The Inventor - Ucla Fall 08

Volume 1, Issue 1

Table of Contents

Invention Highlight: NanoPacific Holdings, Inc.

Now Available: Inventor’s Portal

2

Industry Sponsored Research Dr. Kang Wang’s WIN-ing Formula

2

Technology Transfer Internships for UCLA Students

2

Meet the Staff– Emily Loughran

3

Newly Issued UCLA Patents for 4th Quarter FY2007-2008

3

Open Source Software– Is There Such a Thing as Free Lunch?

4

Thinking About Using OSS? Points to Consider

4

Things to Come...

4

Subscribe/ Contact Us

4

Tip of the Quarter REMEMBER TO DISCLOSE BEFORE YOU PUBLISH Any public disclosure, such as publishing a paper, posting results to a public website, or presenting findings at a conference sets the one-year limitation for filing US patent applications, and precludes foreign patent applications. It is advised that inventors discuss the status of their discoveries with their Tech Transfer Officer before submitting a paper or abstract. To protect your idea, complete an invention report form at: www.research.ucla.edu/oip under the “Faculty” link.

Chemotherapy is often looked at the death of healthy cells. with dread and trepidation because of The nanoparticles work by rethe numerous and well-known side ef- leasing small drug molecules when fects. NanoPacific Holdings, Inc. is hop- needed through nanoscale gates in its ing that a new invention will alleviate porous surface. Since the surface of the the suffering of cancer patients and lead nanoparticles can be designed to idento other technological tify and locate specific cells, breakthroughs as well. Nanoparticles were when used as a cancer treatThe licensed technoldesigned to find ment, drug toxicity and other ogy from UCLA being side effects are lessened. used by NanoPacific cancer cells while Holdings is nanoparti- ignoring other cells While groundbreaking for cancer patients seeking relief from cle based. within the body. harsh treatments, NanoPacific The FDA has Holdings also envisions expanda l r e a d y a p p r o v e d t h e u s e o f ing the use of this technology outside “chemotherapeutic agents” to treat can- the realm of medicine. Because of its cer. Unlike current chemotherapy treat- simplicity, when the nanoparticle techments which attack all cells, good and nology is applied to other fields, it holds bad, and often leave cancer patients promise for areas as diverse as food weakened, these new nanoparticles products, cosmetics, construction and were designed to find cancer cells while defense. NanoPacific’s chairman and coignoring other cells within the body. chief executive officer, Joseph Boystak Since the nanoparticles are mechanically says that, “we intend to prioritize and based, once they have found cancerous aggressively pursue multiple applications cells, they are able to release cancer in the medical, consumer, environmental drugs directly to the cells, thus avoiding and industrial sectors.”

Kathryn’s Korner Welcome to the first issue of The Inventor, a quarterly newsletter from the Office of Intellectual Property and Industry Sponsored Research. This publication is intended to provide UCLA faculty and students with news and information about the world of intellectual property. Whether you have a patent on file with us, or are simply interested in the development of industry relationships within the University, you will find a wealth of information within these short pages. UCLA strives to be a leader in the world of intellectual property. However, success can only come through the hard work of faculty and their associates. We seek to highlight and educate the public and UCLA campus on the resources that can help inventors to succeed. Sincerely, Kathryn Atchison, D.D.S., M.P.H. Vice Provost, Intellectual Property and Industry Relations Associate Vice Chancellor for Research

Volume 1, Issue 1

Now Available: Inventor’s Portal

Industry Sponsored Research Dr. Kang Wang’s WIN-ing Formula

UCLA manages 1,500 active inventions, including more than 630 U.S. and foreign patents. More than 400 UCLA inventions have been licensed to companies.

With a name bound for success, the Western Institute of Nanoelectronics, WIN for short, is breaking ground by working in the field of the very small. Thanks to the efforts of WIN’s Director Dr. Kang Wang, an engineering professor at UCLA since 1979, the lab maintains a unique focus on nanoscience technology, specifically spintronics.

The Inventor Portal was developed to allow faculty to go to a secure website 24/7 to review the status of their inventions. This includes information on where an invention stands in the patent application process, the licensing status, and who manages the invention. Faculty inventors can logon to the Portal at http:// inventor.research.ucla.edu through the standard UCLA login id and password.

Principle Investigators as well as representatives from industry to make sure goals are met.

Dr. Wang states that WIN confronted the problem that “current complimentary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) standards cannot function at a size any smaller than their current incarnation.” Studying the innovations of spintronics and utilizing the energy proWIN includes researchers at UC Los Angeles, “We are talking about an duced by the spinning of UC Berkeley, UC Santa Bar- unprecedented opportu- electrons can potentially bara and Stanford along nity to help define a tech- lead to reducing both the power consumption and with 10 researchers from six industry sponsors who all nology that can exploit size of new technology. He contribute to the develop- the idiosyncrasies of the also states that “with this new institute, we are talkment of spintronics. In addiquantum world” ing about an unprecetion to this manpower, WIN’s dented opportunity to help funding source includes a substantial commitment from those six in- define a technology that can exploit the idiodustry sponsors and a matching UC Discov- syncrasies of the quantum world to provide ery Grant (http://ucdiscoverygrant.org/), key improvements over existing technologies.” which matches the company contribution. The goal of WIN is to find a solution As Director and an expert in the field of nanotechnology and semiconductors, to semiconductor size restrictions by 2020. Wang serves as the liaison between the uni- Chief Operating Officer, Dr. Kos Galatsis versity partners, working closely with other

See “Wang”, Continued on Page 4

Technology Transfer Internships for UCLA Students Since 2005, the Office of Intellectual Property and Industry Sponsored Research (OIP-ISR), has offered a paid summer internship program. OIP-ISR looks for interns with graduate student backgrounds in the Life Sciences or Physical Sciences/Engineering, or MBA students and Law students who are interested in learning about commercializing technology and intellectual property, or to supplement their science backgrounds with business and marketing experience. Summer interns review invention disclosures, write nonconfidential summaries, and create company marketing lists which are all used to help find potential industry licensees for faculty inventions. Interns also have the opportunity to shadow licensing officers during faculty inventor meetings and are offered career development seminars. “This internship is an excellent idea for graduate students, like myself, who want to move into the business of science while still keeping ties to the cutting edge research coming out of academia” says Melissa Moore, Ph.D. candiInterns for the Office of Intellectual Property: Brian Shedd, Amy date for Molecular and Medical Pharmacology. Hayden, Melissa Moore, and Pamela Douglas. Students interested in applying for future summer internship positions, should start sending their completed applications (resume, mock non-confidential summary, and cover letter) to OIP-ISR during the UCLA Winter quarter. There are also volunteer intern opportunities throughout the year. For more information, visit the OIP-ISR website at www.research.ucla.edu/oipa/interns.

Volume 1, Issue 1

Meet the Staff– Emily Loughran Director of Licensing for the Office of Intellectual Property and Industry Sponsored Research While completing an MBA at USC, Emily Loughran’s unusual undergrad background in science caused a career counselor to suggest that she pursue a job in technology transfer. That suggestion lead to the City of Hope Hospital where Emily began her work in this new and relatively unknown field. It was a major natural disaster that brought Emily Loughran into UCLA’s Technology Transfer Office. The now famous Northridge earthquake 14 years ago wreaked havoc on the southland and sent Emily looking for a new job.

everything from marketing to licensing and has seen the office go through major restructuring. Previously, each Technology Transfer Officer (TTO) was responsible for managing things “from the cradle to the grave.” Within the last eight years, the specialization of different groups within the office has created an environment that frees TTOs to spend more time building relationships with faculty and industry while focusing on their areas of expertise. As Emily attests, this change has been “very beneficial and productive” for the office and the community it serves. Emily and her TTOs like to work closely with each of their PIs. “The more involved the faculty are in the marketing process, the better the outcome; they are often the best source of marketing leads.”

From a (literally) shaky beginning, Emily has helped to create a solid foundation within the office that allows and even encourages a spirit of collaboration between officers and faculty members. Emily’s focus and emphasis on faculty involvement insures that faculty voices are being heard and that dialogues can arise to help with the continued success of Today, as the Director of Licensing, Emily oversees bringing an idea from inception to production.

Newly Issued UCLA Patents for 4th Quarter, FY2007-2008 Case No.

Invention Title

2000-093 Synergism Between Proton Pump Inhibitors and a GI Peptide in Reducing Acid Secretion

Inventors

School Department

Patent No

Joseph R Pisegna

MED

MED

7,365,047

Ichiro Nishimura and Cortino Sukotjo

DEN

Den

7,365,175

2005-180 Lower Power Magnetic Random Access Memory Using the Effect of Hole-Mediated Ferromagnetism

Alexander Khitun and Kang L. Wang

SEAS

ELEC ENGR

7,366,011

2004-328

Simox Fabrication Process

Prakash Koonath and Koichiro Kishima

SEAS

ELEC ENGR

7,368,359

2003-059

Compact Wavelength-Selective Optical Crossconnect

Ming Chiang Wu

SEAS

ELEC ENGR

7,373,037

Alexander Khitun and Kang L. Wang

SEAS

ELEC ENGR

7,372,306

Susan J Harkema, Keith Gordon, Bjorn Svendesen, and Sam El-Alami

MED

NEURO

7,381,163

William M Pardridge and Ruben J. Boado

MED

MED-ENDO

7,388,079

2001-194

Nucleotide Sequence Used In Preventive Therapies for Wound Contraction and Fibrosis

2005-020 Method of Achieving Artificial Stability in Systems with Resonant Tunneling Diodes by Applying Fast Excitations 2002-014

Closed-Loop Force Controlled Body Weight Support System

2003-078 Cloning and Sequencing of Human Insulin Receptor Monoclonal Antibody Genes 2003-201

Adaptive Multi-Bit Delta and Sigma-Delta Modulation

Ali H. Sayed and Mansoor A. Aldajani

SEAS

ELEC ENGR

7,391,350

2003-472

Zeroeth Order Resonator

Tatsuo Itoh, Atsushi Sanada, and Christophe Caloz

SEAS

ELEC ENGR

7,391,288

Volume 1, Issue 1

Open Source SoftwareIs There Such a Thing as a Free Lunch? Open Source Software (OSS) is software that does not charge a license fee to use it, and the source code remains “open” or available to use, change, improve, and redistribute in a modified or unmodified form. The low cost and availability of its code separates OSS from Proprietary Software (PS) which usually requires a license fee to acquire and restricts access to source code. OSS can be a practical choice for many software applications. OSS is used at UCLA for some applications including the campus course management system, Moodle. There are many other applications running in different labs and many students also use OSS. The primary advantage of OSS is cost, but atready access to source code also allows many developers to review and improve the source code, potentially producing more robust, less bugprone software.

costs. Of greater concern to the university are the provisions of some OSS licenses that include statements about liability and may reach into inventions made at UCLA or other UC campuses. These potential risks can generally be managed through the careful review of the copyright license.

Many people see the use of OSS as a philosophical choice that is in keeping with the University’s mission. To that end, many faculty and students have created their own OSS licensed products that they want to release for public benefit. Care should be used when releasing software and in the selection of an OSS license since you may be giving up rights that you do not intend. UCLA’s Office of Information Technology, Purchasing, and the Office of Intellectual Property are available to help you to review the license and help faculty, administrators, staff, and students make informed While a free license may seem decisions about OSS products. like a great deal, the use of OSS is not Have an opinion on OSS? always free. For example, OSS prod- Send your comments to Robin Faria at ucts may have higher maintenance [email protected]. costs, service fees, or implementation

Thinking About Using OSS? Points to Consider: •

Software is a form of intellectual property and legal risks associated with license violations are similar for both Open Source Software and Proprietary Software

•

Speak with your IT Manager if you would like to bring OSS into your department

•

If you plan to use OSS within software you are developing and you are being sponsored by industry, OSS license terms may conflict with terms of your industry funding. Please contact your Contracting Officer to make sure there are no problematic terms and conditions to the OSS license

•

If using OSS as part of a program you intend to license and sell, be aware of whether a product’s license allows it to be developed into and sold as part of a proprietary product

•

Contact the Copyright Officer, Kat Fibiger, at [email protected] if you have questions or would like to release or develop OSS

Things to Come...

Wang, Continued

Coming soon to the Office of Intellectual Property (OIP) website is an interactive way to submit Incoming and Outgoing Material Request Forms online. Working with the Office of Research Information Systems, OIP has developed online request forms that are accessible and easy-to-use. These forms will help the Material Transfer Agreement officers facilitate the process for PIs and expedite processing through the office.

states, “WIN’s spintronic based projects hold great promise in going beyond CMOS”- a huge leap ahead in the realm of nanotechnologies.

Once available online, OIP will provide an educational seminar for PIs and their staff. Please continue to check www.research.ucla.edu/oip for the official launch of the online submission forms.

WIN has the potential to propel semiconductor technology out of its current limitations and into smaller, faster, and more efficient models. Because of its multi-industry and multi-university conglomeration of talent and resources, WIN is ready to become a major economic benefit to California, helping to establish the state as a premier location for nanoscale technologies. In addition, following WIN’s example, other researchers can begin to look at the combination of industry funding and UC Discovery Grants as a viable source of capital for future projects of any size.

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Publisher: Kathryn A. Atchison

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Executive Editor: Robin Faria

www.research.ucla.edu/oip If you would like to be on the mailing list for future newsletters, please email Robin Faria at [email protected].

Contributing Editor: Helen Liu Graphic Design: Ann Hu With special thanks to: Bob Nidever

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