Keith, I think stories of this underscore the broken nature of the patent process. The technology is fraught full of this. Amazon.com patented the "one click" checkout. Now, if you distill your e-business site down to one click you are infringing on their patent. Thus, you don't have to invent anything, just be the first at the patent office with a process no matter how fundamental or natural it may be.
It will be interesting with transesterfication since it's a well documented chemical process. I would venture it would not hold up in court and thus, if someone tried to sue, the biodiesel community would get together and attempt to fight it since a ruling would effectively impact all producers. On Friday, April 27, 2007 1:21 PM, Keith Addison wrote: >I'd appreciate some opinions on this, if anyone would like to comment. > >Just to stir it up a bit, a somewhat ridiculous small company in >Japan called Someya Shoten which feels it leads the world in matters >biodiesel took out a patent on transesterification some years ago. > >So is Ben Gurion University infringing on Someya Shoten's patent? > >Or is the whole thing preposterous, since transesterification was >invented/discovered about 150 years ago and is thoroughly in the >public domain no matter who decides to patent it, and no matter which >dumb patent office that doesn't check anything decides to grant the >patent? > >Would the best advice to the Sahel group be to ignore it and just get >on with it? > >Has anybody patented the human nose yet, or failing that, the air >noses breathe? > >All best > >Keith > > >>I had this email from a group working with biodiesel in the Sahel. If >>it's true, it seems ridiculous to me. >> >>See: >>http://www.wipo.int/pctdb/en/ia.jsp?IA=IL2006000622&REF=RSS >>(WO/2006/126206) PRODUCTION OF BIODIESEL FROM BALANITES AEGYPTIACA >> >>Best >> >>Keith >> >> >> >Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2007 11:20:52 +0200 >> >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >> >Subject: Fw: patent for transesterification of oil to Biodiesel >> >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >> > >> >----- Original Message ----- >> >From: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>[EMAIL PROTECTED] >> >To: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>[EMAIL PROTECTED] >> >Cc: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>[EMAIL PROTECTED] >> >Sent: Monday, April 23, 2007 11:16 AM >> >Subject: patent for transesterification of oil to Biodiesel >> > >> >Dear Sirs, >> > >> >We are supporting NGO 's and cooperatives in Afrika, >> >there is a big need to produce oil from all possible plants, nuts , >> >seeds of any other vegetable origine , for human consumption or for >> >producing energie. >> >One of the NGO ' s in the Sahel-region helps the local population to >> >organise the collecting of the fruits and nuts >> >to improve their oil production from the nuts of the Balanites tree. >> >The Balanites tree is very popular by the population , the fruits >> >are sweet amere but the juice is used as a drink and sold to the >> >town , the nuts are very hard and inside, the kernel contains 40 to >> >48% of oil. >> >Sometimes the used as lamp-oil. >> >The whole tree is very interesting for public health , on >> >internet is a lot of information about that. >> >The NGO will make the use as lamp-oil better by transesterification >> >to obtain biodiesel that the should burn in >> >small diesel cookingoven ,so that they don't have to use the wood , >> >which is one of the biggest problem in this region. >> >Further the don't have electricity , the have diesel generator , >> >but the irrigularity in delivery and the high prices of gasoil makes >> >it to difficult in using them all the time. >> > >> > >> >The problem : >> > >> >There is a pattent on "the invention" to make biodiesel from >> >BALANITES OIL .(WO/2006/126206) dated november 2006 by the BEN >> >GORION UNIVERSITY >> > >> > >> >Please can you inform us, Is it possible to take a patent on the >> >transesterification process of oil to produce Biodiesel? >> > >> >Is this ALL Patent possible? >> > >> >Is this NEW and what is new on this invention? >> > >> >Is this not in contradiction with statements of many Organisations - >> >World Wide - for the devellopment of POOR COUNTRIES , >> > >> >Thanks for your attention >> > >> >we remain with kind regards >> > >> >marc van de velde >> >Leningstraat 19 >> >2140 ANTWERP >> >Belgium >> > >> > >> >production and office in POLAND >> ><mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>[EMAIL PROTECTED] >> > >> >> >>_______________________________________________ >>Biofuel mailing list >>Biofuel@sustainablelists.org >>http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org >> >>Biofuel at Journey to Forever: >>http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html >> >>Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): >>http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/ > > >_______________________________________________ >Biofuel mailing list >Biofuel@sustainablelists.org >http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org > >Biofuel at Journey to Forever: >http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html > >Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): >http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/ > _______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
