When a chemist thinks about a patent, they typically think about an invention or a chemical solution that solves a problem. We are thinking about new polymers, drugs for cancer or a new measurement device. Our thinking can become murkier as many confuse the patenting of an implementation with an idea. In general, my ACS colleagues generally think about utility patents. These are granted to anyone who invents or discovers a new, useful, and non-obvious process, machine, article of manufacture, or composition of matter, or new and useful improvement. Thus, it is surprisingly hard to think about the huge number of patents covering a cell phone. How can it contain so many non-obvious ideas? Thinking only about the physical invention can blind us to the number of patents involved with making this physical invention do something useful.
As a chemical example, epinephrine is a relatively cheap compound. Using manual injection mechanisms for people with severe allergic reactions has proved to be problematic for the untrained. In 2008, the epinephrine auto-injector device was patented. Once the device is patented, its ergonomic features are eligible for patent protection. After which, parents on the composition to allow pain-free and easy injections. Then you can add in a design with covers “new, original, and ornamental design embodied in or applied to an article of manufacture.” Thus, it is not the chemical, but a range of non-obvious inventions to make useable for the untrained in a stressful environment. Once one starts innovating, each change can lead to additional protection. The downside is that the number of patents led to increased pricing, but that is another issue.
Another example for chemist is the hardware for gas chromatography. One could identify about 20 or so critical patents on the specific hardware. Contrast this with the number of parents on the data analyses, which exceeds the hardware patents by orders of magnitude. Surprisingly, the number of patents for peak determination in a chromograph exceeds that of the device required to measure the chromograph. Thus, it is not the hardware, but a range of non-obvious inventions need to process and understand output. The use of the invention can generate more invention or patents than the invention itself. Case in point is the number of gas chromatography-based parents addressing environmental monitoring, food analysis, and metabolic disease screening.
Smartphones were mentioned at the start of this blub. How can a cell phone have so many non-obvious ideas? The goal here is to understand without judging if the number is beyond comprehension. The obvious reason is the competition. Indeed, there are a mind-numbing number of design patents on the look and feel. However, there is a more fundamental reason. The cell phone has evolved into a general-purpose computer with all the technology and innovations related to microchips, starting with the first Fairchild Semiconductor parent, which is in turn built on discreet devices. It is easily understood that the rapid increase in the number of semiconductor patents is related to the creation of a computer on a chip.
For any computer system, one needs connectivity, including USB, Bluetooth, and NFC. Each has a substantial number of parents related to the implementation. Then add the main purpose of these devices (besides social media), the wireless cell combination, which pulls in the complex cell-phase wireless communication for voice and data. Add again, cameras and battery technology. There is also a midride of technologies related to data compression, noise reduction and many other details. Cell phones are pulling inventions from an increasingly wide range of fields. As each field evolves and generates more patents, the number of patents on the final product skyrockets. Thus, maybe the crazy number of parents for a cell phone is not that crazy after all?
As chemists, we tend to think about isolated inventions. With the public, we focus on the first drug, the first measurement, or the first material to meet this specification. Once out of the lab, each innovation results in additional creations, resulting in a set of patents for that technology. With a modern product, these technologies combine, and the number of patents explodes. You never know how your invention will inspire other innovations and be combined with other technologies to create something protected by hundreds or more patents.