Is entrepreneurship a key factor in the development of European countries? A proposal for an innovation readiness environment (IRE) index.

This study investigates the complex interplay among innovation, research and development (R&D), and entrepreneurship within the context of European nations. The focus of the study is also on the contributory role of tertiary educational institutions in nurturing entrepreneurial activities. To deepen the understanding of these multifaceted relationships and their subsequent impact on regional economies, the research introduces a novel metric termed the Innovation Readiness Environment (IRE) index. This index combines various indicators such as R&D expenditure, patenting rates, firm size, and educational levels, thereby providing a framework for evaluating firms' innovative capabilities and entrepreneurial success in a given region. Utilization of this index offers policymakers and stakeholders a nuanced understanding of the regional innovation ecosystem, facilitating the identification of strengths and deficiencies. This, in turn, enables the formulation of targeted policy interventions to enhance innovation and entrepreneurship. One relevant conclusion drawn from this study is the pivotal role of tertiary education in catalyzing entrepreneurial ventures. The findings posit that higher levels of entrepreneurial education significantly supplement an individual's likelihood of entrepreneurial success by imparting the requisite skills and knowledge indispensable in a competitive business milieu. By fostering an environment conducive to innovation, higher education institutions emerge as critical agents in cultivating entrepreneurial acumen and stimulating economic expansion. The study further incorporates a spatial analytical framework to elucidate the regional specificities of innovation at the pan-European scale.

Prevention of Dental Caries: A Review on the Improvements of Toothpaste Formulations from 1900 to 2023.

Modern toothpastes are complex formulations with various ingredients. The aim of this study was to analyze the improvement of toothpaste formulations from 1900 to 2023 focusing on active ingredients with remineralizing, antibacterial, or plaque-removing effects, and to discuss their influence on caries prevention. For this, worldwide patent applications were searched using the international database Espacenet from the European Patent Office. Additionally, toothpaste products were searched using the Mintel product database from 1996 to 2023. The searched ingredients were (in alphabetical order): calcium carbonate, calcium phosphates, hydrated silica, sodium fluoride, sodium lauryl sulfate, triclosan, xylitol, and zinc salts as they are known from the scientific literature to be remineralizing or antibacterial/antiplaque agents. It was shown that the number of patent applications containing these ingredients significantly increased since the 1970s. As these ingredients have remineralizing, antibacterial, or plaque-removing effects, they all can contribute to caries prevention. In conclusion, and within the limitations of this approach, this study shows that toothpaste formulations have greatly improved over the past decades by using various active anticaries ingredients.

Applications of Silver Nanoparticles in Patent Research.

BACKGROUND: Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have been widely applied in research and industrial fields, finding applications in nanomedicine, drug delivery, biomedical devices, electronics, the energy sector, and environmental protection. Patents provide information on the industrial viability of product technologies, and the number of patent documents provides an estimate of the evolution of a specific technological field. AIMS: The present work aims to describe the current trends in AgNPs patent applications. In addition, a retrospective study of published patents in Brazil is presented. METHODS: Analyses of AgNPs-related patents were conducted using the free platform for patent search Lens® in 2010-2019 and articles published in same period using the Scholar® base. The patent applications and their evolution over time, major depositors and holders, and the main technological areas associated with AgNP applications have been described. RESULTS: China and United States are the major patent applicants for nanotechnologies. The worldwide distribution of publications of journal articles shows that China, India, and the United States are the leading countries in the total number of articles published, in that order. CONCLUSION: Our study of patent applications and published articles confirmed the growing global increase in new technologies involving NPs and AgNPs, particularly in the biotechnology area, in the fields of medicine and agriculture.

Spatial network and driving factors of low-carbon patent applications in China from a public health perspective.

Introduction: The natural disasters and climate anomalies caused by increasing global carbon emissions have seriously threatened public health. To solve increasingly serious environmental pollution problems, the Chinese government has committed itself to achieving the goals of peak carbon emissions and carbon neutrality. The low-carbon patent application is an important means to achieve these goals and promote public health. Methods: This study analyzes the basic situation, spatial network, and influencing factors of low-carbon patent applications in China since 2001 at the provincial and urban agglomeration levels using social network analysis based on data from the Incopat global patent database. Results: The following findings are established. (1) From the number of low-carbon patent applications, the total number of low-carbon patent applications in China increased year by year, while the number of applications in the eastern region was larger than those in the central and western regions, but such regional differences had been decreasing. (2) At the interprovincial level, low-carbon patent applications showed a complex and multithreaded network structure. In particular, the eastern coastal provinces occupied the core position in the network. The weighted degree distribution of China's interprovincial low-carbon patent cooperation network is affected by various factors, including economic development, financial support, local scientific research level, and low-carbon awareness. (3) At the urban agglomeration level, the eastern coastal urban agglomerations showed a radial structure with the central city as the core. Urban innovation capability, economic development, low-carbon development awareness, level of technology import from overseas, and informatization level are highly correlated with the weighted degree of low-carbon cooperation networks of urban agglomerations. Discussion: This study provides ideas for the construction and governance of low-carbon technology innovation system and perspectives for theoretical research on public health and high-quality development in China.

Prospective Study on Microencapsulation of Oils and Its Application in Foodstuffs.

BACKGROUND: Edible oils have gained the interest of several industrial sectors for the different health benefits they offer, such as the supply of bioactive compounds and essential fatty acids. Microencapsulation is one of the techniques that has been adopted by industries to minimize the degradation of oils, facilitating their processing. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the intellectual property related to patent documents referring to microencapsulated oils used in foods. METHODS: This prospective study investigated the dynamics of patents filed in the Espacenet and National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) databases, and it mapped technological developments in microencapsulation in comparison with scientific literature. RESULTS: The years 2015 and 2018 showed the greatest growth in the number of patents filed in the Espacenet and INPI databases, respectively, with China leading the domains of origin, inventors, and owners of microencapsulation technology. The largest number of applications of microcapsules were observed in the food industry, and the foods containing microencapsulated oils were powdered seasonings, dairy products, rice flour, nutritional formulae, pasta, nutritional supplements, and bread. The increase in oxidative stabilities of oils was the most cited objective to microencapsulate oils. Spray drying was the most widely used microencapsulation technique, and maltodextrin, gum arabic, and modified starch were the most widely used wall materials. CONCLUSION: Microencapsulation of oils has been expanding over the years and increasing the possibilities of the use of microcapsules, but further investments and development of policies and incentive programs to boost this technology need to be made in less developed countries. For future perspectives, the microencapsulation technique is already a worldwide trend in the food industry, enabling the development of new products to facilitate their insertion in the consumer market.

A concise framework to facilitate open COVID pledge of non-disclosed technologies: In terms of non-disclosed patent applications and trade secrets.

BACKGROUND: As a result of the COVID-19 global pandemic, many intellectual property (IP) owners have signed on to the "Open COVID Pledge", an agreement that makes corporate and university IP available free of charge for the purpose of facilitating the development of technologies that will end the pandemic and minimize the impact of disease. Joining this pledge is relatively straightforward for already-disclosed IPs. However, few, if any, has considered how to encourage owners of "non-disclosed patent applications" and "trade secrets" to sign on to this meaningful pledge. In other words, so far there is no proposal to extend the Open COVID Pledge for confidential pending patents and trade secrets. METHODS: We propose an innovative and flexible framework to cover both non-disclosed patent applications and trade secrets to mobilize inventors to participate in the Open COVID Pledge. RESULTS: By focusing on immediate publication of the patent-applying technology and extending provisional right to such applications which is subject to the Open Pledge during this pandemic, our recommendations are workable for inventors who would like to pledge their non-disclosed technologies for the detection, prevention and treatment of the COVID-19, in the meantime preserving their IP rights for the post-pledge period. CONCLUSION: This paper offers a way forward to guide pledgers and implementers who are interested in supporting the effort by addressing some of the issues associated with the free sharing of non-disclosed patent applications and trade secrets in the fight against COVID-19.

Analysis and research on the published patents of novel coronavirus related technology / 中华医学科研管理杂志

Objective:By retrieving published patents on novel coronavirus related technologies, we analyzed the differences in patent applicants, target areas, patent quality, etc. in different countries and regions, and learned from the patent layout of relevant key innovation entities in countries and regions with relatively mature patent systems, such as Europe and the United States, to provide a reference for the subsequent writing and layout of related Chinese patents.Methods:" Novel coronavirus pneumonia, nCov pneumonia, novel coronavirus, nCov, COVID-19, 2019-nCoV, SARS-CoV-2" were searched as key words in the PatSnap Patent Database, with a limitation of public date before September 30, 2020. Based on the bibliometric method, this study analyzed applicants, regional distribution, patent quality, patent subject, etc.Results:4 541 patents on novel coronavirus related technology were obtained through search and filtering, whose applicants are mainly from China, which is also the major, region of applications. However, in an analysis of patent quality regarding novel coronavirus related technologies, the number of claims of US patent applications reached 44.48, and the number of patents in the same family reached 5.21, while in China, the numbers were just 9.27 (claims) and 1.45 (patents of the same family).Conclusions:China outperformed other countries in terms of the number of patent applications for novel coronavirus related technologies, but fell rather far behind the US in terms of patent quality and layout. Therefore, it is necessary to introduce and train professional patent management talents, improve the patent management system, raise awareness of patent legal protection, write high-quality legal documents, attach importance to the global market of patent technology, and strengthen the internationalization of patent layout, further promote industry-university-research cooperation, strengthen exchanges and cooperation among research institutions, pharmaceutical enterprises, hospitals and other institutions, pay attention to the combination of scientific research and clinical, prevention and control practices, and promote the healthy development of coronavirus research.

Analysis on Innovation Input-output in China ’s Pharmaceutical Enterprises from the Perspective of Patent Appli- cation / 中国药房

OBJECTIVE：To provide reference for optimizing resource allocation and precise investment of China ’s pharma- ceutical industry. METHODS ：The number of invention patent applications in China ’s pharmaceutical industry was searched from China Intellectual Property Netwerk ，and the status quo and structure of patent applications in China ’s pharmaceutical industry were analyzed. SPSS 23.0 software was used to analyze the input-output correlation of the number of invention patent applications with R&D investment and main business income of pharmaceutical enterprises in China. RESULTS ：The number of invention patent applications in China ’s pharmaceutical industry increased year by year. From 2000 to 2015，225 861 invention patents had been applied by domestic applicants and 43 149 invention patents had been applied by foreign applicants in China ；only 49.94％ domestic applicants applied for professional invention ，while 96.79％ of foreign applicants applied for professional invention. There was a positive correlation between the R&D expenditure of pharmaceutical enterprises and the number of invention patent applications，which indicated that the R&D investment of pharmaceutical industry in China was beneficial to the invention patent applications. The number of invention patent applications of pharmaceutical enterprises was also positively correlated with the main business income ，indicating that the increase of invention patent applications of pharmaceutical enterprises also effectively expanded the economic scale of pharmaceutical industry. CONCLUSIONS ：Compared with foreign countries ，the structure of patent applicants in domestic pharmaceutical industry needs to be adjusted urgently. Pharmaceutical enterprises have not yet become the main applicants. The continuous R&D investment of pharmaceutical enterprises effectively promotes the application of invention patent，expanded the economic scale of the pharmaceutical industry.

Patent Application Trends of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Technologies in the United States, Japanese, and European Applications.

Patent application trends were investigated for induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technologies, particularly disease-specific cell technologies related to iPSCs, in the U.S., Japanese, and European applications during 2017. The number of patent applications for iPSC technologies was 1516 in the United States, 895 in Japan, and 420 in Europe, with 5% of applications for disease-specific cell technologies. In contrast, the percentages of patent applications for iPSC preparation and differentiation technologies were 17% and 23%, respectively. Patent applications for disease-specific cell technologies were classified into four technical fields and 14 disorder groups. In the technical fields, patent applications for genetically engineered cell technologies were prominent, accounting for 63%, 50%, and 65% of the U.S., Japanese, and European applications for 11, 8, and 7 disorder groups, respectively. In the disorder groups, the percentages of patent applications for neurological disorders were 40%, 32%, and 40% of the U.S., Japanese, and European applications, respectively, which were filed in four technical fields in the U.S. and Japanese applications. The U.S. patent applications for disease-specific cell technologies were filed by applicants in the United States, Japan, France, Belgium, Italy, Korea, and Canada; however, patent applications filed by those in Belgium, Italy, and Canada were not found in the Japanese and European applications. The percentages of patent applications filed by the U.S. applicants were 72%, 55%, and 65% of the U.S., Japanese, and European applications, respectively. Most patent applications filed by the U.S. applicants were in the field of genetically engineered cells for 11 disorder groups, which mostly included neurological and blood disorders. Japanese applicants mainly filed patent applications for drug screening technologies; subjects included five disorder groups, particularly neurological and bone/articular disorders. French applicants filed patent applications for neurological disorders in the field of genetically engineered cells and drug screening technologies. Korean applicants filed patent applications for patient-derived cell technologies for neurological, metabolic, and chromosomal/genetic disorders. In conclusion, more than half of patent applications were for genetically engineered cells for 11 disorders, most of which were filed by U.S. applicants.

Research Progress of Laportea bulbifera / 中国实验方剂学杂志

The research literature of Laportea bulbifera was summarized and analyzed, and its distribution of literature, chemical composition, pharmacological activity, quality control, clinical application and patent approval were summarized, this study can provide reference for the follow-up clinical application and development and utilization of the herb. Taking CNKI and PubMed database as the retrieval platform, keywords and full text as the search items, the Honghema, Honghuoma, Zhuya Aima, Laportea bulbifera (Siebold & Zuccarini) Weddell. and Laportea bulbifera as the search terms, the domestic and foreign paper reports and patent approvals of L. bulbifera from 1989 to 2018 were retrieved. A total of 41 papers and 63 patents were reviewed, the contents of these papers were pharmacological activity, chemical composition and quality control research, the majority of patents were compound. At present, 73 chemical constituents have been isolated and identified from L. bulbifera, and most of them were flavonoids. Flavonoids, catechins and coumarins were selected as the quality control indexes, and most of the pharmacological activities were anti-inflammatory, analgesic and anti-rheumatism. L. bulbifera is highly competitive in the market because of its remarkable pharmacological activities, however, its quality control level in local standard is low and testing items are incomplete. The determination reported in the literature lacks specific indexes to evaluate the quality of L. bulbifera, at the same time, it is necessary to further study its anti-inflammatory mechanism, explore its quality markers and establish the spectrum-effect relationship, so as to effectively control the quality of L. bulbifera and provide documentation for its comprehensive utilization and resource development.

Analysis of patent application and authorization in a hospital and countermeasures / 中华医学科研管理杂志

Objective To share the experience of the patent application,authorization,and transfer in a hospital in last five years,this study aims to improve the patent application and authorization in hospitals.Methods Using data from China Patent Infonet and State Intellectual Property Office of People's Republic of China,we searched the patent application and authorization during Jan.2012 to Dec.2016,and included those that patentee was our hospital or the employee of our hospital.Results The number of patent applications was 215,including 151 service intention-creation applications,and 64 non-service intention-creation applications.Patent application and authorization in our hospital have been increasing year by year,covering internal medicine,surgery,obstetrics and gynecology,pediatrics and so forth.Conclusions We accumulated some experience in patent application,authorization and transfer which provide reference for further,more comprehensive and integrated,patent management system.

The newly filed patent applications for vaccines against staphylococcus aureus.

Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) frequently causes life threatening disease. To release the threat, vaccine has been proposed as a preventive intervention against the cause. However, the development of the vaccines is still in early stages. Thus, highlighting the related newly filed patent applications would stimulate further developments.

Patent pattern analysis of Artemisia annua / 中草药

Artemisiae Annuae Herba is dry aboveground part of Artemisia annua, which has a long history of application in China. Modern research achievements make it shiny all over the world. The breakthrough in modern research also attracts a lot of attention and related research, and now a lot of achievements have been made. In order to perform further research purposefully, systematic review of existing achievements was made to understand industry pattern and development prospect. And the patent document is one of the important science and technology literature source. The patent information was collected from several special patent database, and the patent and industrial structure in the field comprehensively was analyzed with the aid of computer science, including life cycle, geographical distribution, international exchange, efficacy preferences, compatibility strategy, excellent application institutions, and high value patents. The result shows that the field has sizable development space, which should make use of the analysis result of the paper to formulate development strategies in line with our own.

Status Analysis and Countermeasure Research for Patent Application Quality of Traditional Chinese Medicine / 中国中医药信息杂志

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is a treasure of five-thousand-year civilization of China, with systemic theory and reliable clinical efficacy. As the origin of TCM, China should have a large number of independent intellectual property rights of TCM beyond any doubt. However, the quality of TCM patent application as a whole is far from optimistic currently. Targeting the differences in number and quality of TCM patent application in China, this article analyzed current situation of TCM patent application, discussed the reasons and offered countermeasures, and proposed that the work focus of intellectual property in China should shift from quantity to quality. It also argued that targeted countermeasures should be chosen according to the causing reasons, and overall promotion of the TCM intellectual property competiveness should be achieved through multi-aspect and multi-department cooperation.

Effective Composition of TCM Invention Patent Application / 中国中医药信息杂志

Composition of invention patent application is important for obtaining patent right and maintaining the right stability. According to the features of TCM invention patent application and common problems in examination, this article summarized several key points for effective application composition, including composing background technology objectively, highlighting technical problems, reasonable layout of technical pian, working in contact with technical effects, and clarifying technical terms. It expounded each point with relevant typical cases, with a purpose to provide references for applicants and agents of TCM invention patent application.

Analysis of the situation in application of patents associated with plaque researches / 中华医学图书情报杂志

In order to show the development situation and trend in plaque research, Thomson Innovation Platform-covered application of patents associated with plaque researches was quantitatively analyzed using the Thomson Data Analyzer and Thomson Innovation or other tools, which revealed the overall development situation, the main accepted countries, the main application institutions and the technological direction layout of patents associated with plaque researches.

Brief Discussion on the Economic Value of Applying for Patent and Know-how for Traditional Chinese Medicine / 中国药房

OBJECTIVE:To compare the economic value between patent application and know-how,the two measures for intellectual property rights protection of traditional Chinese medicine.METHOD:The legal features of intellectual property rights protection for Chinese traditional medicine were analyzed and its economic value was evaluated with economic model.RESULTS&CONCLUSION:The know-how has a greater economic value to enterprises under the current intellectual property rights protection system.