The Dolcera Blog

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While BP and the government are still floundering in dealing with the catastrophe, we think that a certain look at the patent landscape might guide Mr. Tony Hayword, CEO - BP with a promising business strategy for the future. More often than not, the business decisions involving the patent due diligence / strategic IP kind have had a desired effect on the final outcome.

In addition to the $20 Billion fund dedicated to oil spills, it would also be prudent to look at the intellectual property of companies with deep sea oil capping technology. The immediate steps could also dwelve into mapping its own patent portfolio for potential synergy.

The following graphs shows the top patents assignees companies holding relevant patents of interest to BP at this juncture to seek deep sea oil capping technologies and one of them could be a potential target for BP to acquire or to in-license.

Top IPC Classes with their definitions

Note: The above IP analysis is only a sample derived from the respective IPC classes and we have withheld the comprehensive data for data security purposes. Please contact us for more information while we will be glad to help you.

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Ranking makes life easier. Be it top 10 companies, top 10 universities to study technology or to choose amongst top 10 sci-fi movies you want to watch on the weekends; ranking allow us to choose the best amongst the available. Time saver, decision influencer and extremely helpful are the ranked material.

At Dolcera, we thought of applying the ranking methodology to patents. We have ranked patents based on a variety of parameters. First factor amongst all remains the client focus, second, sufficiency of disclosed information in patents and third credibility of a patent to perform the same process/art with higher efficiency than any other patent with similar focus.

Let us consider an example, the first table in the image below show patents with similar focus of decreasing tumor volume using RNA interference (RNAi). The patent one has disclosed maximum information in this area and in addition to the desired data, it has also published a lot more supporting information derived from other experiments. Further, as the rank goes down the percentage decrease in tumor volume decreases. Some may argue that patent 2 has disclosed more decrease in tumor volume than patent 1 but then patent 1 has disclosed more supporting data, taking its overall weighted score higher. Of course, if the client is still interested only in comparing tumor volume, patent at rank 2 will come at rank 1. Hence the ranking is customized to suit the client requirements.

The ranking of patents is not that simple as it may sound. The analysis team has to encounter challenges and figure out the ways to overcome them. Graphs, charts, instrumental outputs etc. will not give you data in percentages which can be just copy-pasted to compare. They have to be calculated first using mathematical tools which may vary from calculating areas under the graphs or applying differentiation & integration on instrumental outputs, to allow the reader to compare results before making the final decision. It’s considered an absolute value add to the decision making process by the clients who have sought such a service from us.

Not all experimental data will be quantitative. For people familiar with biotechnology would know that there are experiments (such as gel electrophoresis, staining etc.) that give qualitative or quasi-quantitative results. I am sure, the same will hold true with other technology fields too. Second part of the figure above summarizes few patents which can not be ranked as there is no data yield from such experiments and hence comparison is not possible. But then why miss them? We provide a Dolcera summary table which will give reader an idea as these experiments were atleast conducted and disclosed in patents. This comparison will thus strengthen the decision to be taken from ranking matrices discussed above.

This systemic approach of collecting, sorting, analyzing, and finally ranking the data has the following advantages:

1. Saves time!
2. Easy comparative analysis.
3. Helps in competitive watch
4. Decision on in-and-out licensing can be made.
5. Strong baseline for future scientific investigations.

Who will be benefited?

Scientific community: Extensive experimental data, comparison matrix of data from different patents with same focus is a feast to researchers and scientists as it helps them to choose best technologies.

Patent attorneys: Allows competitor watch, supports their decision on in and out licensing.

Venture capitalists / investors: Patent ranking based on disclosed information helps investors to decide patents to further invest upon.

Which technology fields are covered?

Patents in all the technological fields can be ranked. You just need to tell us the focus area and we will rank the patents for you. The ranking and weighing scores can be customized to suit user’s requirements.

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The PharmaCI conference is scheduled to be held on 15^th - 16^th September 2009 at New York. Ed Rozenberg, one of the founders of Dolcera will present a talk on “Unlocking the hidden potential from the abandoned molecules. - A systematic CI driven approach!”

 With the advancement of pharma industry there are two trends which we have witnessed that each company is focusing on a handful of therapeutic areas and exiting from other therapeutic areas resulting in “orphaned” and “abandoned” molecules. More so, many other companies are targeting smaller subpopulations in many therapeutic areas based on the latest scientific understanding.

Dolcera will unfold that how competitive intelligence can help to utilize the accumulated knowledge (clinical trials, toxicology analysis etc.) of the abandoned molecules to bring them to the market very quickly. The strategy will be a combination of scientific, market and patent intelligence to help unlock very valuable opportunities.

We sincerely hope that this presentation from us would help the research community from some of the world’s top pharma, biotech and health care companies such as Global Pharma Alliance, Zymogenetics, Pfizer, Boehinger Ingelheim, Roche Diagnostics to name a few.

We welcome all our blog readers to be part of this conference and contribute to the knowledge shared.

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The Dolcera Sequence Dashboard video demo is available on YouTube now. Here is the link.

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Test post

The goal of this study was to find the patents published on Neem (Azadirachta indica) and its various compositions (utilizing Neem as an addivite with other chemicals or natural products) since January 2006 in India and the USA, and see if the Indian private and government sectors had woken up to the new age ‘land grab’ opportunities provided through patenting Neem. The second goal was then to drill down deep into the patents to find out the application areas covered.

Neem (Azadirachta indica) is a tree in the mahogany family Meliaceae. It is one of two species in the genus Azadirachta, and is native to India, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan growing in tropical and semi-tropical regions. In East Africa it is also known as Mwarobaini (Swahili), which means the tree of the 40, as it is said to treat 40 different diseases. Traditional uses of Neem 1. Neem acts as anti bacterial, anti parasitic, anti fungal, anti protozoal and anti viral thus helps in protection from all the microorganisms, which are always ready to invade in our body causing serious ailments. 2. Local application of neem powder or neem oil has miraculous results. As it is a famous anti microbial herb, it renders all the microorganisms inactive therefore helping in proper healing of wound without causing any infections and septic conditions. 3. Taking bath of neem leaves water is a very common sight in Indian homes that helps our body to counter mild infections, which our body might get in day-to-day activity. 4. Its tropical application makes us relieved from acne, eczema and even ringworms. 5. In skin related diseases, neem works as blessing of God on mankind. It has an action on almost every kind of skin disease thus making its indication in eradicating every kind of itch, rash, infection and allergy. 6. Neem water is extensively used in burn injuries, thus to protect them from any kind of infection and also promote healing. 7. Neem oil is extensively used in hair fall and early graying of hairs with very satisfying results. It also find its application in dandruff and in lice growth.. 8. Its local application on arthritic conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, gout, Osteoarthritis, lower back pain, and musculo skeletal pains is highly recommended with good results. Source

Dolcera Analysis

1. Top Assignees in India and US on Neem patents: We analyzed a total of 98 relevant patents published in India on Neem and 78 relevant patents published in US on Neem from 2006 to 27th June 2009.

Top Assignees Vs Number of Publications in India

Top Assignees Vs Number of Publications in US

A. One can observe from the above graph that CSIR is the leading assignee in both US and in India. It means that considerable research on Neem is being carried out by CSIR. B. In India, CSIR is being followed by Kalyani Chemicals, Indian council for agriculture result (ICAR), Godrej agrovet, Defense Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). C. In US, CSIR (India) remains the top filler followed by UOP LLC and Syngenta Corp protection Inc.

2. Applications of Neem on which Indian and US assignees filled patents: Next, we compared the Applications of neem for which the patents are sought in both US and India.

Indian assignees (Application area Vs. No. of patents)

US assignees (Application area Vs. No. of patents)

A. The major application of neem in most of the publication is on Pest control. B. Indian publication concentrates on the medicinal aspects of neem whereas US publications concentrates mostly on the insect repellant property of neem. C. Indian assignees have patented use of Neem for its medicinal benefits such as for wound healing, wound coating, diabetes, HIV/ Aids and skin care. D. US assignees looked more interested in the areas such as Biodesel production, fertilizers, dental formulations, food packaging, cosmetics and Pharmaceutical compositions.

3. Sector wise distribution for Indian patents on Neem We tried to find out the major contribution of various sectors in publishing patents on neem and found that individual Application of patents has major part in the distribution of publication on neem in India followed by the private sectors and then the government.

Sector wise distribution on Neem patenting in India

Neem patent in India are mostly held by individuals, 41.84% followed by private sectors, 31.63%. Government institutes lagged behind all and retain only 26.53% patents on India’s traditional asset, Neem.

4. Dolcera Conclusion Indians have always cherished their traditional knowledge, heritage and culture. Neem is one such heritage and an integral part of our socio-economical culture. From times immemorial Neem has found use as an intergradient in Indian culinary, as a medicine for cure of several allergies/diseases and in various religious ceremonies across the country. Time and again there has been a hue and cry to stop other countries from patenting this age old Indian knowledge of Neem. This study, is aimed to answer the key question Are Indians holding an upper hand, legally too, on Neem usage? Comparing the trend of patent filing in India and US between 2006 to June 2009, we can safely conclude that India as a whole has risen up to the expectations and has filled 98 patents on technology surrounding Neem. CSIR (India) played a key role here in India as well as in US to remain as top assignee in the terms of number of patent fillings on application of Neem. However, the complete picture can be alarming. Figure this, despite CSIR remaining as the top assignee, patents on Neem in India are mostly held by individuals (41.84%), followed by private sector, 31.63%. Government institutes (which included CSIR, DRDO, ICAR, IIHR etc) lagged behind all and retain only 26.53% of patents on India’s traditional asset. While Indians have used Neem for its medicinal benefits such as for wound healing, diabetes, HIV/ Aids and skin care; US assignees looked more interested in the areas such as Biodesel production, fertilizers, dental formulations, food packaging, pharmaceutical compositions etc. This study was aimed to gain in depth insight of patenting trends on Neem in India and US. Waking up to the cause, India has done well to broadly cover the Neem application areas but the efforts should increase exponentially to retain the legal rights on Neem, the gift of nature to India. - Lakshmikant Goenka MD, Dolcera AND -Anil Sharma Knowledge Scientist AND - Harit Mohan Knowledge Scientist DISCLAIMER: Above study was conducted using the Indian patent search database provided by the Indian patent office and Micropat. The study was a broad level search and we might have missed out on few patents. The analysis is prone to human errors and can have marginal errors. Dolcera holds all rights on this publication and it should not be used without the consent of authors and the company.

© Dolcera, All rights reserved, 2009

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*IFI Patent Intelligence Analysis of 2008’s Top U.S.-Patent Recipients Suggests America May be Losing Dominance
*Companies Outside the U.S. Tip Scales to 51 Percent Share of New Patents
*Total Patent Grants Up Slightly Over Last Year with IBM Setting an All-Time High;Broadcom, Cisco, Fujifilm, Hon Hai, LG Phillips LCD, Microsoft, and Samsung Also Post Greatest Gains in the Top 35, All Up By More Than 20 Percent
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Top Patent firms are listed below:
List from IP Today.com

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