Like physical property, intellectual property must be protected. In order to protect intellectual property, laws have been enacted that give business owners the exclusive right to use the intellectual property they own. While these laws must be tough enough to protect business concepts, they cannot be so restrictive to quash the formation of new intellectual property or new ideas, products and services.
In an effort to spur the creation of new intellectual property, New Jersey’s own Princeton University has created the Intellectual Property Accelerator Fund. This fund awards grants to nine different proposals for new advancements in a number of fields. These included research to develop new patents in engineering, physics and molecular biology. The grants are between $50,000 and $100,000 this year.
Some of the new technology created in this year’s proposals included a tattoo that helps to detect and wirelessly report harmful bacteria on human bodies. The tattoo is applied either to a person’s skin or tooth and has silk antennae. The tattoo fades after about 24 hours. Due to this grant the professor who has developed this technology can begin to bring it into the global marketplace.
Another patent created by this project involves a new honeycomb design for fiber-optic cables. This new design helps computers and the internet become faster and more efficient by creating more flexible pathways.
Without laws protecting this intellectual property, others could profit it from it — essentially stealing from those with the ideas. Instead, these innovators have the protections they need to create this technology without fear and the ability to make it profitable in the future.
Source: The Times of Trenton, “Disease-sensing tattoos? Princeton’s ‘Intellectual Property Accelerator Fund’ fuels innovation,” Bridget Clerkin, Feb. 7, 2013