A novel analytical assay for the spectrophotometric determination of phosphate in natural waters

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

The objective of this Pathfinder application is to secure funding of £3,990 plus VAT to file a patent at the UK patent office for a novel assay for phosphate (bioavailable form of phosphorous) analysis in natural waters that demonstrates significantly better performance both in laboratory analysis and within in situ autonomous wet chemical sensors. The patent will aim to protect the assay as a product and also the recipe to the assay/product. We will need to instruct the patent attorney, Nick Braddon of Barker Brettell, who has quoted £3,200 plus VAT to file the patent at the UK patent office. The work will require us (i.e. Charlie Morgan of the NOC Enterprise Team, Dr. Geraldine Turner and Dr. Socratis Loucaides) providing instructions to Nick Braddon which typically involves a face-to-face meeting (c. 3 hours), review and amending Nick's draft (c. 3 hours) and finalising the draft (c.1 hour) and then Nick filing the patent at the UK patent office.Once filed in the UK, we intend to commission a new independent market study with additional Pathfinder funds to research the markets for its application within (i) environmental/water quality sensor manufacturers for in situ applications (e.g. Seabird Scientific, Xylem, TE Laboratories) and (ii) suppliers of assays (chemical solutions) for laboratory use worldwide (e.g. Scaler, Seal, Hach and Agilent).The patent filing and subsequent market research will provide NERC and NOC with timely market information to evaluate the commercial opportunities of the new assay. It will help us to ensure we secure the best possible license deals across the different markets. As the technology is now reaching mature levels, the research will inform our decision making around how we license the technologies by identifying the leading companies in each market and it could open new doors for licensing opportunities within different market sectors (e.g. the chemicals industry) and inform our future technology development plans to meet anticipated market needs.