrate compounds and method of manufacturing 
019 07534415
 
Mesostructured transition aluminas 
020 07534418
 
Imaging agents 
021 07534419
 
Methods of diagnosis and treatment of osteoporosis 
022 07534426
 
Glutenase enzyme assays 
023 07534434
 
Glycolipids and analogues thereof as antigens for NK T cells 
024 07534440
 
Fusion molecules and methods for treatment of immune diseases 
025 07534442
 
Immunogenic compositions comprising covalently bound polysaccharides, antigen, and bacterial toxoid 
026 07534448
 
Methods of treatment with drug loaded polymeric materials 
027 07534449
 
Targeted and high density drug loaded polymeric materials 
028 07534488
 
Graded core/shell semiconductor nanorods and nanorod barcodes 
029 07534519
 
Symmetrical, bi-electrode supported solid oxide fuel cell 
030 07534560
 
Simple catalytic DNA biosensors for ions based on color changes 
031 07534565
 
DLC-1 gene deleted in cancers 
032 07534567
 
Detection of nucleic acid sequence differences by comparative genomic hybridization 
033 07534594
 
Polypeptides having cellulolytic enhancing activity and polynucleotides encoding same 
034 07534597
 
Methods and materials for the production of L-lactic acid in yeast 
035 07534601
 
Capillary perfused bioreactors with multiple chambers 
036 07534610
 
3D tissue constructs on the basis of colloidal crystals surface modified by sequential layering 
037 07534613
 
Methods of treating parkinson\'s disease using viral vectors 
038 07534622
 
Electron transfer dissociation for biopolymer sequence mass spectrometric analysis 
039 07534623
 
Apparatus and method for the purification of nucleic acids 
040 07534626
 
MgO-based tunnel spin injectors 
041 07534633
 
LED with substrate modifications for enhanced light extraction and method of making same 
042 07534635
 
Getter precursors for hermetically sealed packaging 
043 07534729
 
Modification of semiconductor surfaces in a liquid 
044 07534761
 
Charged peptide-amphiphile solutions and self-assembled peptide nanofiber networks formed therefrom 
045 07534779
 
Quinol compound and pharmaceutical composition 
046 07534799
 
Pyridomorphinans, thienomorphinans and use thereof 
047 07534807
 
De novo synthesis of bacteriochlorins 
048 07534819
 
Compositions and methods for intracellular delivery of biotinylated cargo 
049 07534854
 
Apparatus and method for oxidation and stabilization of polymeric materials 
050 07534858
 
Anti-inflammatory compounds and uses thereof 
051 07534869
 
Small and intermediate conductance, calcium-activated potassium channels and uses thereof 
052 07534902
 
Fluorescence assays with improved sensitivity 
053 07534905
 
Reagents for asymmetric allylation, aldol, and tandem aldol and allyation reactions 
054 07534917
 
Method of producing dicarboxylic acids 
055 07534933
 
Transgenic plants overexpressing a plant vacuolar H + -ATPase 
056 07534980
 
High magnetic field ohmically decoupled non-contact technology 
057 07535014
 
Integrally gated carbon nanotube field ionizer device and method of manufacture therefor 
058 07535028
 
Micro-LED based high voltage AC/DC indicator lamp 
059 07535029
 
Material system for tailorable white light emission and method for making thereof 
060 07535034
 
PNP light emitting transistor and method 
061 07535100
 
Wafer bonding of thinned electronic materials and circuits to high performance substrates 
062 07535133
 
Methods and apparatus for resistance compression networks 
063 07535222
 
MRI data acquisition using propeller k-space data acquisition 
064 07535224
 
Discrete magic angle turning system, apparatus, and process for in situ magnetic resonance spectroscopy and imaging 
065 07535229
 
NMR system and method having a permanent magnet providing a rotating magnetic field 
066 07535264
 
Methods and systems for comparing currents using current conveyor circuitry 
067 07535409
 
Imaging radar method and system 
068 07535412
 
Single pulse imaging radar system and method 
069 07535428
 
Flat-aperture waveguide sidewall-emitting twist-reflector antenna 
070 07535549
 
System and method for improvement of alignment and overlay for microlithography 
071 07535572
 
Compression assembly of spatial heterodyne spectrometer (SHS) 
072 07535617
 
Portable acousto-optical spectrometers 
073 07535631
 
Method and apparatus for spectral-beam combining of fiber-amplified laser beams using high-efficiency dielectric diffractive gratings 
074 07535634
 
Optical device, system, and method of generating high angular momentum beams 
075 07535647
 
Beam splitters for, for instance, high efficiency spectral imagers 
076 07535950
 
Blind selected mapping techniques for crest factor reduction of forward link CDMA signals 
077 07535988
 
Method for fast image reconstruction with compact radiation source and detector arrangement using computerized tomography 
078 07536012
 
Entangled quantum communications and quantum imaging 
079 07536057
 
Open system architecture for surveillance systems with efficient bandwidth management 
080 07536240
 
Real power regulation for the utility power grid via responsive loads 
081 07536278
 
Inspection method, system, and program product 
082 07536284
 
Electrical wire interconnect system risk assessment tool 
083 07536425
 
Persistent archives 
084 07536477
 
Access mechanisms for efficient sharing in a network 
085 07536521
 
Computer storage device providing implicit detection of block liveness 
086 07536537
 
Simultaneous dual booting of platforms 
087 07536602
 
Method and apparatus for evaluating paths in a state machine 
088 07536612
 
Field spike monitor for MRAM 

Up to Start Of Table

Patent Count By Department

This is the count of taxpayer-funded patents granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) this week. These patents contain a Government Interest Statement in the body of the patent document or are patents where the government is an assignee. Agency numbers are aggregated by the agency named in the Government Interests Statement and the contract number cited in the government interest section of the patent.

Department This Week This Year
Department of Defense (DOD) 30 585
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) 25 458
Department of Energy (DOE) 20 246
National Science Foundation (NSF) 11 162
Department of Transportation (USDOT) 2 8
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) 2 76
Department of Agriculture (USDA) 1 25
Department of Commerce (DOC) 1 40
National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA) 1 10
U.S. State Government 1 7
Government Rights Acknowledged 1 49

Patents By Funding Agency

FedInvent Patents are patents funded by US taxpayers. Taxpayer-funded patents have Government Interest Statements in the body of the patent or are patents where an agency of the US federal government has retained the title to the patent and is listed as an assignee. The presence of a government interest statement, as required by the Bayh-Dole Act, indicates the holder of a federal contract, grant, or cooperative research agreement has elected to retain the title of inventions conceived and reduced to practice during that contract.

About The Icons On the List Below

  • The icon takes you to the full text version of the patent at USPTO;
  • The icon takes you to the PDF version of the patent at USPTO; and
  • The icon takes you to the details about the patent on the FedInvent Details page.
  • When you use the icon the patent you are interested appears at the top of the list on the details page.

Click the Panel to See The Patents for Each Agency

Take Me To The Details

Department of Defense (DOD) Agencies

Patent Title
001 07534336
 
Continuous flow particle concentrator 
002 07535034
 
PNP light emitting transistor and method 
003 07536425
 
Persistent archives 
004 07536612
 
Field spike monitor for MRAM 

Department of the ARMY (DOA)

Patent Title
001 07533483
 
Composite magazine for chambering ammunition in a firearm 
002 07533612
 
Projectile height of burst determination method and system 
003 07533786
 
Personal water and additive apparatus 
004 07533797
 
Short depth cash drawer with a moveable base 
005 07534336
 
Continuous flow particle concentrator 
006 07534372
 
Catalytic partial oxidation of hydrocarbons 
007 07534610
 
3D tissue constructs on the basis of colloidal crystals surface modified by sequential layering 
008 07535617
 
Portable acousto-optical spectrometers 
009 07535988
 
Method for fast image reconstruction with compact radiation source and detector arrangement using computerized tomography 
010 07536012
 
Entangled quantum communications and quantum imaging 

Department of the Navy (DON) | United States Marine Corps (USMC)

Patent Title
001 07533557
 
Impact tensile test machine 
002 07533597
 
Adapter mechanism for explosive ordnance disrupter apparatus 
003 07534394
 
Potentiometric titration method for quantitative determination of hydrogen peroxide 
004 07534601
 
Capillary perfused bioreactors with multiple chambers 
005 07535014
 
Integrally gated carbon nanotube field ionizer device and method of manufacture therefor 
006 07535100
 
Wafer bonding of thinned electronic materials and circuits to high performance substrates 
007 07535133
 
Methods and apparatus for resistance compression networks 
008 07535264
 
Methods and systems for comparing currents using current conveyor circuitry 
009 07535409
 
Imaging radar method and system 
010 07535412
 
Single pulse imaging radar system and method 
011 07535549
 
System and method for improvement of alignment and overlay for microlithography 
012 07535572
 
Compression assembly of spatial heterodyne spectrometer (SHS) 
013 07535631
 
Method and apparatus for spectral-beam combining of fiber-amplified laser beams using high-efficiency dielectric diffractive gratings 

Department of the Air Force (DAF)| United States Space Force (USSF)

Patent Title
001 07535428
 
Flat-aperture waveguide sidewall-emitting twist-reflector antenna 
002 07535631
 
Method and apparatus for spectral-beam combining of fiber-amplified laser beams using high-efficiency dielectric diffractive gratings 
003 07535647
 
Beam splitters for, for instance, high efficiency spectral imagers 
004 07536057
 
Open system architecture for surveillance systems with efficient bandwidth management 
005 07536425
 
Persistent archives 

Up to Start Of Table

Take Me To The Details
Patent Title
001 07534067
 
Coupling assembly for animal management systems 
002 07534330
 
Epoxy enhanced polymer membrane to increase durability of biosensors 
003 07534418
 
Imaging agents 
004 07534419
 
Methods of diagnosis and treatment of osteoporosis 
005 07534426
 
Glutenase enzyme assays 
006 07534434
 
Glycolipids and analogues thereof as antigens for NK T cells 
007 07534440
 
Fusion molecules and methods for treatment of immune diseases 
008 07534442
 
Immunogenic compositions comprising covalently bound polysaccharides, antigen, and bacterial toxoid 
009 07534448
 
Methods of treatment with drug loaded polymeric materials 
010 07534449
 
Targeted and high density drug loaded polymeric materials 
011 07534565
 
DLC-1 gene deleted in cancers 
012 07534567
 
Detection of nucleic acid sequence differences by comparative genomic hybridization 
013 07534601
 
Capillary perfused bioreactors with multiple chambers 
014 07534622
 
Electron transfer dissociation for biopolymer sequence mass spectrometric analysis 
015 07534623
 
Apparatus and method for the purification of nucleic acids 
016 07534779
 
Quinol compound and pharmaceutical composition 
017 07534799
 
Pyridomorphinans, thienomorphinans and use thereof 
018 07534807
 
De novo synthesis of bacteriochlorins 
019 07534819
 
Compositions and methods for intracellular delivery of biotinylated cargo 
020 07534858
 
Anti-inflammatory compounds and uses thereof 
021 07534869
 
Small and intermediate conductance, calcium-activated potassium channels and uses thereof 
022 07534902
 
Fluorescence assays with improved sensitivity 
023 07534905
 
Reagents for asymmetric allylation, aldol, and tandem aldol and allyation reactions 
024 07534933
 
Transgenic plants overexpressing a plant vacuolar H + -ATPase 
025 07535222
 
MRI data acquisition using propeller k-space data acquisition 

Up to Start Of Table

Take Me To The Details
Patent Title
001 07533719
 
Wellhead with non-ferromagnetic materials 
002 07534296
 
Electrically conductive diamond electrodes 
003 07534315
 
Method for dialysis on microchips using thin porous polymer membrane 
004 07534334
 
Apparatus and method for concentrating and filtering particles suspended in a fluid 
005 07534372
 
Catalytic partial oxidation of hydrocarbons 
006 07534402
 
Method for forming a chemical microreactor 
007 07534414
 
Clathrate compounds and method of manufacturing 
008 07534488
 
Graded core/shell semiconductor nanorods and nanorod barcodes 
009 07534560
 
Simple catalytic DNA biosensors for ions based on color changes 
010 07534594
 
Polypeptides having cellulolytic enhancing activity and polynucleotides encoding same 
011 07534597
 
Methods and materials for the production of L-lactic acid in yeast 
012 07534613
 
Methods of treating parkinson\'s disease using viral vectors 
013 07534633
 
LED with substrate modifications for enhanced light extraction and method of making same 
014 07534761
 
Charged peptide-amphiphile solutions and self-assembled peptide nanofiber networks formed therefrom 
015 07534854
 
Apparatus and method for oxidation and stabilization of polymeric materials 
016 07534980
 
High magnetic field ohmically decoupled non-contact technology 
017 07535029
 
Material system for tailorable white light emission and method for making thereof 
018 07535224
 
Discrete magic angle turning system, apparatus, and process for in situ magnetic resonance spectroscopy and imaging 
019 07535229
 
NMR system and method having a permanent magnet providing a rotating magnetic field 
020 07536240
 
Real power regulation for the utility power grid via responsive loads 

Up to Start Of Table

Emerging Technology

Emerging Climate Change Technologies

Patents containing 'Y" CPC symbols indicate emerging climate change and clean technology inventions.

About The Icons On the List Below

  • The icon takes you to the full text version of the patent at USPTO;
  • The icon takes you to the PDF version of the patent at USPTO; and
  • The icon takes you to the details about the patent on the FedInvent Details page.
  • When you use the icon the patent you are interested appears at the top of the list on the details page.
Class

About Y Emerging Technology Symbols

Patent documents that contain a Y02 or Y04 CPC symbol are already classified elsewhere. USPTO adds the Y symbols to the classification data to monitor new technological developments covering clean technology and inventions impacting climate change, important American science and technology interests.

Y02 — Green House Gas Mitigation

Y02 covers selected technologies, that control, reduce, or prevent anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG), in the framework of the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement, and technologies that allow adapting to the adverse effects of climate change. Y02A covers technologies for adaptation to climate change, — technologies that allow adapting to the adverse effects of climate change in human, industrial (including agriculture and livestock), and economic activities. Y02P covers climate change mitigation technologies in any kind of industrial processing or production activity, including the agroalimentary industry (relating to agriculture and food), agriculture, fishing, ranching and the like.

Y04 — Enabling Technologies

Y04 is focused on the information and communications inventions that facilitate climate change technology. Y04S covers systems integrating technologies related to power network operation, communication, or information technologies for improving electrical power generation, transmission, distribution, management, or usage. Examples of the art covered here are technologies related to smart grids, home appliances, and systems supporting the interoperability of electric or hybrid vehicles.

The Health Complex

This section contains the count of patents funded by The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) organized by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) institute; and HHS subagencies including the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Center for Disease Control (CDC), and others. These agencies together are called the Health Complex.

Department | Agency This Week This Year
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)25458
National Institutes of Health (NIH)24407
National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB)39
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)215
National Center for Research Resources (NCRR)27
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)14
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)13
National Cancer Institute (NCI)166

Up to Start Of Table

Higher Education Research and Development (HERD)

FedInvent follows the HERD the Higher Education Research and Development institutions — the colleges and universities; research institutions, and medical schools that benefit from federal funding and rely on it to make important discoveries that drive American innovation. Taxpayer-funded patents coming from American and sometimes foreign universities are an important indicia of the vitality of the American innovation ecosphere.

MEMBERS OF THE HERD

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Higher Education Research and Development (HERD) Survey is the primary source of information on R&D expenditures at 916 US colleges and universities that expended at least $150,000 in separately accounted for R&D in the fiscal year. We use the NSF list to keep track of which colleges and universities are receiving taxpayer-funded patents and filing patent applications.

WATCH This SPACE

We're working on our data analytics and will be reporting taxpayer-funded patents and patent applications shortly. In the meantime, FedInvent will post interesting information about the HERD Innovation Ecosphere here.

Top Ten Universities By R&D Expenditures
  1. Johns Hopkins University
  2. University of Michigan
  3. University of Washington
  4. University of California, San Diego
  5. University of California, San Francisco
  6. Columbia University in the City of New York
  7. Stanford University
  8. University Pittsburgh
  9. University Pennsylvania
  10. Duke University

Count By Tech Center

Patents organized by count and Technology Center where the patent was examined.

Tech Center Count
1600 Biotechnology and Organic Chemistry 27
2800 Semiconductors, Electrical and Optical Systems and Components 23
1700 Chemical and Materials Engineering 16
3600 Transportation, Electronic Commerce, Construction, Agriculture, Licensing and Review 9
2100 Computer Architecture Software and Information Security 7
2600 Communications 2
3700 Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing, Gaming and Medical Devices/Processes 2
2400 Computer Networks, Multiplex, Cable and Cryptography/Security 1
4100 Patent Training Academy 1

For more information on the types of inventions examined in each Technology Center, see the About Tech Centers section of this page.

Patents By Scientific Domain.

This section contains the number of patents by high level scientific and technical domain. The data is arranged by the first Cooperative Patent Classification System (CPC) patent symbol assigned to the patent. This indicates the scope and nature of the invention for a patent or a patent application.

Global patent offices use patent classification as their lingua franca — the common language — for exchanging information about inventions and what scientific and technical art a patent contains. The classifications assigned to a patent are used by patent examiners to find prior art and to determine if a particular patent's claims are novel. Patent classifications are also used for global enforcement of patent rights, treaties, and agreements.

Class Class Definition First
(Original)
Inventive
(CrossRef)
USPC 424 Drug, bio-affecting and body treating compositions 8 0
USPC 435 Chemistry: Molecular biology and microbiology 8 0
USPC 257 Active solid-state devices 5 0
USPC 514 Drug, bio-affecting and body treating compositions 5 0
USPC 359 Optical: Systems and elements 4 0
USPC 438 Semiconductor device manufacturing: Process 4 0
USPC 204 Chemistry: Electrical and wave energy 3 0
USPC 324 Electricity: Measuring and testing 3 0
USPC 252 Compositions 2 0
USPC 342 Communications: Directive radio wave systems and devices 2 0
USPC 422 Chemical apparatus and process disinfecting, deodorizing, preserving, or sterilizing 2 0
USPC 423 Chemistry of inorganic compounds 2 0
USPC 436 Chemistry: Analytical and immunological testing 2 0
USPC 530 Chemistry: Natural resins or derivatives; peptides or proteins; lignins or reaction products thereof 2 0
USPC 714 Error detection/correction and fault detection/recovery 2 0
USPC 042 Firearms 1 0
USPC 073 Measuring and testing 1 0
USPC 086 Ammunition and explosive-charge making 1 0
USPC 102 Ammunition and explosives 1 0
USPC 117 Single-crystal, oriented-crystal, and epitaxy growth processes; non-coating apparatus therefor 1 0
USPC 156 Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture 1 0
USPC 166 Wells 1 0
USPC 219 Electric heating 1 0
USPC 222 Dispensing 1 0
USPC 235 Registers 1 0
USPC 307 Electrical transmission or interconnection systems 1 0
USPC 327 Miscellaneous active electrical nonlinear devices, circuits, and systems 1 0
USPC 343 Communications: Radio wave antennas 1 0
USPC 355 Photocopying 1 0
USPC 356 Optics: Measuring and testing 1 0
USPC 375 Pulse or digital communications 1 0
USPC 378 X-ray or gamma ray systems or devices 1 0
USPC 380 Cryptography 1 0
USPC 382 Image analysis 1 0
USPC 403 Joints and connections 1 0
USPC 428 Stock material or miscellaneous articles 1 0
USPC 429 Chemistry: Electrical current producing apparatus, product, and process 1 0
USPC 528 Synthetic resins or natural rubbers 1 0
USPC 549 Organic compounds 1 0
USPC 556 Organic compounds 1 0
USPC 562 Organic compounds 1 0
USPC 700 Data processing: Generic control systems or specific applications 1 0
USPC 702 Data processing: Measuring, calibrating, or testing 1 0
USPC 703 Data processing: Structural design, modeling, simulation, and emulation 1 0
USPC 707 Data processing: Database and file management or data structures 1 0
USPC 709 Electrical computers and digital processing systems: Multicomputer data transferring 1 0
USPC 711 Electrical computers and digital processing systems: Memory 1 0
USPC 713 Electrical computers and digital processing systems: Support 1 0
USPC 800 Multicellular living organisms and unmodified parts thereof and related processes 1 0

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Count of Inventors by Country and U.S. State

Patent count by country and state based on the location information of first named inventors and of all inventors on the patent.

Country First Named Inventors All Inventors
United States of America 88 261
Finland 0 2
Australia 0 1
Canada 0 1
United Kingdom 0 1
Italy 0 1
Russian Federation 0 1
U.S. State First Named Inventors All Inventors
California 14 52
Virginia 7 18
Maryland 7 16
New York 6 15
Texas 6 12
Tennessee 4 24
Massachusetts 4 18
Minnesota 4 13
Connecticut 4 10
Michigan 4 10
Illinois 4 9
New Jersey 4 9
Washington 3 12
Oregon 2 7
Florida 2 5
Wisconsin 2 5
Kansas 2 4
Pennsylvania 1 4
North Carolina 1 3
Georgia 1 2
Oklahoma 1 2
Alabama 1 1
Arizona 1 1
District of Columbia 1 1
Ohio 1 1
Rhode Island 1 1
Missouri 0 2
Iowa 0 1
Montana 0 1
New Hampshire 0 1
New Mexico 0 1

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Count of Assignees and Applicants by Country and U.S. State

Patent count by country and state based on location information of Assignees and Applicants.

Country Assignees Applicants
United States of America 900
U.S. State Assignees Applicants
California 180
District of Columbia 170
Massachusetts 60
New York 60
Connecticut 40
Florida 40
Tennessee 40
Texas 40
Illinois 30
Michigan 30
Minnesota 30
Virginia 30
New Jersey 20
Wisconsin 20
Alabama 10
Georgia 10
Iowa 10
Kansas 10
Maryland 10
Missouri 10
North Carolina 10
Oklahoma 10
Oregon 10
Pennsylvania 10
Washington 10

Up to Start Of Table

Technology Center Explainer

How Tech Centers and Art Units Are Organized And Why It Matters

Patents travel from Technology Center to Art Unit to Group Art Unit to Patent Examiner.

The USPTO's patent corps is organized into Technology Centers (TCs), groups of patent examiners with specific scientific and technical domain expertise. Technology Centers are further divided into Art Units (AUs) organized by major types of inventive art within a scientific or technical domain. Art Units are organized into Group Art Units, even more specialized and granular teams of examiners.

Group Art Units (GAUs) are where patent examiners prosecute patent applications. Patent applications are docketed to examiners based on specific subject matter classifications of a particular GAU.

Understanding Technology Centers, Art Units, and Group Art Units helps you understand what type of inventions are being prosecuted within each scientific and technical domain, how long it takes from the date a patent application is filed to the time a final decision on the patentability of the invention is made.

Technology Centers and Art Units

Click or touch the accordion panel to open it and see the way different types of inventions are grouped together within Art Units.

Patents examined here cover:

Art Unit Technical & Scientific Domains
1610 Organic Compounds: Bio-affecting, Body Treating, Drug Delivery, Steroids, Herbicides, Pesticides, Cosmetics, and Drugs
1620 Organic Chemistry
1630 Molecular Biology, Bioinformatics, Nucleic Acids, Recombinant DNA and RNA, Gene Regulation, Nucleic Acid Amplification, Animals and Plants, Combinatorial/ Computational Chemistry
1640 Immunology, Receptor/Ligands, Cytokines Recombinant Hormones, and Molecular Biology
1650 Fermentation, Microbiology, Isolated and Recombinant Proteins/Enzyme
1660 Plants

About Plant Patents

Plant Patents are granted to an inventor who has invented, or discovered and asexually reproduced a distinct and new variety of plant, other than a tuber propagated plant or a plant found in an uncultivated state. If you've ever eaten a pluot, you've enjoyed the fruit of a plant patent.

Plant patent numbers begin with a "PP" followed by a five digit number. The first Plant Patent was issued in 1931. Plant patents are valid for 20 years from the filing date.

Patents examined here cover:

Art Unit Technical & Scientific Domains
1710 Coating, Etching, Cleaning, Single Crystal Growth
1720 Fuel Cells, Batteries, Solar Cells, Liquid Crystal Composition
1730 Metallurgy, Metal Working, Inorganic Chemistry, Catalysts, Electrophotography, Photolithography
1740 Tires, Adhesive Bonding, Glass/Paper making, Plastics Shaping & Molding
1760 Organic Chemistry, Polymers, Compositions
1770 Chemical Apparatus, Separation and Purification, Liquid and Gas Contact Apparatus
1780 Miscellaneous Articles, Stock Material, Adhesive Composition, Fabrics
1790 Food, Analytical Chemistry, Sterilization, Biochemistry, Electrochemistry

Patents examined here cover:

Art Unit Technical & Scientific Domains
2110 Coating, Etching, Cleaning, Single Crystal Growth
2120 Miscellaneous Articles, Stock Material, Adhesive Composition, Fabrics
2130 Fuel Cells, Batteries, Solar Cells, Liquid Crystal Composition
2140/2170 Metallurgy, Metal Working, Inorganic Chemistry, Catalysts, Electrophotography, Photolithography
2150/2160 Tires, Adhesive Bonding, Glass/Paper making, Plastics Shaping & Molding
2180 Organic Chemistry, Polymers, Compositions
2190 Chemical Apparatus, Separation and Purification, Liquid and Gas Contact Apparatus

Patents examined here cover:

Art Unit Technical & Scientific Domains
2410/2460/2470 Multiplex, VoIP
2420 Cable and Television
2430/2490 Cryptography and Security
2440/2450 Computer Networks
2480 Recording and Compression

Patents examined here cover:

Art Unit Technical & Scientific Domains
2610 Computer Graphic Processing, 3D Animation, Display Color Attribute, Object Processing, Hardware and Memory
2620 Selective Visual Display Systems
2630 Digital and Optical Communications
2640 Telecommunications: Analog Radio Telephone; Satellite and Power Control; Transceivers, Measuring and Testing; Bluetooth; Receivers and Transmitters; Equipment Details
2650 Videophones and Telephonic Communications; Audio Signals; Digital Audio Data Processing; Linguistics, Speech Processing and Audio Compression
2660 Digital Cameras; Image Analysis; Applications; pattern Recognition; Color and Compression; Enhancement and Transformation
2670 Facsimile; Printer; Color; halftone; Scanner; Computer Graphic Processing; 3-D Animation; Display Color; Attributes; Object Processing; Hardware and Memory
2680 Telemetry and Code Generation; Vehicles and System Alarms; Selective Communication; Dynamic Storage Systems; Mechanical parts of Disk Drives; Signal Processing and Control Processing in Disk Drives
2690 Selective Visual Display Systems

More broadly TC 2800 Art Units cover Semiconductors/Memory, Circuits/Measuring and Testing, Optics/Photocopying, Printing/Measuring and Testing.

Patents examined here cover:

Art Unit Technical & Scientific Domains
2810/2820/2890 Semiconductors/Memory
2830/2840 Electrical Circuits and Systems
2850/2860 Printing/Measuring and Testing
2870/2880 Optics

About Design Patents

The design FOR an article. Not to the design OF an article.

Patents examined here cover Design patents cover the appearance of an article. The design for an article consists of the visual characteristics embodied in or applied to an article. Since a design is manifested in appearance, the subject matter of a design patent application may relate to the configuration or shape of an article, to the surface ornamentation applied to an article, or to the combination of configuration and surface ornamentation.

Design is inseparable from the article to which it is applied and cannot exist alone merely as a scheme of surface ornamentation. It must be a definite, preconceived thing, capable of reproduction and not merely the chance result of a method.

Design patent numbers begin with a "D" followed by a six digit number. The first Design Patent was issued in 1843. The term of a design patent is 15 years measured from the date of grant, if the design application was filed on or after May 13, 2015 (or 14 years if filed before May 13, 2015).

Patents examined here cover:

Art Unit Technical & Scientific Domains
3610 Surface Transportation
3620 Business Methods — Incentive Programs, Coupons; Operations Research; Electronic Shopping; Health Care; Point of Sale, Inventory, Accounting; Cost/Price, Reservations, Shipping and Transportation; Business Processing
3630 Static Structures, Supports and Furniture
3640 Aeronautics, Agriculture, Fishing, Trapping, Vermin Destroying, Plant and Animal Husbandry, Weaponry, Nuclear Systems, and License and Review
3650 Material and Article Handling
3660 Computerized Vehicle Controls and Navigation, Radio Wave, Optical and Acoustic Wave Communication, Robotics, and Nuclear Systems
3670 Wells, Earth Boring/Moving/Working, Excavating, Mining, Harvesters, Bridges, Roads, Petroleum, Closures, Connections, and Hardware
3680 Business Methods — Incentive Programs, Coupons; Electronic Shopping; Business Cryptography, Voting; Health Care; Point of Sale, Inventory, Accounting; Business Processing, Electronic Negotiation
3690 Business Methods — Finance/Banking/ Insurance

Patents examined here cover:

Art Unit Technical & Scientific Domains
3710 Amusement and Education Devices
3720 Manufacturing Devices and Processes, Machine Tools and Hand Tools
3730 Sheet Container Making, Package Making, Receptacles, Shoes, Apparel, and Tool Driving or Impacting
3740 Thermal and Combustion Technology, Motive and Fluid Power Systems
3750 Fluid Handling and Dispensing
3760 Refrigeration, Vaporization, Ventilation, and Combustion
3770 Medical & Surgical Instruments, Treatment Devices, Surgery and Surgical Supplies
3780 Body Treatment, Kinestherapy, and Exercising

Patents examined here cover:

Art Unit Technical & Scientific Domains
3970 Express Abandonments
3990 Central Reexamination Unit

FedInvent Patents

Each week FedInvent analyzes newly granted patents and published patent applications whose origins lead back to funding from the US federal government. We assemble a weekly patent catalog and analyze the inventions, the inventors, and the entities who received the patents. We map the patents back to the agency that funded the R&D that led to the new invention. FedInvent uses the funding opportunity descriptions, the grants, and the contracts that define the research areas of interest, and the R&D policies and priorities of that drove and are driving the funding to organize each week's patents.

ABOUT OUR DATA

The weekly patent catalog includes patents with government interest statements indicating federal funding; and patents where the assignee, the owner of the invention, is the federal government. This includes work on federal grants, work on federal contracts, innovation by Federal Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs) funded by Federal Departments and University Affiliated Research Centers funded by DoD.

Not every inventor is a government contractor. There are many inventions conceived and patented by scientists and engineers working for the federal government or serving in the military.

THE NUMBERS MAY NOT MATCH THE NUMBER OF PATENTS WE ANALYZE EACH WEEK

The numbers in the tables presented on this page will not add up to the number of patents granted each week because patents are counted by each agency that funded the creation of the invention. Patents and funding have a many-to-many relationship. One patent may have more than one funding grant or contract associated with it. A grant or contract may lead to more than one patent. More than one agency may have funded the inventors or the contract. More than one university or business may have worked together on an invention. When we report the numbers here, we associate a patent with all of the entities and funding that are reflected on the patent and report them to you. This approach presents a more complete picture of what's going on in the federal innovation ecosphere. Put another way, the numbers in the tables presented on this page may not always add up to the number of patents each week because patents are counted by each agency that funded the creation of the invention.

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