The Jetson’s Predecessor, Circa 2012

Roy Amara was a researcher, scientist and past president of the Institute for the Future. Born in Boston 1925, he has also worked at Stanford Research Institute. He held a BS in Management, an MS in the Arts and Sciences, and a Ph.D. in Systems Engineering. He died in 2007. He is possibly best known for the quotation ”We tend to overestimate the effect of a technology in the short run and underestimate the effect in the long run”, which was paraphrased by Robert X. Cringely, and is sometimes known as Amara’s Law.

Wikipedia, emphasis added

So, if we underestimate future technology (extrapolating from today’s inventions) based on Amara’s Law (Amara’s Hope?), might we expect to proceed from patent US 8,232,699 to the Jetson-mobile by 2062?

The Jetson’s, again according to Wikipedia, originally aired on the ABC television network from September 1962 to March 1963; it described the foibles of the Jetson family residing in Orbit City in 2062. A major milestone, “[a]t the time of its debut, it was the first program ever to be broadcast in color on ABC-TV.” Don’t be embarrassed to admit (nod if you’d like) that you watched the program. After all, the early 1960s were a time of great optimism about the future, and the role that technology would play in our society. Much different times than today. I miss them. But I digress.

The Patent

US Patent 8,232,699 was issued to Kyli Irene Letang (Las Vegas, NV) on the last day of July, 2012. She retained assignee rights. Her invention, “Magnetically levitating vehicle,” reaches back to July 1966 insofar as the cited patents go. Her earliest patent citation is to US 3,260,475, “Space Vehicle Directing Apparatus,” – perhaps the Jetsons reference isn’t so far fetched after all [1] … The earliest US patent granted for magnetic levitation transportation is US 782,312, “Electric Traction Apparatus,” issued to German inventor Alfred Zehden in 1905. Another early invention was memorialized in US 859,018, “Transportation System,” issued to Franklin S. Smith of Philadelphia, PA in 1907.

The ‘699 patent was issued under the USPTO Green Tech Pilot Program. Letang seeks a vehicle that hovers “above its tires with the use of magnetic levitation.” 

“[T]he present invention brings a new aspect to magnetic levitation and propulsion by not requiring its own track, as is the case with maglev trains. Thus, it can directly be incorporated into the existing transportation infrastructure. … The present invention addresses concerns regarding energy and fossil fuel consumption in the transportation industry. Also, the present invention does not use or contain a combustion engine and is powered solely through electricity. This reduces the impact the present invention has on the environment and is concurrent with the needs of the future.”

OK, so her goal is to convert an area source of air pollution (an internal combustion engine in a vehicle) to a point source (a coal or natural gas power plant). Also, the inventor knows the needs of the future.

The patent’s claim 1 states:

A magnetically levitating vehicle comprises, a frame;

a control device;
a plurality of tire chambers;
a plurality of tires;
the frame comprises of a magnetic shield, a cabin, and a under carriage guard;
the magnetic shield being positioned inside of the frame and surrounding the plurality of tire chambers;
and the undercarriage guard being positioned underneath the frame.

The Novelty

The inventor’s detailed description of the invention provides insight into the perceived novelty of the invention:

• These components include a levitation system, a control system, a propulsion system, a tire safety system, and an electromagnetic shielding system. The present invention uses magnetic properties to perform its purpose. Thus, the present invention requires no fuel to run and operate. The present invention operates with the use of a magnetic sensing system that is powered with rechargeable batteries. To hover above its own tires, the present invention contains a levitation system that is maintained through interactions between the car and the tire. To turn, the present invention uses its propulsion system to carry out inputs from the control system. Also, it implements a tire safety system to ensure that the tires remain in proper position while driving. Another safety precaution taken is a shielding system that helps to ensure the many magnetic fields involved in moving and guiding the present invention does not become unmanageable or interfere with other magnetic devices in the car (i.e. cell phones). 
• [A] major difference in the design is seen in its unique plurality of tire chambers. Traditionally, cars have exposed wheel wells on both the left and right sides, which mark the position of each of the four tires. The plurality of tire chambers are similar in shape to hemispheres, which protrudes past the surface of the present invention’s body to protect the plurality of tires. 
• Instead of using a conventional tire design, the present invention has a plurality of tires that are shaped as spheres. The tires are able to rotate in a 360° motion which allows for easier turning and steering. The lack of restriction on the rotation of the tires also means the present invention can travel in any direction. 
• [A]nother unique aspect to the tires’ design is that they contain two layers: an inner shell and outer shell. The inner shell is located inside the outer shell; in between the surfaces of the two shells is air. Inside the inner shell is an orientation device, in the present design, a gyroscope is used to maintain the proper orientation and positioning of the inner shell, while allowing the outer shell to fully rotate. 
• [A] major benefit of the Magno car is the ability to operate the car with only one hand. The present invention is controlled by a single control device, which comprises of a control stick, an accelerator button, a brake button, a levitation button, and a mounting device. 

My favorite novelty aspect of this invention (setting aside levitation above the tires, spherical tires, shielding system (Kirk: “Scotty, bring up the shields.” Scott: “Aye, shields are up, Captain.”), 360° tire turning (on ice & snow? – no thanks. Maybe there’s an after-market heat-ray gun for that.), gyroscopes encased in the tires, one-hand vehicle operation using what seems to be a fighter-jet hand controller complete with multiple “pickles”, and especially discounting the purchase, maintenance, and repair costs for this bad boy) – my favorite aspect is that “the present invention requires no fuel to run and operate.” Cool.

A Green Tech Patent – Really?

And to think, the USPTO Green Tech Pilot Program actually issued a patent for this. I guess because it’s the ultimate fuel-saving vehicle.

The mind … she boggles.

Watch the video for a view of the future of this invention

1. For all you space junkies, or those that would like a taste of nostalgia, please read the articles on NASA’s Mission Control recently published by Ars Technica here  and here. Also, a detailed review of the engineering behind bringing Apollo 13 home by ieee spectrum. Do any of our readers remember Shorty Powers, the voice of Mercury Control? Did you, like me, count down with him – “5–4–3–2–1–0! We have lift-off! And the clock is running!” How sad that the United States of America, the country that put men on the moon (RIP Neil Armstrong, and other passed lunar astronauts), can’t launch a single person to even sub-orbit, in late 2012, and the nation’s imagination is captured for a day by an Austrian adventurer who ascends to 25 miles in a high-tech balloon and parachutes to earth, 65 years to the day that Chuck Yeager exceeded the speed of sound in the Bell X–1 (read Tom Wolfe’s The Right Stuff). So much for national vision, determination, and will. 

Clean Green Chemistry

The Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) defines green chemistry (also called sustainable chemistry) as,

"the design of chemical products and processes that reduce or eliminate the use or generation of hazardous substances. Green chemistry applies across the life cycle of a chemical product, including its design, manufacture, and use."

Green chemistry technologies provide a number of benefits, including:

• reduced waste, eliminating costly end-of-the-pipe treatments
• safer products
• reduced use of energy and resources
• improved competitiveness of chemical manufacturers and their customers.

The USPTO’s Green Technology Pilot Program has, unsurprisingly, issued patents for green chemistry inventions. One of these was granted to George Hoag (Bloomfield, CT) and three co-inventors in April 2010. Their invention, “Green synthesis of nanometals using plant extracts and use thereof”, is assigned to VeruTEK Technologies, Inc. Patent US 8,057,682, found in Way Better Patents’ Industry Index provides, per Claim 1

A method for reducing the concentration of a contaminant in a medium, comprising:

combining a metal nanoparticle with the medium;
introducing a plant-based surfactant into the medium;
and allowing the metal nanoparticle to reduce the concentration of or stimulate biological reduction of the concentration of the contaminant.

Subsequent claims describe Hoag et al.’s method for producing the metal nanoparticles. Plant extracts are used in the process; these can include “tea extract, green tea extract, coffee extract, lemon balm extract, sorghum bran, sorghum bran extract, polyphenolic flavonoid, flavonoid, flavonol, flavone, flavanone, isoflavone, flavans, flavanol, anthocyanins, proanthocyanins, carotenoids, catechins, quercetin, rutin, and combinations” (Claim 4). They are “obtained from a waste product selected from the group consisting of fruit juice pulp, fruit juice manufacturing wastewater, fruit juice manufacturing waste, food processing waste, food processing byproduct, wine manufacturing waste, beer manufacturing waste, and forest product processing waste” (Claim 5).

The contaminants to be reduced? They include “perchlorate, nitrate, and combinations” (claim 15), or heavy metals or their compounds, including mercury, nickel, silver, cadmium, chromium, and arsenic (claim 16).

And the substances to be cleaned? They include “biologically contaminated material, soil, groundwater, water, wastewater, air, and combinations” (Claim 19).

Not limited to cleaning contaminated solutions, one of the inventors’ embodiments

provides devices comprising a metal nanoparticle prepared according to any of the methods disclosed herein. The device can be, for example, a medical diagnostic test, a medical material such as a bandage, a targeted drug delivery vehicle, a chemical synthesis system, a pollution control or monitoring device, a fuel cell, and an electronic device.

Pollution control, heavy metal removal, medical diagnostics, bandages, drug delivery, chemical synthesis, fuel cells, and electronic devices. In part from fruit juice pulp, food processing waste, wine manufacturing waste, beer manufacturing waste, or forest product processing waste.

That’s a very clean green invention.

This invention contains a ‘Government Interest’ statement indicating a research agreement between VeruTEK Technologies, Inc. (Bloomfield, CT), the patent's assignee and EPA. 

"This invention was made with the support of the United States Government as indicated in a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (EPA Case No. 755–09). The Government has certain rights in the invention."

VeruTEK Technologies, founded in 2006,  is one of the Young Guns featured in the Way Better Patents Discover and Analysis Report.  

Learn more about USPTO clean tech inventions here.

University Research – Big Business

A September 11, 2012 article by Jameson Berkow in the Financial Post entitled “Army of innovators lines energy’s road to success” discusses the nexus between university research, industrial R&D, and commercialization of research results. Although the focus is on Canada’s energy industry, the article’s findings can be more broadly applied.

Syncrude Canada Ltd., a consortium of Canadian oil sands developers, provides research support to the University of Alberta “equivalent to 10% of Syncrude’s annual internal research budget,” according to the FP article. The company also provides significant support to other institutions around Canada. Syncrude holds 21 active patents, according to its web page. These include eight US patents issued from November 2009 through April 2012. None of these eight were issued under the USPTO Green Technology Pilot Program. They include inventions pertaining to bitumen and thermal recovery from oil sands, bitumen treatment methods, and water treatment, among others.

Syncrude supports projects at the University of Calgary as well. These include evaluating the nature of small earthquakes within oil and gas reservoirs, which has implications for hydraulic fracturing (see earlier Inkling posts here, here, and here). Another project examines the application of biology to improve the recovery of petroleum products from oil sands. We’ve looked previously at using biology to reclaim uranium mines.

University research, and the commercialization of inventions that emerge from that research, is big business in Canada and the US. In 2009, the top five US research universities in terms of their total research expenditures were:

• Johns Hopkins University – $1.9 billion
• University of Michigan - Ann Arbor – $1 billion
• University of Wisconsin - Madison – $0.9 billion
• University of California - San Francisco – $0.9 billion
• University of California - Los Angeles – $0.9 billion

Source: The Center for Measuring University Performance at Arizona State University

During the same period, the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM) reported that university research organizations filed 18,214 total U.S. patent applications and were granted 3,417 issued patents.

USPTO Green Technology Pilot Program

Way Better Patents Releases USPTO Green Technology Program Discovery and Analysis Report 

Way Better Patents has released its USPTO Green Technology Pilot Program Discovery and Analysis Report. The report is the first comprehensive look at the inventions and technologies patented under the USPTO’s Green Technology Pilot Program to accelerate the examination of certain “green” technology patent applications.

The Report

Using Way Better Patents patentECO Index as the framework to look at the innovations covered by the program, the report analyzes the first 836 patents granted under the program, from its inception in early December 2009 through its close in mid-February 2012. The report, available online and in an upcoming ebook format, documents which companies received patents including the top assignees, the “Young Guns” — the young companies that disproportionately impact economic growth and job creation, and the participation of independent inventors. The report is organized around Way Better Patents' patentECO Indexes.

Way Better Patents' analysts also looked at vintage prior art in each of the major program domains - Wind, Solar, Energy Efficiency, Water, Renewable Energy, Transportation, Biofuels, and Industry. The report also provides deep dive patent analytics on the geography, complexity, pendency, and specific inventive technologies patented under the program.

This report is an important look at the impact of accelerated examination programs as the USPTO implements the America Invents Act Section 25, under which

the Director of the USPTO and at the request of the patent applicant, may provide for prioritization of examination of applications for products, processes, or technologies that are important to the national economy or national competitiveness without requiring the applicant to pay the aggregate extra cost of such prioritization.

This report provides science and technology policy makers, researchers, and economic development experts with a unique perspective on an accelerated examination program like that soon to be allowed under Section 25 of the American Invents Act.
The report presents important information about the program’s participants and notable patents granted under the program including:

• How a patent for improving the driving experience for drivers of electric cars was considered an important aspect of green technology
• Which major wind and solar market leader that was in on the program from day one received the most patents
• How one inventor took methods used to cool semiconductors to dramatically improve the fuel utilization for heating commercial cooking pots
• A plant sunscreen invention that improves the life of produce
• How patents for internal combustion engines lead the way in patents granted in the “green” transportation inventions
• How two different Young Guns patented inventions for urban wind power solutions.

Is Green Technology More Than a Buzzword?

The goal of the analysis was to discover what green technology was patented under the program and frame it in a way that is understandable and useful for inventors and researchers, talent scouts, for real estate and economic developers who want to see what’s coming next in the green tech marketplace. Product managers will find the results useful in looking for technology and investors and business developers looking to see the which companies have accelerated the protection of their intellectual property in the Clean Technology space.

Is There a Benefit To Accelerated Examination?

Public policy professionals will find the report a useful and important look at the impact of accelerated examination of a particular class of technology. The report shows how the USPTO vision of the technology morphed into the vision of the technology held by innovators and their decisions on which inventions they selected to move to the front of the patent examiner’s docket. This is an important piece of analysis for framing discussions around the new ability of the Director of the USPTO to grant accelerated examination to economically important technology under the America Invents Act.

Is Green Tech New? Review the Prior Art.

Many green technologies are not new — wind technology, solar energy, electric motors — the report includes a section on green technology prior art and the timelines of some of these important “vintage” inventions.

This report is the only published detailed analysis of the results of the USPTO Green Technology Pilot Program. The Program essentially defines the USPTO’s view of what constitutes clean technology. It is required reading for anyone with an interest in past, present, or future clean technology inventions in the US.