TECHNOLOGY - Can I bounce an idea off of you?

Joseph Kennedy had to be told that he had just been awarded his 100th U.S. patent because, frankly, he had lost track.

“I don’t really count,” says the University of Akron professor of polymer science and chemistry. “Believe me, it’s not the number; that’s not important. ... To make sure that these patents produce jobs and produce revenue — that is what counts.”

Well, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office thought it was a pretty big deal. Although the office doesn’t keep statistics on the number of patents held by an average inventor, it congratulated Kennedy in a recent letter for the 80-year-old’s “ingenuity and inventive contributions.” Rubber materials and processes patented by Kennedy keep windows in skyscrapers from getting cloudy, make car components recyclable and coat stents used to reopen coronary arteries.

They can also mean big royalties for their inventors and, in Kennedy’s case, the school where the research and development was done. The University of Akron has its own office of technology transfer that helps match patented science to applications. In 2007, patent licenses generated $6.3 million for the university.

Some only recoup the roughly $20,000 it costs to get a patent approved and renewed through several cycles. Others are licensed for millions, according to Susan Dollinger, project manager and marketing director for the technology transfer office. She says Kennedy is the type of inventor institutions cherish because of his motivation.

“A patent, if you do nothing with it, is just a piece of paper,” Dollinger says.

Of the school’s 161 active U.S. patents (they expire 20 years after applying), Kennedy holds 29.

Kennedy says the fact that the university recognizes the importance of innovation gives inventors some incentive. He teaches engineering, science and technology graduate students how to invent as well as how to protect the invention once it’s been created.

“You never know when a material becomes really marketable — the only thing you do is to recognize the utility, but you cannot predict the marketability,” Kennedy says. “That’s dictated by business, not by law or science.”

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Sibstar: A rubber appropriate for tubing, insulation and other automobile engine bay components, this material is also recyclable. “Your ordinary rubber, like tires,” Kennedy says, “one of the problems is what to do with them, because they’re not recyclable.”Joseph Kennedy

 

TAXUS: One of Kennedy’s polymer coatings on a stent used to reopen clogged arteries in more than 5 million people makes it friendlier to the body and gradually releases drugs. “These patents are not only saving lives and alleviating pain for many millions of people,” he says, “but they’re creating jobs for Boston Scientific and generating many millions —no billions [of dollars].”

Epion: This architectural sealant helps people see clearly through their skyscraper windows. By sealing the space between the outside and inside panes of glass, water can’t seep in and make haze.