Researchers' autonomy, research originality and patents

What causes university researchers and corporate engineers to be continuously creative and motivated throughout their 100 year lifespan even after retirement? When asked, one answer is often “autonomy.” Within this “autonomy” (i.e. the ability, on a daily basis, to set one’s research goals and work independently at one’s own pace) it is necessary for both universities and corporations around the world to improve and evolve while working with the surrounding communities.

For researchers, one aspect of this "autonomy" is discovery, assurance of originality of inventions, and mutual respect. The opportunity and talent for discovery and invention are given equally to all people. Many famous inventions, such as the invention of the letterpress printing method and the invention of the steam engine are now widely known, but they first started with valuable discovery. Due to competition with friends in their youth, in the hearts and minds of all researchers there is an enthusiasm for self-study. The passion to meet the demands of industry and society is a particularly important factor. A researcher is someone who finds themselves “thinking for days and months” about unexpected problems they discover in their work experiments. In other words, it is said “a researcher is one who is constantly thinking deeply” but every person is an individual and this is just a theory that has yet to be proven. Theory is a system of developing concepts consisting of an accumulation of logic after setting aside assumptions and conditions and can be said to be the it is light which illuminates the road in the darkness of the discussion at the time. Since theory is the essence of extracting the rules of various natural phenomena, it is possible to explain most phenomena. The first encounter with theory is generally in graduate school during a master’s program seminar (currently the first stage of doctoral courses). The professor in charge will tell you where the formulas that appear in various parts of well-known theoretical books are derived, what kind of function they perform, and related books, but the power (energy) of the book varies depending on the way the reader feels. If the academic energy of the book (author) resonates with the learning energy of the reader, the reader will carry it with him and refer back to it again and again even if it becomes tattered.

If the phenomenon of the person's discovery can be explained by the conventional theory, it may lead to a "good invention", and if it can be explained by extending the conventional theory, it is a "very good invention". In the latter case, there will be new stimuli on the part of theory.

Even in the 1980s, there have been many incidents in Japan that seemed to have anticipated the idea of intellectual property because of the priority of intellectual property-defense, organizing theoretical research findings and first publishing them abroad in English-language papers.

At last, in 2000, the national policy became "a nation based on science and technology" and "a nation based on intellectual property," and the emphasis was on intellectual property. At present, it seems that the idea of "first applying for a patent and then making it public at academic conferences and other forums" has taken hold. In Japan's patent law, it is "first-to-file" principle like in Europe (it is "first-to-invent" in the United States, and research notes are important), and the date of patent application is important. For example, Masato Sagawa's NdFeB ultra-strong magnetic (forged type) patent application was filed one week earlier than that of the GE-group in the United States (ultra-cooled powdered bond magnetic type). There is a system called "amendment" for patent applications, and although the claim items cannot be changed, there is an opportunity to add and revise examples, so the application can be filed as soon as possible. (Since Patent Law is subject to revision, please refer to the latest information from the patent office.) Until 2004, when researchers at national universities apply for patents, the probability of granting patent approval was extremely high due to an efficient system. A researcher would just mail draft documents of the description to JST, an independent administrative institution of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and then quickly apply for a patent. They could easily respond to the reasons for refusal from the patent examiners. The JST's consignment development system has made it possible for companies to use the government-sponsored loan system (up to 2 billion Japanese yen) to facilitate successful research and development.

Since 2004, national universities have been incorporated (privatization of national university management), and this JST-centered patent management system has been decentralized by establishing intellectual property centers at 86 national universities nationwide. The aim of this national university corporations was to utilize resources through industry-academia collaboration among national university teachers under the industrial development policy. Therefore, patent applications through the intellectual property center at universities became a "competition for the largest number of patent applications." This competition is sometimes necessary but it should end as soon as possible and become a race for high quality patents (discovery over novelty).

Creating a "description" is an essential task when applying for a patent, but the author tentatively regards this as an "activity of the right brain." According to the book on cerebral cortex physiology, "Functional sharing of higher brain activity in the left and right hemispheres of the cerebral cortex" (Sperry, 1974; edited by Haruo Sugi, published by Minamiedo, Revised Third Edition 1999, p180, Fig. 9.42), “characters and calculations are the left brain, non-verbal concepts, and spatial cognition is the right brain. " It seems that the actual functions of the human body, which are the "central nervous system" (voluntary function center), the "vagus nerve system" (involuntary function center) which connects all internal organs and the brain and the autonomous resonance system of the five sensory organ systems are dynamically coordinated and manifested. However, if the characteristics of the task of description preparation are boiled down, it seems that it can be described as an activity of the right brain. Boiling down the task of description preparation, the common job of researchers is to “publish research results in academic papers” but this can be said to be the activity of the left brain. Each researcher’s brain activity is different depending on the individual but focusing on writing a dissertation is a left brain activity. Considering the range of value of one’s research and preparing the specification is a very enjoyable right brain activity and can lead to considering future research projects. In addition, possessing a strong basic patent both intuitively and theoretically (in the case of applications from JST, the patentee is JST) is a long-term strategy for promoting industry-academia-government collaboration (led by JST). As a result, practical and powerful development of engineering research will be possible, and "research autonomy and independence" will be guaranteed in the long term.

History of inventions and patent systems

In modern industrial societies, patents guarantee the originality of inventions (or research) as a right, guarantee researchers' independence of research, and have a function (exclusive license) to guarantee the independence of development and business for companies. Its obligation is to disclose the contents of the invention to society (via published patent gazette) and to pay the cost of maintaining the patent for the purpose of retaining the rights.

In addition, in today's industrial society and emerging industrial policy society, the possession of "patents" is an energy that gives clear goals and independence to "industry-academia-government collaboration" as a system in which companies, countries, and universities work together to put new technologies into practical use, "create innovations", and steadily advance research and development.Looking into the history of "patents", it is said that the first statutory law was the promulgation of the "Inventor Ordinance" of 1474 in the Republic of Venice, Italy. This was 300 years before the “Industrial Revolution” that occurred in the latter half of the 18th century in the United Kingdom, which was the forerunner of the birth on an industrial society and is a “period of commercial trade” that resulted in Columbus’s discovery of a new continent in 1492. Therefore, the social convention of “invention” and “patent” seems to be different from the present. With regard to "patents", the "Monopoly Ordinance" was enacted in 1623 by the British Parliament, which in principle banned the "patents" that Elizabeth I and King James had granted for salt and starch taxes. The “patent” at this time was a royal power. After a time, the Industrial Revolution occurred during which there were many breakthrough inventions such as James Watt's steam engine (1769; innovative improvements to Newcomen's steam engine) and Richard Arkwright's water frame spinning machine (1771). The enactment of a law to reduce the right of “patents,” which was once a power of the king, was later changed to the idea of “establishing the rights of the inventor,” which is interesting as an aspect of the development from an “era of trade and commerce society” to the “era of industrial society”.

A driving force behind the Industrial Revolution was continuous emergence of innovative inventions of basic technologies for urban infrastructure such as "the invention of Portland cement" and the "invention of coke".

Cement technologies is said to be basic technology for human civilization that continues endlessly from ancient Egypt to Roman city construction, and there are many prior iterations of Portland cement, such as James Parker's Roman cement (patented in 1796). The demand for cement increased due to the rising price of stone materials for construction in the United Kingdom during the Industrial Revolution, and the widespread use of bricks to make the surface look like stones even in high-class buildings.

Portland Cement (named after the limestone of Portland Island, England) was invented in 1824 by Joseph Apsdin, a British bricklayer in Leeds. His research results are based on the theoretical consideration of hydration and solidification of concrete, and due to its good color (similar in color to the original Portland limestone), it is still the mainstream cement 193 years later. The author also purchases cement when making concrete for experimentation, but it is Portland cement. Cement technology is based on the mixing of limestone powder and clay sintered powder but the hydration and solidification of concrete is an “environmental technology” that is affected by environmental temperature, temperature change, humidity, humidity changes, etc. There is also a high regionality (local production and local consumption of aggregate) because the characteristics of the aggregate (sand, crushed stone) for which cement is an adhesive also have an effect, and the experience of on-site engineers in concrete formation and management technology is also a major factor.

Coke was invented by Dud Duddley in the United Kingdom and patented in 1621. After more than 80 years of dormancy, this great invention rapidly became popular in 1709 when Abraham Derby adopted coke for steelmaking. The greatness of coke's invention lies in the global halt to the destruction of natural forests for steelmaking. Aichi Steel’s steelmaking is modern steelmaking, using an electric furnace and recycled iron, but the traditional ironmaking method from ancient times is a blast furnace method in which iron oxide from an iron ore is reduced in high temperature to extract iron; before the invention of coke, wood was burned. Therefore, a large amount of wood is required for mass production of iron, resulting in mass deforestation in a short period of time, and in areas where rainfall is small and the forest regeneration power weak, bald mountains. In fact, in some countries you can see the green-less mountains in many countries where glorious ancient civilizations once stood.

In the UK, the price of wood as fuel rose from around 1600 and the use of cheap coal and pete (semi-coal) in the Scottish region was considered as an alternative, however, the sulfur content of coal deteriorates the quality of the iron. Since the use of coal was to be avoided, Dudley "Coke," a cheap steelmaking fuel material, which is made by steaming coal to reduce sulfur content. Previously, due to the sulfur content of fuel coal, the air pollution in London was severe, but air pollution was reduced after the use of coke became widespread.

Now, while it is widely understood that the modern industrial society/civilization was brought about by the “Industrial Revolution,” the characteristics of the Industrial Revolution, including the enactment and function of “patent law,” are seemingly not well studied. The author intends to explore this issue in great detail, so this time I would like to state only a vague awareness of the issue.That is, "I think the Industrial Revolution has progressed due to the rise of science and technology, inventions, and the spirit of patents, and the heightened awareness of citizens' freedom, rights, and obligations." This is theorized based on the social changes during the Meiji Restoration Revolution in Japan. At the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate, the threat of the Black Ships cause the “expel all foreigners fever” to boil. This feeling of pressure and authority seem to be something that leads Europeans to an awareness of citizens’ rights. In the Meiji Restoration in Japan, which was the first country in Asia to ride the wave of the industrial revolution, a "Freedom and People's Rights Movement" will emerge later, but since European-style citizen idealism does not appear out of nowhere, the Meiji “wave of civilization and enlightenment” is more the spirit of the Industrial Revolution (i.e. Japan’s resonance with the combined energy of science and technology and the rights and obligations of citizens). This "resonance subject" in my mind is a group of low-ranking samurai, goshi (country samurai), merchants, tradesmen, and peasants at the end of the Edo period, which originated in the Kanto Plain and created the Kamakura Shogunate, corresponding to the citizens in Europe.

From this thought process, an important idea emerges for us scientific and technological researchers.

(1) Science and technology, originally the intellectual amusement of the princes and nobles, went through the Industrial Revolution and emerged as:
“A tool with which to enrich the lives of many people and to create a safe and secure human civilization.”
(2) After the Industrial Revolution, the "Invention of the Patent" became a system that guarantees the independence and the right of originality of researchers who are the creators of science and technology.

The establishment and dissemination of the utility of the invention patent system through the Industrial Revolution described in (2) is illustrated by the fact that James Watt succeeded in launching a business by exercising the patent right for the invention of the steam engine. What was the situation before 1474 promulgation of the "Inventor's Ordinance" described above? Previously, the invention of compasses, the invention of gunpowder, and the invention of typographic printing presses were said to be the three major inventions of the Renaissance, but Johannes Gutenberg of Germany, who invented the "typographic printing press" around 1440, was unable to exercise the exclusive authority over his invention because there was no law to support the rights of the inventor, and he failed in financing the establishment of a printing press company. The invention of the printing press was a great invention that contributed widely to the development of the Renaissance, the Reformation, and the enlightenment and scientific ages, and in his later years Gutenberg was honored as a member of the court of Archbishop Adolf von Nassau.

Also, Gutenberg’s hometown, Mainz in the Holy Roman Empire, an uprising of the citizens against the aristocrats occured and it is presumed that the Gutenberg family, who were aristocrats, were forced to move to Eltville am Rhein. Therefore, it can be assumed that citizens were highly aware of their rights and both the aristocrats and citizens were highly aware of inventions. Of the above three major inventions, "invention of gunpowder" and "invention of compass" are known to have their origins in China. However, there was a difference in the scientific understanding of the inventions of European citizens and the speed of social dissemination, and it can be said that they were different in terms of their impact on the Industrial Revolution. The “invention of the compass” allowed the user to measure their direction on earth in the form of a rotating magnetic needle constantly pointed towards the geomagnetic field line. The large amount of data collected by voyagers during the Age of Discovery lead to William Gilbert’s “On the Magnet and Magnetic Bodies, and on That Great Magnet the Earth” in 1600. Since 2011, Aichi Steel has been producing an electronic compass (wearable sensor) that uses MI sensors for smartphones.

The steam engine of James Watt (1736-1819) is famous as a representative invention of the British Industrial Revolution, and the achievements of this invention (1) created cotton fabric machinery and created the cotton fabric industry worldwide, including cotton producers (such as India). (Watt founded a manufacturer and distributor of steam engine machinery by using his exclusive license of patents.) (2) Raised the motivation in the whole country to invent new technologies now that the “patent law” and right to invent was established. (By Act of British Parliament, James Watt’s steam engine patent was extended to 31 years). Modern day patent law, which inherits the spirit of the patent law of during the Industrial Revolution, is an ingenious law that balances the rights and obligations of the inventors (patentees) in granting them exclusive licensing rights (term of 20 years) but forcing them to publish the contents of their inventions in the patent description, contributing to the development of the industry. In Japan, the patent law for inventions was introduced in the Meiji era by the Meiji Restoration, but Sakichi Toyoda, inventor of automatic looms, was the first great person to focus on the importance of "creation of modern Japan for industrial promotion legally protected inventions"

As mentioned above, modern human civilization has changed and developed with the Industrial Revolution as an epoch, but it is due to the power of all human beings, and in the process, the inventive spirit of mankind and the development of industry became the driving force and it can be said that “patent law” legally nurtured the driving force of this revolution.

Even in Japan, with the Meiji Restoration as an opportunity, the creation of industrial promotion Japan through inventions whose rights are guaranteed by the Patent Law has been developed, and it has continued to this day through high growth. Even in Japan, with the opportunities during the Meiji Restoration, the creation of industry in Japan was nurtured and developed by inventions that were legally protected through “Patent Law” and that growth has continued to this day at a high pace.

Everyone is given the ability and opportunity to invent. Now that the sustainable development of the super-aging society is necessary, it is important for researchers to make theoretically robust and innovative inventions and to keep in mind that the originality of research is guaranteed internationally through patents, and to continue to play an active role creatively.

2017.09.29