Medical Robotics:Patents: Exploring the world of invention

1. Jay Bhatt
bhattjj@drexel.edu
http://www.library.drexel.edu/engineering

2.  New research initiatives being developed in institutions,
universities and organizations
◦ Drexel no exception
◦ Multidisciplinary Fields: Nanoscience, Medical Robotics,
Plasma Medicine, Biology, Biomaterials, Tissue
Engineering, Translational Research and many more
◦ More research being done and more expected
 Huge potentials for innovation
◦ Patents and Intellectual Property Implications
 Increased need for faculty and students to learn about
inventions

3.  What is a patent?
◦ “A patent for an invention is the grant of a property right to
the inventor.”
 Patent Granting Institutions:
◦ US Patent and Trademark Office
◦ Canadian Intellectual Property Office
◦ European Patent Office
◦ China Patent & Trademark Office
◦ Japan Patent Office
◦ and many others…

4.  IP scene at Drexel encompassing many
subject areas
 Engineering, Sciences, and College of
Medicine, etc.
 Interdisciplinary focus - (Nanotechnology,
Biomaterials, Chemistry, Bionanotechnology)
 Graduate and Undergraduate Research

5.  Drexel, Penn and Ben Franklin partners
form the Nanotechnology Institute in 2000
◦ Facilitate commercialization of IP discoveries by
NTI –member institutions
◦ NTI accelerates regional economic development
by connecting industry with university assets
◦ Vision for region’s economic growth as new
technologies emerge in the marketplace
◦ Implications of research and courses being taught
at Drexel
◦ Need to increase awareness of patents and patent
searching is growing fast
 The Office of Technology Commercialization at
Drexel

8.  Challenges
◦ Interdisciplinary Field
◦ Diverse Student Background
◦ Interdisciplinary – students needs understanding
of those subject areas
◦ Patent searching and understanding necessary
 Need for learning about basics of patent searching
crucial
 Engaged learning through class assignments (an
example of integrated learning)

9. A successfully completed project must include (over
the two terms) detailed design/response to: ..
 What are the current state of the art available
solutions?
 What is the impact on the medical workflow of the
system?
 What are the challenges in introducing the
solution to the market?
 What are the drawbacks of the proposed solution?
 What is the Intellectual Property (IP) landscape for
the proposed system?
 What is IP protectable design of the system?

16. ◦ What is a USPC classification schedule?
 System using a 3 digit class. Subclass is a number up to 6 digits -last
three digits are decimal places.
 See http://www.intellogist.com/wiki/US_Patent_Classification_System
 Similar grouping of patent art.
 A single invention in multiple classification codes (U.S. Patent
Classification Code)
 For example, 318/568.21 ; 318/560; 318/567; 318/568.1;
318/568.11; 318/568.2
◦ See Classification Help
and Glossary
◦ How does classification help in searching for patents?

18.  Keyword searching problematic
◦ Searches locate words not concepts
◦ Difficult to search all the terms representing a
concept
◦ Language issues
◦ International databases miss non-English
documents (using only English keywords)
◦ USPC – 470 classes, app. 150,000 subclasses

19.  United States Patent 8,541,970
Software center and highly configurable robotic systems for surgery
and other uses .
Current U.S. class: 318/568.21 ; 318/560; 318/567; 318/568.1;
318/568.11; 318/568.2
http://www.uspto.gov/web/patents/classification/uspc318/sched318.htm
Class 318: ELECTRICITY: MOTIVE POWER SYSTEMS
Subclass 568.21 ….Including end effector (e.g., gripping jaw, micromanipulator,
etc.)
Clicking on ‘P’ retrieves all patents for class 424 subclass 9.1.

31.  Find one patent using class 977/774.
◦ What is the title of the patent you found?
◦ What type of patents are we going to find in this
class/subclass combination?
◦ Find a patent on “Quantum Dots’?
◦ What is the patent application number? When was
this patent filed?
◦ What other classes/subclasses your patent
recommends for additional references?
◦ What is the Current International Class for this
patent?

32. For more information:
 Patents, FDA approved medical devices and Intellectual
Property
(Search in Library Website using keyword - patents
 Classification
http://www.uspto.gov/web/patents/classification/index.htm
 World Intellectual Property Organization – International Patent
Classification - http://www.wipo.int/wipogold/en/
 Questions: Jay Bhatt, Liaison Librarian for Engineering
bhattjj@drexel.edu