1. Nanotechnology Practice News
March 2005
Our Nanotechnology Practice is on the rise. During the past year we met and worked
with many nanotechnology industry leaders. To strengthen those relationships and
facilitate the exchange of nanotechnology information, we will be providing periodic updates on our
Nanotechnology Practice. This is the first such update.
quot;Nanotechnology
In this first update, we have included a reprint of our article, entitled
Patents: A Snapshot of Nanotechnology Patenting Through an Analysis of 10
Top Nanotech Patents,quot; which was published in December in Intellectual Property &
Technology Law Journal. In the article we review the prosecution histories of and analyze
ten top nanotech patents as identified by Nanotechnology Law and Business Journal. We
assess commentary that has raised issues and concerns related to nanotechnology IP. While the
sample size is small, we provide an objective glimpse into some of the issues and non-issues
impacting nanotechnology IP.
Having completed the above analysis, we have decided to embark on a more
comprehensive study that examines all of the nanotube patents issued in 2004.
Through this analysis we plan to study PTO examination trends, and consider such issues as how
enablement and size considerations are impacting examinations. We are aware of no other study
to review prosecution histories to objectively study how nanotechnology patents are being
examined. We will present preliminary results of the study at the 2005 NSTI
Nanotechnology Conference and Trade Show in Anaheim, California on May 12. See
www.nsti.org/Nanotech2005 for further information. If you will be there, let us know.
We are also pleased to announce that Don Featherstone and Michael Specht have been
selected to serve as Associate Editor and Advisory Board member, respectively of
Nanotechnology Law and Business Journal, which is quickly becoming a leading
resource within the nanotechnology industry. If you have articles ideas or comments on the
journal, please share them with us. See http://pubs.nanolabweb.com/nlb/ for further information.
Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C. : 1100 New York Avenue, NW : Washington, DC 20005 : 202.371.2600 f 202.371.2540 : www.skgf.com
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As we continue to add to our growing list of leading small tech companies, such as,
Nanosys, Calipers Technologies Corp, and ASML, we also continue to expand
the technical and legal expertise within our practice group. We believe that it is critical
that we have strong technical expertise. Toward this goal we have recently hired Dr. Jason
Barron, Dr. Jonathan Tuminaro and Dr. Aaron Lukas to augment our practice group.
Dr. Barron has a Ph.D in Chemistry from Cornell. His graduate work focused on the
design and study of light emitting polymers and transition metal complexes. He was a National
Research Council Postdoctoral fellow at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, where he gained
extensive experience in the areas of tissue engineering and the development of protein
microarray technology. He has also conducted research related to Dendrimers, having
co-authored recent articles appearing in the Journal of Physical Chemistry and the Journal of the
American Chemical Society.
Dr. Lukas received a Ph.D in Chemistry from Northwestern University. He has
conducted research related to synthesis of precursors for the construction of 2D and 3D
nanoscale arrays formed by Hydrogen bonding and pi-pi stacking interactions. He has also
done research and development work related to synthesis of nanoporous materials for use in
micro-and nano-scale semiconductor and MEMs devices using CVD, sol-gel and plasma
processing techniques. He has extensive experience related to scanning probe
microscopy including AFM, functionalized AFM, SEM and TEM imaging 2D and 3D organic,
inorganic and semiconductor structures.
Dr. Tuminaro earned his Ph.D in Physics from the University of Maryland. His
graduate work included the research and study of electromagnetism, quantum mechanics,
quantum field theory and solid state physics. He was a graduate research assistant in the
Nuclear Theory Group, where he studied quantum field theoretical models of neutrino mass.
If you have any questions or comments regarding this Nanotechnology Practice News,
please let either of us know. We encourage you to check out our website at www.skgf.com for
more details on these updates and other nanotechnology related news and information.
Provided by: Donald Featherstone, Director, 202-772-8629, donf@skgf.com
Michael Specht, Attorney, 202-772-8756, mspecht@skgf.com
Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C. : 1100 New York Avenue, NW : Washington, DC 20005 : 202.371.2600 f 202.371.2540 : www.skgf.com
