Is the sky originally blue?

 

I can't even remember the last time I felt emotions looking at the blue sky while walking on the streets without a mask. There may be a reason to wear a mask because of the new respiratory virus called Corona recently, but even before the corona, there were many things to wear a mask due to yellow dust and fine dust, so air purifiers and air conditioning facilities were important.

As mentioned earlier, fine dust literally means dust with very small particles. General fine dust is a small size of about 1/5 to 1/7 the diameter of a human hair, and stays in the air in an invisible state. Since fine dust is so small, there is a risk that it can directly penetrate organs such as the lungs through the respiratory tract or move into the body along the blood vessels, adversely affecting health.

In this issue, among the various technologies for resolving fine dust, we will look into the fine dust reduction technology and classify the removal technology in detail. In addition, we will check the recent research trends through the overall flow of patent trends by reduction technology.

 

       1. What is fine dust?

 Particulate Matter (PM) refers to very small dust particles that are invisible to the naked eye. Depending on their size, they are also divided into fine dust (10 μm or less, PM10) and ultra-fine dust (2.5 μm, PM2.5).

When exposed to fine dust for a long time, immunity is rapidly lowered, which can expand to various diseases such as cardiovascular diseases and skin diseases as well as respiratory diseases such as colds/asthma/bronchitis. According to recent research trends, as a result of analyzing the substances contained in fine dust, it is becoming a bigger problem due to the high content of heavy metals. This is because there is a high risk of expanding to problems in the human body caused by heavy metals in addition to problems caused by fine dust.

2. Fine dust emission sources and reduction technology

 ⬤ Causes of Fine Dust Emissions

 Air pollutants are classified into primary pollutants directly discharged from emission sources and secondary pollutants produced through chemical reactions in the air after other precursors are discharged. Air pollutant emissions can be calculated for primary pollutants, but direct emissions cannot be calculated for secondary pollutants. Therefore, fine dust also includes primary fine dust and secondary fine dust depending on the generation process. 

 A large amount of primary fine dust is emitted in the form of dust from chimneys of fuel combustion facilities, car exhaust vents, and windblown dust. Secondary fine dust includes aerosols such as ammonium nitrate or ammonium sulfate, which are produced through chemical reactions of sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, and ammonia already emitted in the air, and organic substances that have been condensed in the air. Looking at the fine dust analysis results measured in Seoul, it seems that about 20-40% of PM10 is composed of secondary fine dust. If the cause or solution to the primary fine dust emission is specifically and accurately analyzed, it is judged that it can be a key to solving the problem of fine dust.

 ⬤ Fine dust reduction technology

①     Electrostatic Precipitator

The Electrostatic precipitator is a device that forms an appropriate unequal electric field using direct current high voltage and charges the dust in the gas using corona discharge in the electric field to separate and collect the charged corpuscle in the collecting electrode by the force of Coulomb.

       ②     Hybrid Precipitator

   The Hybrid Precipitator technology is that maximize the increase in dust particle collection performance through a technology combination of conventional electric dust collection and filtered dust collection.

       ③     Bag Filter

A filter is a filtering body for removing small solids in a gaseous phase or a liquid phase. A fabric filter, which is mainly used to control fine dust, is a very effective technology for separating particulate pollutants from combustion gas. The collection principle of a single fiber for this technology is operated by the mechanism of inertia, blocking, diffusion, and gravity in a filter.

   ④     Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF)

DPF consists of a device that collects fine dust from the exhaust from diesel engines and a device that burns the collected dust.

   3. Fine dust reduction technology and patent trend by emission source

<fine dust reduction technology and detailed classification of emission sources>

  ⬤ Application trends by year/country

Application trends by country and all years
(The gray shaded area is an unpulished period)

 The trend of repeating the trend of increase → decrease → increase → decrease in the number of applications is observed, and it seems that about 300 applications are being filed steadily. In particular, applications from Korea and China show a continuous upward trend (↗), and especially in the late 2010s, the rising trend of applications from Korea is confirmed.

It is inferred that the trend of application by country reflects the result of investment and demand according to the changing policy of each country or air quality (fine dust, NOx, SOx, etc.).

⬤ Application trends by all applicants

Top10 applicants related to fine dust reduction

As a result of extracting the top 10 applicants related to fine dust reduction, the applicant with the largest number of applications is TOYOTA MOTOR (JP, 383 cases), followed by YANMAR (JP), ISUZU MOTOR (JP), TOPSOE HALDOR (DK ), KUBOTA (JP), and JOHNSON MATTHEY.

⬤ Application trends by fine dust reduction technology

Application status by fine dust reduction technology

  

Application trend by year for fine dust reduction technology
(The gray shaded area is an unpulished period)

The characteristics of application  trends by fine dust reduction technology include DPF(R4) > scrubber, adsorption(R5) > Bag filter(R3) > electrostatic precipitator(R1). As for the electrostatic precipitator technology, dry electrostatic precipitator(R1-1) continues to increase over time, whereas wet electrostatic precipitator(R1-2) is declining overall. In addition, the DPF(R4), which accounted for the largest number of inventions, is declining at a very rapid rate.

  ⬤ Application trends by source of fine dust emission

Application status by fine dust emission source

Application status by fine dust emission source
(The gray shaded area is an unpublished period)

 As for the characteristics of the application trend by fine dust emission source, it is confirmed in the order of transporting sources (E3) > power generation, combustion (E1) > industrial sites (E2). This results is expected that because research and development on emission sources of transporting closely related to our lives was more frequent in R&D for the high application rate of DPF (R4) technology in Japan and the United States in the early 2010s and replacement time or costly large-scale facilities.

 4. Conclusion

Industry continues to develop, and consequently, more pollutants are emitted. It is impossible to recover the pollutants already discharged or restore the destroyed environment by blaming only the problem of technological development or lack of awareness or policy for these emission factors.

Therefore, rather than not taking reduction technologies and regulations because of the immediate cost or time required, it should be resolved through thorough cause analysis and related research and development.

 In addition, it seems necessary to respond jointly through the establishment of infrastructure such as cooperation with the government and corporations, and institutional incentives and support for the introduction of reduction technologies.

 

※ Reference

- Current Status and Problems of Fine Dust Pollution (Jang Young-ki, 2016)

- Characteristics of air pollutants and prevention facilities (instrumentation technology, 2009)

- Fine dust treatment principle and technology development trend (National Land No. 452, 2019)

- Management plan for prior pollution reduction in air emission facilities (Korea Environmental Institute, 1998)

 

 😄Report by JunKyu PARK, powe0519@wips.co.kr

IP Strategy 3 Team l Manager

JunKyu PARK specializes in patent trend analysis and patent big data processing using AI, focusing on major industries such as displays, batteries and polymers.

[International Briefing] US, KR

 

 

US

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission bans import and sale of Chinese telecommunications devices that pose a threat to national security

  

 Nov. 25, 2022, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued an executive order prohibiting certification for the import and sale in the United States of Chinese telecommunications devices that pose a threat to national security.

 Looking at the background, the United States enacted the 「Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act of 2019 (HR4998), hereinafter Network Act」 in 2019, and gave the FCC the authority to sanction telecommunications equipment and related service companies based on the executive branch’s decision on national security. On the basis of Network Act, the FCC designated eight Chinese and Russian telecom-related companies, including Huawei, as targets for sanctions. In Sept. 2022, as three additional Chinese telecommunications companies were designated1), the number of companies currently included in the sanctions list has increased to 11 companies in total.

clipartkorea.co.kr

The relevant administrative order are as follows.

. The FCC has adopted new rules that prohibit Chinese telecommunications equipment deemed to risk to a national security from being licensed for import or sale in the United States.

. The new rules apply to future approvals of equipment included on the Covered List issued by the FCC under the Network Act of 2019.

. Chinese telecommunications equipment and service companies subject to the rule include Huawei Technologies, ZTE Corporation, Hytera Communications, Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology and Dahua Technology (including Dahua Technology’s subsidiaries/affiliates)

 The rule completely prohibits the approval of equipment through the FCC's certification process. Therefore, it is clearly stipulated that the equipment will be subsequently approved according to the supplier's declaration of conformity process, or may not be imported or sold under rules allowing equipment license exemptions.

 In addition, the FCC has banned public funds from being used to purchase equipment on the Covered List to secure US networks, and has initiated a telecommunications network redemption program to remove the installed equipment.

 

<Original source of this post>

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KR

 Korean Intellectual Property Office published ‘IP-MIX’ guide

 Dec. 1, 2022, the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) announced that it would publish and distribute the 'Intellectual Property Mix Strategy for Technology Protection Optimization (IP-MIX) Strategy 1) Manual' to support companies, research institutes, and universities in strengthening technology protection. 

 As competition for technological supremacy has recently intensified, the annual damage due to technology leakage in Korea is USD43.4 bil., which is about 2.7% of the total nominal GDP of the country (USD1,602 bil.) in 2021. However, most of the companies, research institutes, and universities are having difficulty preparing technology protection strategies due to insufficient awareness of intellectual property and lack of information on specific technology protection methods.

 Reflecting this reality, KIPO organized this manual by focusing on three major points so that the department and person in charge of intellectual property can easily utilize and work for technology protection.

∙ First, suggest judgment criteria for selecting appropriate protection measures among patents and trade secrets with actual cases considering the characteristics of each technology developed by companies, research institutes, universities, etc.

∙ Second, provides ‘Intellectual Property Mix (IP-MIX) Strategy’ for the 9 major industries - materials/parts, machinery/equipment, chemistry, medicine/bio, electronics/information communication and aerospace - in order to explain effective technology protection methods according to the characteristics of each industry.

∙ Third, introduces the in-house intellectual property management system by company size so that the 'IP-MIX strategy' can be actually implemented in the technology development field.

 The manual is jointly prepared by KIPO and NISC (National Industrial Security Center), which is responsible for preventing the outflow of national core and cutting-edge technologies. KIPO stated, “a strategic approach is necessary that is tailored to the characteristics of each technology field and institution for effective technology protection,” and “hopes that this manual will be widely used in establishing the optimal technology protection strategy in the field of technology development.”

 1) ‘Intellectual Property Mix (IP-MIX) strategy’ refers to a strategy to protect technology in multiple ways by utilizing various intellectual properties such as patents, trade secrets, designs, and trademarks in a complex manner according to the characteristics of the technology.

 

<Original source of this post>

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Visualized invention in the patent document

 

Drawings in the patent specification are merely reference and auxiliary positions to understand the invention. The detailed description of the invention and claims are the most important, and the drawings are only reference materials, so they are not essential elements that must be submitted. However, it is often difficult to understand an invention without drawings. Even if a specific technology is described in as much detail as possible in writing, reading the article and understanding what the technology is will be different for each. However, if you show a picture or photo along with such a detailed explanation, everyone will be able to associate the same image. This is the role of the drawing in the patent specification. It helps to understand the contents of the invention better, more easily and clearly by supplementing and explaining the contents of the patent claims while visually representing the contents of the invention written in writing. Therefore, the drawing of a patent specification serves as a description of rights for the applicant (patentee), the subject of examination and judgment for the examiner/judge, and the role of technical literature for a third party.

 WIPS Global launched a new ‘Drawing Text Search’ feature last month. It is searching for drawing texts and edit them for the user’s needs, if necessary. In this issue, we will take a look at WIPS Global’s new ‘Drawing Text Search’.

▲wipsglobal.com> main

▲wipsglobal.com>Drawing Text Search

Drawing Text Search is that searches for 'texts on the drawing' containing technical keywords. Patent documents contain a lot of important technical information even in the drawings themselves. There had been a lot of demands for searching texts, number, codes or symbol inserted in the drawings from practitioners. Drawing Text search enables drawing-oriented patent review and is currently provided for the US, Japan, and Korea data.

▲wipsglobal.com> Drawing Text Search> search results

From a keyword search, you can get the results for major IPC, first applicants, status info., filing date, core keywords of the corresponding technology in a graph. Search results also can be listed based on description and drawings together or drawings only.

Let’s take a look what’s special about the Drawing Texts Search.

▲wipsglobal.com> Drawing Text Search> search for number

<Drawing Reading Mode>

①     A drawing editor that can edit drawing texts, codes, symbol and number (detailed in the image below)

②     You can select a keyword from the drawing text list in the right side. The selected keywords are automatically completed as a search query.

③     You can create your own search query by editing the automatically completed keywords.

▲wipsglobal.com> Drawing Text Search> Drawing Editor

  <Drawing Editor>

Easily and conveniently review drawings and its all references-texts, codes, numbers etc. You can use it as you wish by using various editing items such as color change, moving, deleting, saving, adding etc.. for each element.

①     You can change the color of drawing texts.

②     The texts automatically extracted from the drawing is displayed on the left and the code or description are also displayed in the image.

③     The selected color is applied to all the same text.

▲wipsglobal.com> View Details

<Claim-Drawing Mapping>

If the numbers in the claim and the numbers in the drawing are the same, the numbers are displayed within the claim, which is a very convenient allowing the users to review the claim along with the drawing. The claim-drawing mapping feature is available in View Details > Claim tab and Easy Viewer.

▲wipsglobal.com> Easy Viewer

So far, we have looked at WIPS Global's new Drawing Texts Search. As mentioned earlier, drawings are visual data explaining the invention and are an important element to understand more easily and clearly. Now try the Drawing Texts Search and make your work easier.

Apple Pay patent and contactless payment service technology

 

Recently, the news that Apple Pay service will be launched in Korea has been drawing attention from many iPhone users in Korea.

▲apple.com

Apple Pay has been already in service in 63 countries but why is not in Korea?

The reason is the difference in how the payment service works. Then what’s the difference? MST and NFC are the representative method for the contactless payment service. Samsung Pay uses MST and Apple Pay uses NFC. In Korea, most card payment affliates use the MST method, so Apple had no choice but to be lukewarm about entering into Korean market.

MST vs NFC

MST is an abbreviation of Magnetic Secure Transmission. Simply put, payment is made by detecting changes in the magnetic field that occur during payment by swiping or inserting a physical card. The technology below is a patent for a payment method that Samsung applied for in 2015. Samsung has developed a technology that enables payment simply by brining the device close to the card payment terminal by installing MST and NFC modules in its own smart devices, including the Galaxy.

▲wipsglobal.com> KR10-2371943
Titled "Handheld electronic device capable of magnetic field communication and payment method using the same"

The advantage of MST technology is that it can respond to NFC payments. With installating the NFC module, payment is settled smoothly even at NFC-based payment terminal, although it’s a very small percentage.

NFC is for Near Field Communication, which means short-range wireless communication. In Korea, this is the method for transportation cards. This technology can exchange data over a short distance using frequency, it has advantages over MST in terms of security, recognition and speed. Currently, most overseas countries including the US and Europe take NFC only and Apple Pay and Google Pay takes also NFC methods.

▲wipsglobal.com> US10019699
Titled "Method for adjusting near field communications circuitry during mobile payment transactions"

In 2014, Apple applied for a patent for a technology that enables fast payment when a smart device is close to a card payment terminal using frequency, and this has become the basic principle of Apple Pay.

 Although the advantages of the NFC method are clear, the current penetration rate of NFC payment terminals in Korea is just around 5%, and there is a possibility that it will be a half-service if the payment infrastructure, including the supply of terminals, is not properly established for Apple Pay, where NFC terminals are essential. In addition, Korea uses its own communication standard (KLSC), so there is a problem that card companies that should follow the Apple Pay standard (EMV) have to pay huge fees to Apple.

▲clipartkorea.co.kr

Recently, Apple prepared another hidden card. The ‘Apple Gift Card’ is what it is. Apple applied for the trademark of APPLE GIFT CARD in Korea. It is expected that it will start a full-fledged invasion to Korean market.

▲intomark.com> apple gift card
*intomark : trademark database of WIPS Co.,Ltd

Now that non-contact payment service, which allows payment anywhere with just a mobile phone, has become the new normal, Apple Pay is expected to contribute to enhancing consumer convenience. However, I hope that Apple Pay can make a soft landing in the direction of resolving problems accumulated through mutual developmental consultations and improving the payment service environment.

 

Figuring out the citation relationships at a glance, Citation Analysis

 

  Patents are a representative intellectual product of intangible assets, and are used as an important objective standard to measure the technological level and innovation capacity of individuals, companies, and countries. Accordingly, the evaluation of patented technology is greatly emphasized as a means of investment and policy decision of each company or country, as well as technology transfer, licensing, and product development. Despite the lack of evidence that patent developers or companies intend to cite existing patents, it has been proven by various studies that frequently-cited-patents have high technical value. Patent citation analysis means to analyze not only the correlation, but also the relative importance, etc., through the analysis of the citation relationship between patents. Many researchers are analyzing the quality and influence of technology and the spread of technology information through patent citation analysis.

 In this issue, we will analyze the citation relationship of prior patents cited at the time of patent application by checking the correlation between patents, and introduce a feature that helps to find patents with high influence in each technology field.

▲wipsglobal.com

 WIPS Global's ‘Citation Analysis’ is an analysis of backward and forward citations. Citation data is provided based on the application number as the citation relationship occurs in the unit of invention, and the backward/forward citation relationship is checked by expanding to 3depth based on the root patent.

The citation analysis feature is entered by selecting the citation analysis icon on the ‘View Detail’ page after searching.

▲wipsglobal.com> Citation analysis

Citation analysis is available for KR, US, CN, JP, EP, DE, BR, FR, RU, and TW countries. You can set up to 3 depths for each backward/forward citation. If you click on the number from the statistics of the backward/forward citations in the right side, the corresponding patent list as a result. 

 In the Text Mode page, citations are grouped and displayed according to the first applicant, all applicants, IPC(Main), IPC(All), and country. If you select a number on the statistic table, a separate patent list of the selected number appears on the page, and also the statistics of the top 5 applicants is visualized in the chart in various form.

The document list is displayed by depth, country, and citation stage. The listed documents are connected with additional features such as SmartAngle, Easy Viewer, My Folder, and others.

▲wipsglobal.com> Citation analysis

  Visual Mode makes it easy to check at a glance by dividing by citation depth and year.

You can mark only the countries you want to review with the highlight. If you select ‘Citation Reference’, you can check the source of the citations, such as whether the document was identified during the examination or it was used in the trial, or it was written by the applicant.

▲wipsglobal.com> Citation analysis

  It’s Depth formatted. This format helps users to review by depth based on the root patent. If you select a patent box, you can see summary information of the selected patent- document number, application number, title, applicant, original IPC, representative claim, summary -. Double-click, you will be connected to the ‘View Detail’ page. It would be very useful when examining all prior art documents, such as invalidity search or researching the application trend of the relevant technology.

▲wipsglobal.com> Citation analysis

 In addition, there’s ‘Self-citations’ which cites your own patents (documents with the same applicant's name) and ‘Non-self citations’ which other applicants cited.

By self-citation, you can understand the strategic patent application status for the company's technology, and by Non-self citations, you can identify companies that are using or planning to use the technology commercially.

  So far we looked at WIPS Global’s Citation Analysis features. Citation of patents is one of the important indicators of various research and valuations. Please try it to understand the patent value of your company and your competitors, and to set up an infringement potential and avoidance strategy.

 

 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

※ References

1. "The method find powerful patent or patent information analysis system using patent citation analysis" by Jae-Bok Yoo, Young-Mee Chung

Proceedings of the Korean Information Science Society Conference, 2005.07b (July 1, 2005): 169-171

2. "Analysis of factors influencing patent citations" by JaeHeon Lee, Infoclue corp.

Journal of the Korean Society for Information Management 27, no. 1 (Mar. 1, 2010): 103-18. 

[International Briefing] US, UK

 

 

US

USPTO (U.S. Patent and Trademark Office) has launched PPUBS, a new patent open search service that replaces the existing four patent search systems

 On September 20, 2022, the USPTO announced that they’d officially release a new 'Patent Public Search (PPUBS)' service that replaces the four existing search tools provided for patent searches.

On February 1, 2022, the USPTO announced a new search tool that provides more convenient, remote access, and full-text search capabilities for all U.S. patents and published patent applications.

After the announcement, the USPTO operated the new search tool ‘PPUBS’ and the existing system at the same time, and as of September 30, 2022, the existing system was officially shut down and converted to a new system.

The USPTO's new system, PPUBS, was first unveiled in a press release in February, and as of September 30, it is said to completely replace the four existing search tools attached below.

(1) Public-Examiner's Automated Search Tool (PubEAST)

• PubEAST is an examiner search tool for published patents, which was only available at USPTO offices and related centers, but was made public through PPUBS's new website.

(2) Public-Web-based Examiner’s Search Tool (PubWEST)

∙ PubWEST is a web-based examiner search tool, which is available only for USPTO offices and related centers like PubEAST, but it was integrated into PPUBS.

(3) Patent Full-Text and Image Database (PatFT)

∙ PatFT is an open system that searches all documents and images of patents registered in the USPTO. As it was integrated into PPUBS, the existing service was discontinued.

(4) Patent Application Full-Text and Image Database (AppFT)

∙ AppFT is an open system that searches patents filed after March 2001, and as it was integrated into PPUBS, the existing service was discontinued.

▲ ppubs.uspto.gov

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 UK

 

UK Intellectual Property Office announced, Examining patent applications relating to artificial intelligence (AI) inventions: The Guidance

▲ clipartkorea.co.kr

 On September 22, 2022, the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) published the enhanced guidance 'Examining patent applications relating to artificial intelligence (AI) inventions'. 1)

This guideline describes the examination practices of the UKIPO to assist the examination of patent applications for AI inventions. It also briefly mentions the sufficiency requirements for AI inventions. Various scenarios (how AI inventions work, examples of patent claims, etc.)2) are provided as attachments.

There is no single agreed-upon definition of AI, but the UK government defines AI as “technologies with the ability to perform tasks that would otherwise require human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, and language translation”.3)

 ∙ AI inventions can be filed in any technical field, and patent protection might be sought for various aspects of AI inventions (‘applied AI’ or ‘core AI’).

∙ ‘Applied AI’ invention applies AI techniques to fields other than AI, and ‘Core AI’ invention does not specify any application or use-case for its AI features, but defines an advance in the field of AI itself (e.g., improved AI models, algorithms or mathematical method).

 

▲ Table of Contents for ‘Examining patent applications relating to 

artificial intelligence (AI) inventions: The Guidance’

1) Original source of this guidance :

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/examining-patent-applications-relating-to-artificial-intelligence-ai-inventions/examining-patent-applications-relating-to-artificial-intelligence-ai-inventions-the-guidance

2) Original source of this scenario :

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/examining-patent-applications-relating-to-artificial-intelligence-ai-inventions/examining-patent-applications-relating-to-artificial-intelligence-ai-inventions-the-scenarios

3) Original source of this definition :

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/examining-patent-applications-relating-to-artificial-intelligence-ai-inventions/examining-patent-applications-relating-to-artificial-intelligence-ai-inventions-the-guidance#what-is-an-ai-invention

 

  

< Original source of this post >

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