Intellectual Property and Licensing To bring new solutions to market, SRI licenses its intellectual property and technologies to established and startup companies and to investors.
In addition to technologies listed here, visit SRI's Physical Sciences Division for a wide range of materials- and chemistry-related technologies, and see SRI's Biosciences Division for intellectual property in areas such as cancer treatment and coronary artery disease. If you are seeking a technology or would like to discuss an SRI technology not listed here, contact us. Our Patent Portfolio SRI has more than 1,000 patents and patent applications worldwide. U.S. patents granted on inventions made by SRI inventors are listed here (Excel spreadsheet). Copies of any of the listed patents may be obtained from the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. Some of SRIs technologies available for license include: Materials and Structures
Computing and Speech Technology
Sensors and Imaging Materials and Structures Blast Protection Technology for Windows During recent conflicts, the United States has seen a dramatic increase in the use of improvised explosive devices as methods of warfare and terrorism. As a result, more government and commercial buildings require hardened windows for added security. SRI's unique blast protection technology for glass windows is available for licensing. The patented life-saving technology is retrofit to existing windows to prevent shattered glass from flying into a building if an explosion occurs outside. With an increased need for protection, SRI’s "soft catch" system can retrofit existing windows to withstand blast loads. SRI's approach meets the performance criteria for 10 pounds per square inch blast pressure specified by the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) for hardening windows to higher threat levels. The SRI technology uses a film attached to the inside of a window that captures the glass fragments. The technology uniquely connects the film and window frame, allowing the film to displace significantly while softly absorbing the energy of the glass. The system can be easily installed onto existing windows. Contact: Alex Beavers, Commercial Ventures and Strategic Programs, alex.beavers@sri.com
SRI offers Carilite high-performance thermoset polymer resins for use as wood-binding adhesives. Originally developed by Shell Oil Company, the resins are now available for license exclusively through SRI. Carilite resins are environmentally friendly -- they do not release volatile or toxic organic compounds, such as formaldehyde, during any step in the manufacture or use cycle. Carilite is cost-competitive with other commercially available adhesives, and ideal for use in bonding molded wood products, plywood, particleboard, and oriented strandboard (OSB). SRI's polymer products offer lower processing costs, greater strength and elasticity, and environmental advantages compared to competitive products. SRI has licensed a variety of its engineering polymer technologies, and other polymers are being developed for energy, consumer, automotive, and industrial applications. More information: Read our press release about Shell Oil Company's donation of the Carilite intellectual property portfolio to SRI, or download the Carilite fact sheet (PDF). Also, read more about SRI's work in polymer catalysis. Contact: Robert Wilson, SRI's Director of Chemical Science and Technology, 650-859-5954 or robert.b.wilson@sri.com Carilon Thermoplastic Polymers Designed for multiple applications in the engineering thermoplastic and fiber markets, SRI offers Carilon aliphatic polyketone polymers for licensing today. Representing the next wave in engineering thermoplastic (ETP) materials, Carilon is based on a semicrystalline thermoplastic, exhibiting a range of valuable performance characteristics that are maintained even at high temperatures. Carilon polymers offer superior strength, wear, and low permeability, which make them ideal for use in under-the-hood automotive parts; electrical and electronics systems; business machines and consumer appliances; film, fiber and protective coatings; lab supplies; and in industrial uses. More information: Read our press release about Shell Oil Company's donation of the Carilon intellectual property portfolio to SRI, or download the Carilon fact sheet (PDF). Also, read more about SRI's work in polymer catalysis. Contact: Robert Wilson, SRI's Director of Chemical Science and Technology, 650-859-5954 or robert.b.wilson@sri.com High-Sensitivity Proximity Assays SRI has developed a patent-pending technology that dramatically increases the sensitivity of traditional proximity assays through the combination of surface-enhanced fluorescence and lanthanide chelate fluorescent labels. The sensitivity of proximity assays is limited by the enhancement factors of the reporter signal transducer, typically a traditional organic fluor, molecular beacon structure, or lanthanide chelate. Lanthanides are attractive because they are highly photostable, exhibit large Stokes shifts, and have narrow emission lines. This permits multiplexed detection, easy discrimination of excitation light from emissions, and long detection dwell times for maximum sensitivity. Assays based on lanthanides suffer, however, from poor overall sensitivity because of the low brightness and long emission lifetimes of the lanthanide dyes. Assays based on traditional fluors, on the other hand, can be photosensitive, limiting shelf life and potential applications. They also have relatively broad emission lines that hinder multiplexing. Surface-enhanced fluorescence of lanthanide chelates using (for example) colloidal silver nanoparticles deposited on a surface dramatically improves the brightness of lanthanide-based fluors, and hence the sensitivity of lanthanide-based proximity assays. SRI's platform technology allows for lanthanide-based systems to exhibit superior sensitivity together with proximity assay capability while retaining all of the other advantages of lanthanide chelate fluors, such as large Stokes shifts and narrow emission lines. These advantages permit the ready development of highly multiplexed proximity assays for either heterogeneous or homogeneous formats. Such assays can be used for bioanalytical systems in either a research or clinical setting: nucleic acid binding, protein-protein binding, protein-ligand binding, cell-ligand binding, etc. Printing and Imaging Materials What: A family of SRI-proprietary water-soluble polymers and other chemistries that represent the most water-fast and rub-resistant inks available for today's inkjet printers. While much of our technology was researched and developed in response to the introduction of the inkjet printer, SRI's expertise applies to a diverse range of printing and coating technologies and market applications.
Opportunity : A major supplier of address labels for the office market needed a solution that reduced (or ideally, eliminated) the risk of inkjet labels from running when they came in contact with water. On its own, the company introduced new paper products specifically for early inkjet printers -but as new printers were introduced, the company had difficulty keeping pace with the market. SRI provided a range of advanced technologies. Contact: Larry Dubois at 650-859-3195 or larry.dubois@sri.com. Computing and Speech Technology
EduSpeak is ideal for developers of interactive materials for second language instruction, including English as a Second Language (ESL), as the technology is designed to recognize accented speech as well as native speakers. EduSpeak is great for computer-aided collection and grading of spoken language in educational and corporate settings, multimedia "edutainment" software that benefits from enhanced speech interactivity, and language training courses for travelers. Advantages: EduSpeak combines continuous, high-accuracy speech recognition for adults and children with a unique pronunciation "scoring" technology, and supports several languages. The SDK's multiple interfaces (such as Macromedia® Director®, Java™, C/C++, ActiveX™) make integration into existing applications easy and cost-effective. EduSpeak is compatible with Windows and Macintosh environments. Opportunity : EduSpeak is available for licensing today in the language education, reading development, and corporate training markets. Contact: Philip von Guggenberg at 650-859-5865 or info@eduspeak.com. Visit the EduSpeak website. EMERALD™ Sensors and Imaging Remote Gas Leak Sensor for Underground Pipelines What: Out of the approximately 1 million underground natural gas pipeline miles in the U.S. alone, at least 150,000 miles must be inspected for leaks each year by surveyors, either in a vehicle or on foot. Current technology relies on point monitors ("sniffers"), which are inefficient for large-area coverage. SRI International has developed a mobile remote sensing technology for gas leak detection that solves this problem. The technology is based on the principle of lidar (laser radar). Our remote sensor detects trace amounts (as low as 18 ppm) of methane, a major constituent (more than 95%) of natural gas. Vibration Imaging for Industrial Applications Vibrations coming from an object such as a car or building can tell a lot about how "sound" it is - and whether it may need maintenance or service. SRI's vibration imaging technology dynamically images low-frequency (<500Hz) vibrations from any visible object, including machines, buildings, pipelines, vehicles, and even buried objects such as landmines using a highly portable device (<5 lbs.) and a computer. Uses for this patented technology include non-destructive evaluation, process monitoring, continuous health monitoring, quality control, and predicting incipient failures, for industries such as automotive, power systems, aerospace/avionics, and construction. SRI's technique uses a modified imaging array with associated electronics to extract the vibration/acoustic signatures using light reflected from the object's surface in real time. The technique does not require the object to be flat or have particular reflective characteristics, or require coherent light sources such as lasers. This imaging technique is scalable to features from microns to meters, and relies on commercially available equipment with application-specific processing hardware and software. Advantages: SRI's vibration imaging technology is non-invasive, highly portable and can be used to focus onto features in real time, making it superior to traditional accelerometers and laser Doppler vibrometers. Opportunity : SRI has unique capabilities in this area that can be leveraged to enhance the performance characteristics of this technique, and unique intellectual property (one issued patent and six invention disclosures to date) that is available for licensing in specific fields of use. Contact: Philip von Guggenberg, 650-859-5865 or pvong@sri.com |
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Our diverse technology portfolio represents some of SRI's most exciting opportunities for clients to bring new and improved products and services to market. A sampling of our intellectual property available
for license is provided below. Contact information is
provided below each listing. 
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