In praise of: Percy Julian

Chemist Percy Julian was like an alchemist with soybeans. He developed a soybean-derived foam that was used to put out fires during World War II. At Glidden Company, he developed a soy-based coating for papers, textiles, and paints that was much less expensive than the casein that had been used prior. He derived sterols from soybeans, which singnificantly reduced the cost of cortisol treatments for those suffering from arthritis.

He also took breaks from soybeans to develop other important developments: a drug treatment for glaucoma and synthesized progesterine and testosterone, to name two.

Despite his genius, Dr. Julian had a difficult time getting into school; after he managed to finish school at the head of his class, he had a hard time finding a job.

Dr. Julian was born in 1899 in Montgomery, Alabama, only two generations removed from slaves. (His grandfather, who had been a slave, lost two fingers when his captors realized that he could write.) Because of his race, Julian attended a private school with poorer resources than the local white-only schools. When he was admitted to De Paw Unitersity, he was admitted as a "sub-freshman" and had to take high school calsses alongside his college classes. Four years later, in 1920, he graduated valedictorian of his class.

Though he finished his program at the top of his class, Dr. Julian's attempts to enter graduate school were denied because of his race. He took a position at Fisk University, a Historically Black College in Nashville; after two years teaching, he was awarded a fellowship to earn his masters degree at Harvard. Again, though his studies were successful at Harvard, he was denied the chance to continue his work because of his race.

This pattern would continue for much of his career as a chemist. After Harvard, he taught at West Virginia College for Negroes, then Howard University. He was awarded a fellowship to earn his Ph.D. at the University of Vienna, then returned as a professor to Howard and then De Pauw, but he couldn't get a tenured position. He turned to private industry and, after being rejected for a position at Appleton, Wisconsin-based Institute of Paper Chemistry because of his race, he took a position at Glidden Company. After acheiving success and recognition at Glidden, he founded his own Julian Laboratories, which he sold to Smith, Kline, and French in 1964. Though retired, he continued to publish and direct projects until his death in 1975.

Dr. Julian's accomplishments stand on their own, but the challenges he faced because of his race -- the professional challenges, being denied entry into professional conferences at segregated halls, a 1950 arson attack of his home, to name a few -- are truly phenominal. Recognition of this has come slowly, but his fascinating life is finally being celebrated. After being denied admission into the National Inventors Hall of Fame four consecutive years, he was inducted in 1990.

Most of the information in this post came from James Michael Brodie's Created Equal: The Lives and Ideas of Black American Innovators, which you can find at the Main Library's (fellow blogger) African American Center and a few other locations.

Julian was also the subject of a recent PBS movie Percy Julian: Forgotten Genius, also available from the library.

In Praise of: George Carruthers

Judging by his bio at the National Inventor's Hall of Fame, George Carruthers is one those rare people who find a vocation at an early age, stick with it, and achieved great success.

Dr. Carruthers was born in Cincinnati and moved to Chicago's South Side when he was 12. He built his first telescope when he was 10; he enjoyed reading about science and visiting local museums throughout his youth.

At the University of Illinois, Dr. Carruthers received a B.S. in Aeronautical Engineering, a masters in Nuclear Engineering, and a doctorate in aeronautical and astronautical engineering. In 1964 he began his long career with the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington D.C., an agency whose post-war activities included pioneering space research.

It was in this capacity that Dr. Carruthers filed and was granted patent number 3,478,216 for an Image Converter for Detecting Electro-Magnetic Radiation Especially in Short Wavelengths. The patented technology was the basis for a camera used on the Apollo 16 mission to record the Earth's hydrogen atmosphere. The camera allowed scientists to study part of the Earth's atmosphere that extends too far out for vessels in Earth's orbit to study. In his own words:

"What we had proposed to do was set up a camera on the surface of the moon to observe the Earth and study its hydrogen atmosphere, which extends out to many thousands of miles. Even the space station and the shuttle can't get far enough away to really study the higher atmosphere."

Read more about Dr. Carruthers online at the National Inventors Hall of Fame and in these features from MIT and University of Buffalo.

If you're up for visiting the Main Library, check out Black Inventors from Africa to America by C.R. Gibbs, the book I consulted for much of the information in this post. The book can be found in the African American Center, which is a terrific collection of in-library-use materials that serves as an introduction to African American and African history and culture throughout the Black Diaspora.

The African American Center has recently launched a top-notch blog called Habari Gani that I highly recommend. Have a look at http://habariganisfpl.blogspot.com/.

SURF IP -- International patent searching from Singapore's IP office

The Intellectual Property Office of Singapore offers a free online intellectual property search tool that could be a real time-saver for quick IP searches.

SURF IP is a portal that allows searchers to send a simple keyword search or an IPC classification search across several countries' patent databases. Though the searches are not comprehensive (they're limited to the parameters of a basic search at a given database; searches at the USPTO, for instance, are limited to post-1976 patents), the interface is easy to understand and the results display clearly. I would recommend this tool for casual patent searchers -- people interested in getting an idea about developments in an area of technology, for instance -- and as a supplement to espacenet.

I used the example of a Frisbee to try out SURF IP:

1. To determine an IPC code for flying discs, I looked up "discus" in the Index to the USPC. The Index referred me to US class 482/21.
2. Using the USPC to IPC8 Concordance, I translated the US class to IPC code A63B.
   
3. Finally, I clicked on the IPC Search tab at SURF IP and entered my search term. You can choose to search all available databases or any combination of one or more of those databases; I searched all and got a nice list of results that matched my IPC code.

It's nice to have another free patent search tool on the block!

A new edition of Patent Searching Made Easy

Last spring Nolo Press released the fifth edition of David Hitchcock's Patent Searching Made Easy, a venerable and reliable guide to conducting a prior art search. Hitchcock's book fills a large, PTDL-shaped gap in the popular patent search literature by including explanations of library resources including CASSIS and WEST. Also look here for tips for basic and advanced searching at USPTO's free PatFT and AppFT databases, an explanation of classification searching techniques and the Index to USPC, free non-USPTO search resources available online, and non-patent prior art sources. Illustrations and examples abound; appendices include examples of a classification search sheet and a nifty visualization tool for brainstorming index terms for a classification search.

We've got several copies here at the Main Library, plus some in various branches. This book is highly recommended for anyone interested in learning how to conduct a thorough patent search.

Prop 8 controversy branches into IP

Intellectual property has become the latest legal battleground in the fight over gay marriage.

The Chronicle's Scavenger blog reported last week that Protect Marriage, a group defending the legality of a 2008 amendment to the California constitution banning same sex marriage, is suing Courage Campaign, a non-profit organization that supports gay and lesbian marriage, for trademark infringement.

Courage Campaign slightly adapted Protect Marriage's logo for use on a website that publishes coverage and commentary about the Federal court case challenging 2008 ballot initiative Proposition 8.

The original logo used restroom sign iconography to depict a man and a woman holding up a banner over some small figures, presumably representing children. Courage Campaign altered the logo so that both of the larger figures were wearing dresses.

Let's have a look at the logos. Here is the original from Protect Marriage:

And here is the adapted logo used for the Courage Campaign's Proposition 8 Trial Tracker:

While the spirit of this dispute clearly goes beyond intellectual property and is thus outside the scope of this blog, the facts illustrate the role that parody plays in determining fair use of protected material.

The Sacremento Bee quoted the ruling of the judge who denied Protect Marriage's motion to stop Courage Campaign's use of the mark:

The judge ruled that Courage Campaign's "use of the mark is protected under the First Amendment, in that the use is relevant to an expressive parody and … is not explicitly misleading."

Although fair use is notoriously hard to define, parody has long been considered a worthy "transformative" use of copyrighted material. Here's how Richard Stim defines parody in Nolo's Getting Permission (via Stanford Copyright and Fair Use Center):

A parody is a work that ridicules another, usually well-known work, by imitating it in a comic way. Judges understand that by its nature, parody demands some taking from the original work being parodied. Unlike other forms of fair use, a fairly extensive use of the original work is permitted in a parody in order to "conjure up" the original.

It's about time we had an intellectual property controversy more interesting that someone suing Apple or the RIAA suing someone!

There's a new patent and trademark blogger on the block

USPTO Director David Kappos has joined the blogosphere with his innovative "Director's Forum" blog.

Kappos seems like a serious guy, and it looks like he's keeping up his end of the Obama administration's promise of a more transparent and engaged government by posting candid and thoughtful pieces about the administration of the USPTO. Comments are enabled and posts seem to come up about once a week or so.

Join the conversation by visiting http://www.uspto.gov/blog/. It might just be your new favorite IP blog.

USPTO classes to help with your NY resolutions

Happy New Year! It is that time of year where many of us face up to our holiday excesses and resolve to improve our habits at the outset of the new year.

If you stretch your imagination, you can see that patents and New Year's resolutions have a lot in common -- both represent a step in the direction of progress, a promise of an improved state of being. (Not to mention the not-so-great success rates.)

This year, to improve on that chance of success, I recommend taking inspiration from the designers, scientists, engineers, and home tinkerers whose hard work towards technological innovations has led to improvements in quality of life for many of us.

Like any responsible librarian, I'm a die-hard classification searching advocate, so let's take a look at some classes and subclasses that address common resolutions:

Lose weight/get in shape
Class 482 Exercise Devices

The CDC recommends that adults exercise for at least 30 minutes each day. Dip into 482 to check out what people have done to develop exercise equipment that is safe and effective.

Travel more
Class 206 Special Receptacle or Package

Traveling is a great way to broaden cultural knowledge and a very respectable resolution. Before you pack your bags, have a look through Class 206, particularly under Subclass 278. Maybe there's a suitcase in there that will change the way we pack!

Keep better tabs on finances/pay bills on time/get out of debt
Class 705 Data Processing: Financial, Business Practice, Management, or Cost/Price Determination

Though the future of business method patents is a little unclear after the Bilski decision, you'll still find plenty of financial planning methods listed under Subclass 35 of Class 705. It's a brave new world! Of course, if you want to stick to paper and pen, check out fabulous file cabinet designs under Class D06 (Furnishings), particularly under Subclass 432.

Quit smoking
Class 546 Organic Compounds? Class 514 Drug, Bio-Affecting, Body Treating Compounds?

This one's tricky, and not just because there are a bunch of different ways to quit smoking. No, this one's tricky because I've never been too hot at chemistry. However, it's very possible nicotine replacement therapies fall under one of these categories. Just tell yourself that you'll have a cigarette as soon as you find it. By the time you do, you'll have broken the habit. Oh, and maybe chew some gum, which you'll likely find under 426 Food or Edible Material.

Here's wishing you the best of luck on your New Year's resolutions. Whether or not you find inspiration in the patent files, know that I like you just the way you are.

Happy New Year!