white paper - nanotechnology exploring the bigger picture

Nanotechnology: Exploring the bigger picture

Finding high value cross-functional applications

2016

Table of Contents

Pushing the boundaries with nanotechnology 3

Big definition for a small technology 5

Detailed segmentation to drive business decisions 9

Fuelling the Fourth Revolution 12

Conclusion 13

Fuel for the Fourth Revolution? At The World Economic Forum in Davos this year, top leaders and thinkers discussed the rise of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. This revolution is driven by trends such as artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles, 3D printing and robotics, amongst other areas. And, included on the list, is nanotechnology.1

The initial concept was mooted by the infamous physicist, Richard Feynman, in his 1959 lecture ‘There’s plenty of room at the bottom.’ During the lecture, Dr Feynman set a couple of interesting challenges, one of which being a method for scaling down letters, so that the entire Encyclopaedia Britannica might fit on a pin head. In fact, nanotechnology opens up so many possibilities, that we don’t even know yet what the full implications of it will be. As Dr Feynman said, “I think nature's imagination is so much greater than man's, she's never going to let us relax.” Nanotechnology impacts every aspect of our lives, from food packaging in the kitchen to telescopes in outer space. Inventions based on ‘nanotech’ exhibit different, often surprisingly enhanced properties or advantages. Some of these are being explored for renewable technologies, so nanotech really could unlock the fuel to drive the next revolution. The extraordinarily widespread application of the technology means that the innovation rate will remain healthy, with huge opportunities for the most imaginative minds, as new applications are explored. In this paper, we will investigate how IP analysis can be used to define and segment a market. We will demonstrate how IP landscapes can be used to discover new ideas and the most lucrative cross-functional applications or adjacent technology areas.

© 2016 All Rights Reserved 3

1 https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/01/the-fourth-industrial-revolution-what-it-means-and-how-to-respond/

Pushing the boundaries with nanotechnology

“I think nature's

imagination is so

much greater than

man's, she's never

going to let us relax.”

Nanotechnology everywhere Nanotechnology, the art of manipulating dimensions at an atomic or molecular level, first captured popular imagination in the late 1980s, following the publication of ‘Engines of Creation: The Coming Era of Nanotechnology,’ by Eric Drexler.

Fast forward to today, and we see nanotechnology solving many contemporary problems. A report appeared this month revealing how Dutch scientists have created memory for a storage device that writes information atom-by-atom.2 And it’s not just in the electronics industry that we will see nanotechnology taking hold, as it goes far beyond physics alone, finding countless applications in chemistry and biology as well. It is in this way that it will touch every corner of our lives.


2 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-36824902 3 https://theconversation.com/nanotechnology-could-make-our-food-tastier-and-healthier-but-can-we-stomach-it-60349 4 http://www.seeker.com/can-nanotechnology-turn-windows-into-solar-panels-1886389570.html 5 http://weill.cornell.edu/news/news/2016/07/researchers-develop-new-way-to-target-tumors-using-nanotechnology.html 6 http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/nasa-eyes-first-ever-carbon-nanotube-mirrors-for-cubesat-telescope

Pushing the boundaries with nanotechnology

Elsewhere, nanotechnology could find itself working its way into windows around the home. This could take the form of nanowires, which are invisible and can harvest both light and heat, making them more efficient than today’s solar cells.4

Across the sciences In healthcare, researchers are developing new ways of treating cancerous tumours, by using nanomedicine to target tumour blood vessels, so that the treatment drug is able to reach the tumour itself and kill cancer cells directly.5

In the home Around the home, we already find nanotechnology in places like the kitchen, where it’s used to create heat-resistant or self-cleaning surfaces. But we will find it entering our food as well. Seda Erdem is Lecturer in Economics at the University of Stirling, and has primarily been researching consumer preferences for nanotechnology in food packaging. But, in an article last month, she reports on scientists working on ‘culinary’ nanotechnology, “from food that tastes salty without the health risks of adding salt, to bread that contains healthy fish oil but without any fishy aftertaste.”3

And, beyond Earth, nanotechnology is finding a role in space exploration. In some of the most recent developments at NASA, scientists are exploring the first carbon nano-tube mirrors, which are lightweight, lower cost and - crucially - don’t require polishing.6

Wide range of uses for nanotech brings unique challenges

Some technology areas, in particular those that are science-driven, can pose significant challenges, especially if the consequences are far-reaching and not yet fully understood. Nanotechnology has been (and still is) one of those areas. It was born out of conceptual thinking, not limited to a single technology field and with the potential to change everything. In the world of IP, which works by neatly arranging technologies into specified categories, determined by an International Patent Classification (IPC) code, this is a problem. How do you slot such disruptive, all-embracing technology into a neat and orderly filing system? At the time, the European Patent Office dealt with it by introducing a whole new database tag (Y01N), explaining: “The interdisciplinary nature of the field means that anyone interested in literature on nanotechnology, especially existing patent documents, struggles to retrieve it from the databases available.”7 But, this separation didn’t provide an entirely satisfactory outcome either, so after a while, the classifications were revisited. Today, nanotechnology sits predominantly under the global IPC codes B82B and B82Y. The Y tag was discontinued. Back in the mid-2000s, excitement spread to investors. One article from 2006 asked whether the nanotechnology investment trend could be bigger than that of the Internet, pointing out that the National Science Foundation predicted a market value of $1 trillion within five years.8 Slowly, though, investors fell out of love with ‘nanotech.’ As Tech Investing Daily describes it: “The Merrill Lynch Nanotech Index quietly disappeared. Nanosys didn't conduct its IPO. Lux Capital's ‘Nanotech Report’ was shut down. Venture capital flowing to nanotech start-ups dried up.”9


Big definition for a small technology

7 http://www.epo.org/news-issues/issues/classification/nanotechnology.html 8 http://moneyweek.com/is-this-new-investment-trend-bigger-than-the-internet/ 9 http://www.techinvestingdaily.com/articles/white-house-calls-for-major-nanotech-initiative/763 10 http://www.nanalyze.com/2014/08/what-happened-to-the-lux-nanotech-index/

Lux Nanotech Index 2006 to 2016 (Source: Google Finance - Yahoo Finance - MSN Money)

Nanotech indices10 significantly

underperform compared to S&P 500

Index, leaving investors disappointed

Patent activity shows different trend

Investors may have turned away from nanotechnology, however the number of patents in the area went on to enjoy unprecedented growth, as shown on the chart below. The technology may not have hit the market with the big bang event investors were looking for. But it is gradually winding its way towards ever increasing commercial viability.



11 http://investingnews.com/daily/tech-investing/nanotech-investing/nanotechnology-future-outlook/

Vague definitions demand analytical approach

A technology with a broad definition is difficult to comprehend and evaluate, which makes nanotechnology a great example for this white paper. Repeatedly, investors have been warned that it is not an industry in itself, so, in the words of nanotech investment expert Anthony Vicari, “it’s like talking about a total market for metal and lumping together gold, steel, titanium and uranium.” 11

It is therefore important to be able to segment and define the market carefully when considering trends, and future market direction and prospects. IP analysis provides an extremely accurate way to define and then review emerging market segments that have not reached widespread market adoption. It provides insight into field-specific applications of an emerging technology space to reveal the direction of research.

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Investors go cold but innovation continues to climb (Number of patents, application and granted, IPC code B82Y)

Source: PatSnap Insights

Using IP analysis to form definitions and segments

One of the advantages of IP analysis is that many technologies have already been classified into representative groups - a good starting point for top-level segmentation, which then also provides a basis for breaking the market down into more specific areas afterwards. Here are the IPC codes12 covering nanotechnology and the proportion of activity that they accounted for in 2015:



12 http://www.epo.org/news-issues/issues/classification/nanotechnology.html

B82Y5 Nanobiotechnology or nano-medicine

B82Y10 Nanotechnology for information processing, storage and transmission

B82Y15 Nanotechnology for interacting, sensing and actuating

B82Y20 Nanotechnology for optics

B82Y25 Nanomagnetism

B82Y30 Nanotechnology for materials and surface science

B82Y35 Methods or apparatus for measurement or analysis of nanostructures

B82Y40 Manufacture or treatment of nanostructures

47%

39%

5%

3% 2% 2%

Nanotechnology for materials and surface science

Manufacture or treatment of nanostructures

Nanotechnology for optics

Nanobiotechnology or nano-medicine

Nanotechnology for interacting, sensing and actuating

Nanotechnology for information processing, storage and transmission

Nanomagnetism

Other


Patenting activity, by IPC code, 2015

Mapping the trends

Tracking the innovation trend over time is also worthwhile, in order to evaluate which areas are experiencing significant levels of growth. These expanding areas will need a high level of consideration when assessing cross-functional or adjacent technology opportunities.



In this example above, we can see that the two technology areas relating to nanomaterials and structures take the lion’s share of patents overall. Using IP analysis for more detailed insight

Although nanomaterials is the largest technology area identified here by IPC codes, this is still a broad definition and, furthermore, growth in the volume of patents does not always equate to areas with the most lucrative IP. Therefore, an analysis of an IP landscape that factors in quality metrics, such as value, will uncover far more detailed information about the prospects and opportunities within a given field.

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Other

Nanomagnetism

Nanotechnology for information processing, storage and transmission

Nanotechnology for interacting, sensing and actuating

Nanobiotechnology or nano-medicine

Nanotechnology for optics

Manufacture or treatment of nanostructures

Nanotechnology for materials and surface science

Share of patenting activity, by IPC code, 1997-2015


Quantity versus quality

While IPC codes provide a broad overview of categories, it has often come under criticism for not being detailed enough. As such, the Co-operative Patent Classification (CPC) system was introduced to provide better granularity. The system has at least 250,000 individual codes, compared to around 70,000 under the IPC system.13

By using these classifications to better segment the market within nanotechnology, it is also possible to run analyses to find out how patent values based on nanotechnology compare to the industry average in that area. For example, the graph below shows that there is premium value in all areas, with the exception of metallic elements. Nanotechnology innovation in semiconductor devices and energy conversion display the highest premium over their ‘non-nano’ counterparts.


Detailed segmentation to drive business decisions

13 https://worldwide.espacenet.com/help?topic=cpc&locale=en_EP&method=handleHelpTopic

0%

10%

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30%

40%

50%

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70%

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90%

100%

Nanotech Average

Industry Average

Average value of patent portfolios, proportionally, split by classification


Finding the money

If we plot the patents from the top CPC areas on a landscape, it emerges that semiconductor devices is by far the largest group among the top five, at 37%, followed by energy conversion at 17%, which matches the top two categories in terms of patent value as well. The white space between semiconductors and energy conversion could therefore yield some of the most valuable patents in the overall landscape.



14 http://www.nanowerk.com/nanotechnology-in-energy.php

Semiconductors and energy conversion

Further research into semiconductors and energy conversion confirms that there is indeed a great deal of activity in the academic world involving these technology areas, which backs up our theory. In particular, these technologies are particularly associated with solar panels. As one article in Nanowerk explains, the use of nano-structured semiconductors like quantum dots and wires could increase solar cell efficiencies by over 60%.14 Developments such as these pave the way for such things as nanowires in our windows to harvest solar energy, as touched upon in the introduction.

Importantly, this analysis shows how IP insight can be used to define, segment and then zone in on any technology area, regardless of its size, to discover those specific adjacent technology areas, within which some of the most lucrative applications are likely to be found.

Semiconductor devices 37%

Energy conversion

17%

Investigating materials

15%

Chemical processes 16%

Medical and dental preparations

15%

Could this area yield some of the most valuable patents?

Source: PatSnap Landscape

Focus on the right areas

Of course, it is important to verify findings and, for this purpose, a landscape that details all patents over a certain value can be plotted. In this case, all patents worth more than $2 million are shown on the map below.



IP for solar cells appears on $2 million+

patent landscape

Semiconductors, nanotubes and nano-capsules appear on this top value patent landscape, along with solar cell technology, as previously uncovered. If we wanted to forecast future market trends regarding the use of nanotechnology in the renewable energy sector - for example in order to make decisions about investment opportunities - this analysis, with its basis in IP, reveals that solar cell and thermoelectric conversion look to be in the strongest position to become the next major trend, ahead of nanotechnology’s use in other renewable sectors. That said, nanotechnology will play a significant role across all the various green energy sectors – and could even lead to entirely new ones.

Source: PatSnap Landscape


15 https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/07/160712073918.htm 16 http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1386&doc_id=281038 17 http://www.understandingnano.com/nanotechnology-energy.html 18 http://www.nanowerk.com/nanotechnology-in-energy.php 19 http://www.nanowerk.com/nanotechnology-news/newsid=43933.php

Fuelling the Fourth Revolution

Why nanotech for renewables?

Nanotechnology is ideally suited for the renewable energy sector, with a body of research showing how the technology can be used to improve energy generation, transmission, storage and consumption.

Solar energy

Solar cells based on nanotechnology could be much cheaper to produce, as well as far more efficient.

For example, researchers at Kennesaw State are developing third generation cells based on a nanomaterial, specifically an ultra-thin hybrid Perovskite noncrystalline film.15 This makes the cells flexible, so that not only are they cheaper and more efficient, but they could also be used for applications such as wearable electronics. In another development, researchers at Griffith University Australia have discovered a mechanism that could lead to an ultra efficient coating that makes use of both visible and UV light.16

Other renewables

For wind turbines, carbon nanotubes are being used as part of a solution to create blades that are lower in weight than standard fibreglass blades, and stronger. This increases the output of each wind turbine.17 In other areas, nanotechnology is being used to improve the performance of materials used in the sector, such as coatings for wear-resistant drilling equipment in geothermal applications, or corrosion protection in hydro-power equipment.18

Nanotechnology could even lead to the possibility of completely new renewable energy sources. In one of the most recent developments, researchers at EPFL's Laboratory of Nanoscale Biology have developed an osmotic power, in which the movement of salt ions in water can be used to generate electricity.19


Conclusion

Using IP Analysis to identify opportunities In this white paper, we have taken the example of nanotechnology to show how IP analysis can be used to very quickly assess a market and identify the most important sub-segments within that market – and, from there, evaluate how the various sub-segments might perform overall, which impacts investment considerations and levels of opportunity. IP analysis shows that most technologies are broad in scope and will have multiple segments and cross-functional applications that need to be identified in order to reach the best possible decisions within those markets, including justifying strategic decisions or prioritising R&D projects. As part of an IP analysis approach to evaluating broad markets and pinpointing cross-functional opportunities, the following approach can be used:

1. Use IP information to define the scope and market coverage of specific technologies.

2. Review the target technology area alongside other areas of potential use, or sub-

segments. These areas, or sub-segments are easily uncovered by using IP analysis that

considers the technology area in conjunction with other IPC or CPC codes that

highlight adjacent or cross-functional areas of interest.

3. Examine and compare the innovation trend within these sub-segments, checking for

areas of higher innovation activity and high levels of interest or growth. Use tools such

as a keyword search within those groups of patents to determine the main themes

being researched in the area.

4. Factor in the value of patents, noting in particular the sub-segments in which the

higher value patents lie. These patents acquire higher value as they often represent

pillar technologies that others may be relying upon, or require access to.

5. Use the findings to prioritise R&D activities within your organization, or assess levels of

opportunity or risk.

About PatSnap PatSnap is the leading provider of Intellectual Property Analytics, for analysing tech trends, driving innovation, market planning, competitor intelligence and maximising return on IP assets. Founded in 2007, PatSnap is used by of R&D, business and IP professionals in thousands of commercial and not-for-profit organisations globally, including NASA, the Department of Defense, China Mobile, Goodyear and Vodafone. With a database of over 113 million patents, augmented by economic, legal and company data, we use proprietary machine learning technology to make IP work for all, including those with no IP experience. We have offices in London, Singapore and China. Find out more: www.patsnap.com

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white paper - nanotechnology exploring the bigger picture

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