Posts Tagged: "dupont"

The Federal Circuit affirmed the rejection of several claims in a patent owned by Monsanto… Extrinsic evidence is permissible to interpret an allegedly anticipating references and to shed light on what it would have meant to a POSA. For purposes of inherent anticipation, recognition is not required within the prior art itself and need not antedate the patent at issue or have contemporaneous recognition by a POSA.

William Sparks and Robert Thomas were inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame earlier this year for inventing butyl rubber, which was patented on August 22, 1944. Starks and Thomas mixed Vistanex with a small amount of butadiene in a washing machine. When the spin cycle concluded they were left with the first batch of butyl rubber which the world has ever seen. Compared to other synthetic rubbers, butyl rubber offered a similar strength and flexibility to natural rubber. It could be used in low-temperature settings without cracking and its high impermeability to air and gases made it a good solution as an airtight sealant.

No one should get too used to seeing the name DowDuPont, however. Company executives plan on splitting DowDuPont into three separate companies, each with a specific industry focus. One will be a $19 billion company focused on the corporation’s combined properties in agricultural products, including fungicides, genetically modified seeds and herbicides. A $13 billion specialty products company will also be spun off to produce electronics materials, Kevlar, Tyvek, food additives and other biological products. The largest of the new companies, however, will be a $51 billion firm with a focus on construction materials, vinyl, packaging plastics and specialized chemicals for the automotive and pharmaceutical industries.

The Internet of Things has been lauded as a potential boon for crop production, including pest control. Automated IoT pest control systems have been developed by Spensa of West Lafayette, IN. Its Z-Trap unit is specifically designed for apple orchards to detect the levels of codling moths, one of the more common North American pests for apple trees. Z-Traps can be monitored remotely from a computer, Android or iPhone. This technology is also being developed to detect for Oriental fruit flies and obliquebanded leafrollers. Pest monitoring systems like this enable farmers to more effectively apply pesticides and hopefully reduce the amount of pesticide used on plants.

It looks like DuPont is busy trying to find ways to pay back investors so that the corporation can keep one group in particular from forcing a corporate split to break away from what those investors see as unprofitable business activities. The challenge is being waged by Trian Fund Management LP, an investment management firm headed up by Nelson Peltz. Trian and Peltz want DuPont to split into two separate ventures, one being a growth company with a focus on agriculture and nutrition products, the other a materials company which can provide more consistent dividends to shareholders. This would, however, put a wrench into certain DuPont activities meant to encourage innovation at the company, such as networking groups and rotation programs that allow DuPont’s 1,000 scientists and engineers to provide feedback from diverse fields, which sometimes lead to serendipitous innovation. This would have hindered, for instance, the development of the biobased polymer Hyrtrel RS, a material for air ducts and office furniture which incorporates plant materials.

DuPont is focused on a wide array of innovative technologies, many of which aren’t forefront in the consciousness of many people and publications following innovation. Currently, the company is accepting entries for its 2015 DuPont Packaging Awards, which the corporation boasts is the longest-running awards ceremony in that industry since its inception in 1986. As we’ll see below, DuPont is also invested in developing its own packaging solutions. Recent innovations in DuPont’s Kevlar products for sporting equipment should receive more attention with the company’s decision to sponsor the January 2015 X Games Aspen. DuPont also maintains a particular focus on plant science and recent developments have increased the offerings of DuPont Pioneer’s EncircaSM Yield Nitrogen Management Service, which helps corn and soybean growers by providing planting prescriptions for field management.