Why don’t we “own” Graphene?
Our partners 22nd July 2016
Some people have been curious as to why The University of Manchester didn’t patent graphene. Clive Rowland, CEO of UMI3, explains.
The University of Manchester neither discovered nor invented graphene; rather it was the place where this extraordinary material was first isolated from graphite and correctly identified as graphene late in 2003. Graphene had been known about for decades before the Manchester achievement, though many did not think it could be stable.
That initial isolation approach (using Scotch® tape) in late 2003 is the rudimentary basis of one way of making graphene, known as mechanical exfoliation.
Mechanical exfoliation as a ‘production’ method was not novel as a concept. Teams elsewhere had used this gradual removal technique as a way of obtaining thin films before Manchester. For example, in 1990, Heinrich Kurz (Aachen University) reported peeling optically thin layers with transparent tape so that his group could study the dynamics of graphite material.
So a ‘fundamental broad patent’ wasn’t on the cards because, to acquire a patent, among other things, you have to show novelty.