George Weisz was a Hungarian mechanical engineer, philanthropist, film producer and father of three, including Oscar-winning actress Rachel Weisz. He invented a “pioneering artificial ventilator pneumatically powered by its own oxygen cylinder”. These ventilators are currently helping the NHS intensive care units across the UK manage the coronavirus pandemic. More…

Recently, NASA and SpaceX made history by launching the first commercially made spacecraft from American soil. 

It is no secret that NASA and other space exploration organisations have been pivotal in developing some commonly used items today, such as baby formula, cameras on mobile phones and athletic shoes. Using PatBase, the searchable patent database created by Minesoft and RWS, we can take a deep dive into NASA’s patent portfolio to unearth other surprising patents that are assigned to them.  More…

Irrespective of whether you travel on a commercial plane, or by a private jet that can be chartered through companies like Jettly, most people who have travelled on long-haul flights will be familiar with the discomforts of sitting for hours in aeroplane seats, breathing recycled cabin air, and being physically confused by dramatic time zone changes… Airlines are now turning to passenger data to improve in-flight experiences! More…

London History Day falls on May 31st each year marking the anniversary of the day the renowned clock, “Big Ben”, located at the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, first started keeping time in 1959. This year, Minesoft is joining in the celebration of the city of London for its resilience, spirit and creativity by highlighting some historical patents from London based inventors. Each invention is significant to London’s overall culture.  More…

Nike’s Patented Anti-Counterfeit Blockchain Shoes

Nike now holds a patent that leverages blockchain technology to combat counterfeit shoes, while also enabling consumers to generate digital representations of their shoes. This is Nike’s first step into utilising blockchain technology, which, if successful, could impact how high-end brands combat counterfeiting.
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April 1st, also known as April Fool’s Day, is associated with the tradition of playing practical jokes on friends. However, according to many online sources the origins of the tradition are unclear. Some claim the tradition comes from the changing of the Julian to Gregorian Calendar in France 1582. Those who were unaware of the change continued to celebrate the new year in the last week of March into April (failing to recognise the New Year’s Day now fell on January 1st), and consequently were teased by their peers. Another theory is that the tradition originates from the ancient Roman festival Hilaria celebrated at the end of March where people dressed up in disguises.   More…

Nuclear Medicine: the past, present and future of brain cancer imaging

All of the greatest, most renowned inventions start with an idea and patents are often the first and only source of these ideas, as most are never published elsewhere. Holding approximately 70% of the world’s technical and scientific information, patent data is a crucial resource for inter-disciplinary research and development. This article uses patent data to explore how particle physics has contributed to medical practices, merging to form the field known as ‘nuclear medicine’. The World Intellectual Property Organization’s Innovation Index references PET scanners, particularly, as a prime example of the marriage between particle physics and imaging tools. This article utilizes the example of medical imaging, namely PET scanners, to shed light on the nature and importance of shared data within the technical sphere. More…

One of the signposts of advanced society is disaster preparedness. In a world increasingly affected by changes in the environment, disaster mitigation and relief has never been more important. Many military technologies, originally borne out of necessity, have trickled down into the mainstream population for civilian use, like GPS, EpiPens and duct tape. More…

People around the world are jumping on the trend of wearing face masks out in public for a multitude of reasons. Face masks are worn as a result of high air pollution in cities, to stop the spreading of viruses, to retain anonymity, as a fashion statement or for a combination of these reasons. There has also been an increase in supplements and skin care products being purchased for the purpose of keeping skin healthy and ageless. Air pollution has a negative effect on both the internal body such as the lungs and on the external body it negatively affects the skin. Wrinkles, aging, and nasty toxins can be emitted from air pollution into the skin which ultimately people are trying to prevent by using face masks, wearable air purifiers and skin products. More…

Global 5G patent trends

What is 5G?

5G is predicted to be a hot trend of 2020 and throughout the next decade. 5G is the next generation of mobile broadband that will improve the current 4G network connectivity. This successor promises faster download and upload speeds, lower latency and the capability to connect to many more devices at one time. For 5G to be fully implemented, this requires upgrading existing cell towers and maybe even building brand new ones, as well as a renewal of mobile devices, as existing models contain 4G modems that convert a lower frequency than 5G requires. Therefore, 5G will not be fully available to customers right away despite some network providers already having launched 5G in South Korea, China, US, UK and Australia in 2019. More…