Journal of Intellectual Property Rights

Vol 20, January 2015, pp 39-50

Global Research on Medical Cotton - Evidence from Patent Landscape Study

S Panja1, P Majumder2, B K Sarkar3, K K Mukim4 and A Hati5
1,2
P. Majumder and Associates, Rajarhat Road, Baguihati, Kolkata 700059, India
3
Parker Robinson Private Limited, Nimak Mahal road, Kolkata 700043, India
4,5
Goutam Laboratories, Kalikrishna Tagore Street, Kolkata 700007, India
Received 19 July 2014, accepted 29 November2014

Application of cotton has global demand in healthcare field for protection of injury site, control of bleeding, prevention from
contamination of wound from foreign bodies and absorption of secretion. Inventions on medical cotton have been started from the
year 1850, but the growth of technology has been observed after the year 1900. The present study aims to analyze the trend of
inventions on medical cotton on the basis of patent documents retrieved from USPTO, EPO, WIPO, PAJ, IPIndia, and Free Patents
Online (FPO). Analysis of patent documents are performed on the basis of filing year, publication year, geographical locations,
assignees, families, International Patent Classification (IPC), citations and applications of inventions. Strengths and weaknesses of
the global research on medical cotton are also clearly mentioned. Areas where further researches are needed are highlighted by a
White-Space analysis. Participation of India on medical cotton is meager, but the possibility is enormous.

Keywords: Patent documents, medical cotton, gauze, bandage, sanitary napkins, diaper, medicated tapes, surgical gauze,
absorbent cotton, garments

Nowadays cotton is considered as the most important
fiber crop with high commercial value. Hot and dry
places with sufficient moisture are suitable for cotton
productions. Gossypium arboreum and Gossypium
herbaceum, species are most popularly cultivated in India
to derive cotton.1 Raw and unpurified cotton cannot
absorb water due to the presence of non-cellulosic
substances such as waxes, pectins, proteins etc.
After treatment of such cotton with alkali solution,
non-cellulosic compounds are removed from cotton
fiber and processed cotton starts to show the property
of fluid absorbency. However, the application of
cotton is not restricted in manufacturing of garments,
it finds an alternative purpose in medical field.2 The
application of cotton in medical field is the nucleus of
our study. The cotton when used as biomedicine is
known as medical cotton. The cotton products which
are employed for medicinal purposes are mainly
gauze and bandages although other reports also
consider of conventional types of sanitary napkins or
pads, surgical garments, and diapers.3,4,5 Primary
applications of cotton used as medical tool are to
cover wound, control bleeding, absorb secretion and
resist contamination from the foreign bodies.6
Cotton bandages and cotton gauzes are known as
primary wound dressing materials. Gauze has its
______________
Corresponding author: Email: panjasaikatr@gmail.com
proper mesh and thickness but the adherence property
creates pain when used to other than clean and incised
wound surface. To avoid this problem, the application
of petroleum impregnated gauze has been proposed
due to its hydrophobic nature but such type of gauze
is difficult to sterilize. A special type of gauze which
is weaved from pure regenerated cellulose followed
by soaking with hydrophilic oil in water emulsion
shows low adherence with all types of wounds.
Absorbent pad amalgamated with soft plastic film has
pores which allow fluid to pass but does not permit to
grow new buds of skin though the openings.
Gauze primarily comprises of absorbent material
with adequate tensile strength for surgical dressing.
Absorbent gauze with even film of cotton generates
filmated gauze which offers sufficient dressing
volume. It shows quick absorption rate and extra-
ordinary softness.6 Bandage is applied to grasp a
dressing in place over a wound, to generate pressure
over a bleeding wound to control hemorrhage and to
provide support to an injured part. Bandages are made
from several materials such as gauze, muslin, flannel,
crinoline, rubber, and elastic webbing although most
common constituents used in bandages are gauze and
muslin. Gauze made bandages are widely applied
because they are soft, light, thin, and porous and they
can be easily adjusted to the injured sites. Bandages
made of flannel facilitate to control body heat and to
40 J INTELLEC PROP RIGHTS, JANUARY 2015
maintain moisture. Plaster of Paris bandages are
preferably made from crinoline because crinoline-
mesh holds the plaster strongly than other ordinary
gauze. Muslin is strong, cheap and readily obtainable
and can be easily cut to make strips of desired width.7
A sanitary napkin for absorbing and collecting
womens menstrual liquids generally comprises an
absorbent pad, cotton made liquid absorbing plug for
channeling fluid into the pad, a porous cloth sheet
surrounding the pad whereby liquids can flow to pad
through cloth sheet and a liquid impermeable covering
to encapsulate the pad and cloth.8 While sanitary
napkin is particularly applied for women, another
cotton product diaper is used for absorbing excretions
in infants, aged persons and patients.10, 11 The diaper
normally has multiple layers with cotton as innermost
layer which is next to the body absorbs wastes from the
body, second layer made of 100% synthetic non-woven
bonded monofilament channels moisture to lower
layers, third layer made of 100% cotton with layers 4th
and 5th provide additional absorbency.9
Cotton yarn is the main raw material used to
manufacture gauze and bandage. Obtained from
spinning mills, it is woven in the form of
non-absorbent open mesh fabric (grey fabric) of
desired warp. The grey fabric is bleached into boiling
kiers and boiling tubs where it transforms to white and
absorbent. The bleached white fabric is dried through
the tentering machine and straightens stretches and
holds the gauze taut. The bandage cloth is often treated
with starch. After bleaching and washing, the bandage
cloth is fed into the winding machine to cut the cloth
into small rolls of desired length. An adhesive solution
is applied at the end of the bandage cloth. Next, the
bandage rolls are applied to an autoclave machine for
sterilization. Thereafter, the rolls are collected, packed
properly and ready to be marketed.6 The similar
process is applied in making of gauze cloth.
Raw cotton is the main constituent in production of
surgical cotton. In the Crighton opener, the raw cotton
is loosened and cleaned by removal of dust and other
materials. The cleaned cotton is sent to kier where it is
boiled and chemicals such as soda ash, caustic soda
etc are added. Treatment with chemicals removes
natural waxes and oils. This cotton is fed to tank for
washing and bleached with hydrogen peroxide or
sodium hypochlorite. Bleaching makes the cotton
white and provides wetting properties with the
capability of disintegration of any foreign materials.
Thorough washing is taken place for the bleached
cotton in order to remove chemicals. In this case,
treatment with diluted sulphuric acid neutralizes
excess alkali. After getting dried, cotton is again
passed to blow room where it is thoroughly opened
and made into laps and transformed into thin layers by
carding machine. Insertion of paper under the thin
layers comes next followed by rolling and
compression of cotton. The rolled cotton is cut into
small pieces of desired sizes and packed in a
polythene roll in order to market.6
Patent analysis is well-known valuable attempt that
applies patent information to evaluate growth in a
particular technology and to design the technology
development strategy. Such analysis is helpful to
investigate the flow of knowledge from science to
technology particularly for emerging technology
where historical data are unavailable.12 It encourages
R&D (local or foreign) and industrial development
which guarantees to the rights of genuine researchers
on IP protected technologies.13 Also patent landscape
study assists to access the foreign technologies
through alliances with fair benefit sharing agreements.
Methodology
The most relevant keywords related to medical
cotton technology were medical cotton, surgical
cotton, absorbent cotton, surgical gauze, and
bandage. Besides, some keywords such as,
sanitary napkins, pads, surgical garments and
medicated tapes were used to extract additional
information on medical cotton technology. Those
keywords were fed into freely available databases of
international/national patent offices (USPTO, EPO,
WIPO, PAJ and IPIndia) and non-charge provider-
Free Patent Online (FPO). Those databases have the
options to use said keywords as the title, abstract,
claim and international patent classification (IPC) of
the patents. Combining different keywords with
multiple options (when keywords used in title, or in
abstract, or in IPC or in claim) in those databases,
5726 patents related to medical cotton technology
were retrieved among which 4900 patents were
duplicate documents. After removal of duplicate
documents, 826 patent documents were considered for
analysis. The information related to filing year,
publication year, assignee, country, patent family,
IPC, citations, and applications of the inventions from
individual patent (from the set of 826 patents
documents) were collected. Table 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d,
1e(a), 1e(b), 1e(c) and 1(f) list the possible
combinations of different keywords in said databases.
 PANJA et al.: GLOBAL RESEARCH ON MEDICAL COTTON - PATENT LANDSCAPE STUDY 41

Table 1a Combinations of keywords in USPTO database Table 1b Combinations of keywords used in Espacenet database

Queries Results Queries Results

Title: (medical cotton) 213
ttl/"medical cotton" 0
Title: (surgical cotton) 21
ttl/"surgical cotton" 0
Title:(absorbent cotton) 115
ttl/"absorbent cotton" 0
Title:bandage 5604
ttl/"bandage" 665
Title: (surgical gauze) 48
ttl/"surgical gauze" 2
Abstract: (medical cotton) and IPC: A61 3164
ttl/"gauze" and aclm/"cotton" 4
Abstract: (surgical cotton) and IPC: A61 393
abst/"medical cotton" 0
Abstract: (absorbent cotton) and IPC: A61 1411
abst/"medical cotton" 0
Abstract: bandage and IPC:A61 8217
abst/"absorbent cotton" 26
Abstract: (surgical gauze) 531
abst/"bandage" 1044
Title: (sanitary napkin) 3683
abst/"surgical gauze" 7
Abstract: (sanitary napkin) 6756
abst/"gauze" and aclm/"cotton" 46
Title: (medicated tape) 2
aclm/"medical cotton" 0
Abstract: (medicated tape) 21
aclm/"surgical cotton" 1
Title: (surgical garment) 39
aclm/"absorbent cotton" 75
Abstract: (surgical garment) 207
aclm/"bandage" 1822
aclm/"surgical gauze" 13 Table 1d Combinations of keywords used in PAJ database
aclm/"gauze" and aclm/"cotton" 195
ttl/sanitary napkin 613 Queries Results
ttl/"sanitary napkin" and aclm/"cotton" 13
keywords: (medical cotton) 123
abst/"sanitary napkin" and aclm/"cotton" 28
keywords: (surgical cotton) 12
aclm/"sanitary napkin" and aclm/"cotton" 39
keywords: (absorbent cotton) 1049
ttl/"pad" and aclm/"cotton" 127
keywords: (bandage) 575
abst/"pad" and aclm/"cotton" 353
keywords: (surgical gauze) 22
aclm"pad" and aclm/"cotton" 0
keywords: (sanitary napkin) 1054
abst/"medicated tape" 2
Keywords: (pad) and IPC: A61 0
aclm/"medicated tape" 5
Keywords: (medicated tape) 2
ttl/"surgical garment" 15
keywords: (surgical garment) 1
abst/"surgical garment" 17
aclm/"surgical garment" 31 Table 1e(a) Combinations of keywords used in IPIndia- granted
patent database
Table 1c Combinations of keywords used in WIPO database Queries Results
Queries Results Title: (medical cotton) 0
Abstract: (medical Cotton) 0
ti: (medical cotton) 55 Title: (surgical cotton) 0
ti: (surgical cotton) 11 Abstract: (surgical cotton) 0
ti: (absorbent cotton) 65 Title: (absorbent cotton) 0
ti: (bandage) 6743 Abstract: (absorbent cotton) 0
ti: (surgical gauze) 23 Title: bandage 52
ti: (gauze) and cl: cotton 17 Abstract: bandage 30
ab: (medical cotton) 557 Title: (surgical gauze) 0
ab: (surgical cotton) 71 Abstract: (surgical gauze) 0
ab: (absorbent cotton) 916 Title: (sanitary napkin) 0
ab: (bandage) 571 Abstract: (sanitary napkin) 0
ab: (surgical gauze) 172 Title: pad and abstract: cotton 2
ab: (surgical gauze) and Ic: A61 140 Abstract: pad and abstract: cotton 0
Cl: (medical cotton) 741 Title: (medicated tape) 0
Cl: (surgical cotton) 538 Abstract: (medicated tape) 0
Cl: (absorbent cotton) 2904 Title: (surgical garment) 0
Cl: (bandage) 6303 Abstract: (surgical garment) 0
Cl: (surgical gauze) 471
Cl: (gauze) and Cl: cotton 652 Analysis of Patenting Activity
Cl: (medicated tape) and Ic:A61 43
ti: (surgical garment) 49 Filing and Publication Year
ab: (surgical garment) 188 In this study, filing year (priority year) is the year
cl: (surgical garment) 504 when the patent applications are first disclosed to the
42 J INTELLEC PROP RIGHTS, JANUARY 2015

statutory office to file the patent application and it application of bandage for treatment of broken arm
represents the inventing activities of the was found in an article composed by Lloyd (1760).20
technologies.7 The year which publishes the patent An original communication (1854) was extracted
application through official website of the statutory where a medical practitioner described the
office for disclose it to public, is known as publication constructional features of plaster of paris bandage as a
year. It informs how statutory offices are working on simple fracture apparatus.21 Martin (1878) also
this technology.12 published a document on the use of India- rubber
The evidence of first patent application was found bandage for the treatment of ulcers and various
in 184914 where a bandage was produced to heal the abnormalities in legs.22 Even the present scenario
injury of ankles followed by the patent publications looked promising; a recent publication (2012) stated
on the constructional features of supporting bandage
in 1869,15 introduction of water-proof material having
ventilating opening in bandage in 1879,16 elastic
bandage useful for varicose vein in 1887,17 and head
bandage in 1900.18 Due to the low patenting activities,
patent applications before 1900 were not included for
patent timeline analysis. Fig. 1 shows that the
invention on medical cotton technology started
around 1920. Number of filing showed a steady
increment till 2010 except a period between 1951 and
1960. Recent trend showed a promising filing rate-
3% (2011), 3.6% (2012), and 2.9% (2013),
respectively. The trend of publication showed similar Fig. 1 Patent timeline analysis
characteristics with a drop between 1951 and 1960.
The application of cotton in medical industry Table 1f Combinations of keywords used in Free Patent Online
started far before. Taylor (1743), in his book, (FPO) database
mentioned the application of bandage useful after the Queries Results
surgery of eye.19 Likewise, the evidence of
ttl/ medical cotton 2
Table 1e(b) Combinations of keywords used in IPIndia- abst/ medical cotton 6
published patent database aclm/ medical cotton 9
ttl/ surgical cotton 3
Queries Results abst/"surgical cotton" 2
Title: (medical cotton) 0 aclm/"surgical cotton" 4
Abstract: (medical Cotton) 0 ttl/"absorbent cotton" 28
Title: (surgical cotton) 0 abst/"absorbent cotton" 311
Abstract: (surgical cotton) 0 aclm/"absorbent cotton" 195
Title: (absorbent cotton) 0 ttl/"bandage" 3963
Abstract: (absorbent cotton) 0 abst/"bandage" 5763
Title: bandage 40 aclm/"bandage" 11978
Abstract: bandage 89 aclm/"bandage" and IPC/"A61" 3060
Title: (surgical gauze) 0 ttl/"surgical gauze" 16
Abstract: (surgical gauze) 0 abst/"surgical gauze" 28
aclm/"surgical gauze" 44
Table 1e(c) Combinations of keywords used in ttl/"sanitary napkin" and aclm/"cotton" 23
IPIndia- published patent database abst/"sanitary napkin" and aclm/"cotton" 93
aclm/"sanitary napkin" and aclm/"cotton" 130
Queries Results
ttl/"pad" and aclm/"cotton" 436
Title: (sanitary napkin) 0 abst/"pad" and aclm/"cotton" 1270
Abstract: (sanitary napkin) 0 aclm/"pad" and aclm/"cotton" 2566
Title: pad and abstract: cotton 3 ttl/"medicated tape" 39
Abstract: pad and abstract: cotton 12 abst/"medicated tape" and aclm/"cotton" 7
Title: (medicated tape) 0 aclm/"medicated tape" and aclm/"cotton" 14
Abstract: (medicated tape) 0 ttl/"surgical garment" 20
Title: (surgical garment) 0 abst/"surgical garment" 56
Abstract: (surgical garment) 0 aclm/"surgical garment" 148
 PANJA et al.: GLOBAL RESEARCH ON MEDICAL COTTON - PATENT LANDSCAPE STUDY
about application of elastic compression bandage in
hematoma.23 The comparison of stiffness of two
different stretch bandages was carried out by a study
conducted by three experts from Paris.24
Geographical Locations
Another factor to assess the R&D trend is to
analyze patents with respect to the geographical
locations. In the present study, the patenting activities
over geographical locations are analyzed on the basis
of priority countries. Priority country is the country
where the earliest filing of the patent application is
taken place.12 A patent document may have more than
one priority country which means the patent
document may be first-filed on same day in different
countries. The information regarding priority country
signifies the quickest protection over the invention in
said country where the invention has the demand.
This study depicted that the highest contributions
(62%) were recorded from the United States of
America. Other countries included Japan (22%),
Germany (4%), Great Britain (2%), Italy (1%), France
(1%), Spain (1%), China (1%), Korea (1%), Canada
(1%), Denmark (<1%), Austria (<1%), Brazil (<1%)
and India (<1%), respectively. Very few were found
from Russia. However, 2.09% of the total patent
documents were first-filed through European Patent
Office (EPO) followed by WIPO (1.32%).
There was higher propensity to patent in certain
countries than others and the above statistics might be
changed if the patenting tendency of each country
would be considered. Relative specialization index
(RSI) was calculated in this occasion to indicate the
level of invention on medical cotton for each country
with respect to the overall level of invention in that
country. Fig. 2 indicates the difference between the
patenting activity among priority countries (Fig. 2a)
and relative specialization index (Fig. 2b).25
Fig. 2a Patenting activity among priority countries
43
A formula for calculation of relative specialization
index is given below:
Where, ni = number of patents relevant to medical
cotton in country i
ntotal = total number of patents relevant to
medical cotton in the dataset
Ni = number of patents in country i
Ntotal = total number of patents in the dataset
Germany ranked 3rd in Fig. 2a but placed to 14th
after RSI calculation. The USA maintained its position
even after the calculation of RSI which suggested that
the USA is specialized in the field of medical cotton.
Notably, Brazil where a few number of inventions were
filed, was found specialized in medical cotton field (4th
in RSI chart). Other specialized countries in medical
cotton included Italy and Great Britain.
Assignees
In the present study, the assignees were classified
into industrial organizations, individual investors,
academic organizations, and government regulated
organizations other than academic institutions. Only
industrial organizations registered maximum patents
(42%) followed by individual investors (17%),
academic institutions (5%) and government regulated
non-academic organizations (2%), respectively.
Collaborations between industrial organizations with
individual investors were detected in 31% of the total
cases whereas individual investors jointly worked
with academic institutions and government regulated
non-academic organizations in 2% and 1% of the total
Fig. 2b Relative specialization index (RSI)
44 J INTELLEC PROP RIGHTS, JANUARY 2015

cases, respectively. Just one case was found where International Patent Classification (IPC)
Virginia Commonwealth University jointly worked Each and every invention must belong to a field, for
with the Department of Agriculture, USA. example, pharmaceutical inventions from healthcare
Johnson & Johnson was the leading assignee (15%) field. Also, an invention may belong to more than one
among the industrial organizations followed by Smith field, for example pharmaceutical invention must
& Nephew (7%), Tyco Healthcare (7%), Kendall belong to healthcare field as well as to chemical field.
Group (7%), Ethicon Inc (4%), SVAS Biosana SRL So the classification of inventions (patent documents)
(3.5%), Hogi Medical KK (3.5%), Hakujuji Co Ltd according to different area of technology to which
(3.5%) and American Cynamid Co (3.5%). Other those inventions belong, are provided by a hierarchical
industrial organizations included Alza Corporation, system of language independent symbols33 i.e.,
BSN Medical Inc, Sekisui Chem Co Ltd, Alcare Co International Patent Classification (IPC). If an
Ltd, Minnesotta Mining & Mfg, Pioneer Laboratories invention is defined by several IPCs, then it is
Inc, Dainippon Printing Co Ltd, Medical Action concluded that the invention has expanded its area or
Industries, Tesi Ab, and Kakui KK. On the other scope. A patent application belongs to more than one
hand, Brigham Young University, Tufts University, IPC class and one patent can occupy more than one
University of Florida, University of Bristol, Virginia subclass. Sub-class gives the accurate information
Commonwealth University, Osaka University, about the invention e.g. process, and use.12 Most
University of California and National Ping Tung patents have been registered under A61F (61%) which
University of Science and Technology, were listed as covers bandage, dressing and absorption pad (Table 3).
the assignees among the academic organizations. A
list of products from the reputed assignees which have Table 3 Distributions of patents in top 10 IPC sub-classes
been working on medical cotton technology is
represented in Table 2. IPC Code Definitions % Patents*
The main factor behind the higher number of
industrial organizations over other assignees is the A61F Bandages, dressings or absorbent pads; 61
first-aid kits
strong financial support. According to a report (2012) A61L Chemical aspects of bandages, 23
by Standford University, more than US$ 20 billion dressings, absorbent pads, or surgical
has been spent on patent litigation and patent articles; materials for bandages,
purchases in a smart phone industry alone in the last dressings, absorbent pads,
two years which is equivalent to eight Mars Rover B65D Containers for storage or transport of 13.5
articles or materials
Mission32 and it is impossible for the academic A61K Preparations for medical, dental, or 11
organizations, individual investors or any government toilet purposes
regulated organization to spend. This fact is not only A61B Diagnosis; surgery; identification 8
applied to smart phone industry, but also to other A61M Devices for introducing media into, or 6
onto, the body
fields of inventions. Besides, industrial organizations D04H Making textile fabrics 3.76
are the place where experts from several fields such as A61P Specific therapeutic activity or 2.51
healthcare, electronics, marketing etc. can work medicinal preperations
together. In the case of non-industrial organizations, A61N Electrotherapy; magnetotherapy; 2
there is rare chance to collaborate for all experts from radiation therapy; ultrasound therapy
A61Q Specific use of cosmetics or similar 2
several fields, hence, industrial organizations have the toilet preparations
facility not only to give birth an invention but also to
look after the invention through managerial abilities. *Total set of 826 documents
Table 2 Key assignees and products

Assignees Products
Johnson & Johnson RED CROSS cover, RED CROSS waterproof pads, RED CROSS hospital grade gauze pads,
MIRASROB gauze sponges, SURGIPAD surgical dressings26
Smith & Nephew ProforeTM, ProforeTM latex free, ProforeTM Lite27
Ethicon Vetspon Absorbable Hemostatic Gelatin Sponge28
BSN Medical Easifix, Elastocrepe, Biplatrix, Vic, Co-Plus29
Alcare Co Ltd Elatex surgical tapes, Silkytex bandage, Silkypore bandage
Medical Action Industries Acti-Gauz sponges, Acti-Stretch conforming bandage rolls, Tubular bandages - Elastic Net31
 PANJA et al.: GLOBAL RESEARCH ON MEDICAL COTTON - PATENT LANDSCAPE STUDY 45

This was followed by records in IPC classes, A61L,
B65D which inform about chemical aspects of medical
cotton products and method of storing the products.
The wide breadth of patent fields being applied gives
information of broad patent coverage. Additionally, it
can be concluded that intellectual property litigation
over patents covering medical cotton fields will emerge
and the complexities encountered earlier in this field
will be higher in future.
Patent Family
A patent family is a set of patent documents
considered in multiple countries to protect a single
invention by common inventor(s) and then patented in
more than one country.34 Earliest application is issued
in one country- priority country and extended to other
countries. Table 4 which lists down top ten patent
families with assignees and subject matters, actually
informs about top ten economically valuable
inventions across the international markets. One
possible reason of patenting of single invention by the
assignees in more than one country is to avoid double
counting of single invention filed in different patent
offices.35 Estimation of future resource requirements
based on data on patent flows between countries of
Table 4 Top ten patent families
first filing and countries of subsequent filings may be
another reason for patent applications in more than
one country.35
Patent Citation Analysis
A patent document has two types of citations:
backward citation and forward citation. If a patent
document A mentions the prior arts X,Y, M and Z
as references,- these documents are considered as
backward citations of A. When each of the other
documents B, C, and D mentions A as a prior
art for each of them, those three documents are known
as forward citations of A.
Generally, an invention with higher number of
backward citations lacks novelty because prior work
was already done on the subject matter of the
invention.36 On the other hand, the more forward
citations, the more new patent documents are
generated from the original invention and the original
patent document is considered as economically
valuable.37
Table 5a exhibits top ten patent documents with
most backward citations. Although, Johnson &
Johnson groups and Tyco Healthcare are listed among
major patent holders, but Table 5a indicates that the

Document ID Family numbers Assignee Subject matter

US 5681300 521 The Procter & Gamble Company Absorbent article having blended absorbent core
EP 0841359 80 Ethicon Inc Hydrogels of absorbable polyoxaesters
WO 2013109666 77 Eastman Chemical Company End-products incorporating short-cut micro-fibers
US 7901705 68 Tyco Healthcare Group Antimicrobial releasing polymers
US 3598123 41 Alza Corporation Bandage for administering drugs
US 5620786 40 Isolyser Co Inc Hot soluble gauzes
WO 2001037922 30 Hill Rom Services Inc Wound treatment apparatus
WO 2006115547 29 Dendritic Nanotechnologies Inc Dendritic polymers with enhanced amplification and
interior functionality
EP 0567704 22 NDM Acquisition Corp (US) Hydrogel gauze
US 20050038472 21 Icon Interventional Systems, Inc Sutures and surgical staples for wound closures

Table 5a Top ten patents with most backward citations

Document ID Backward Assignee Subject matter Priority

citations year
EP 1641966 277 Eastman Chemical Company Fibrous article production 2003
US 7866471 109 Tyco Healthcare Group Medical system with skin applicator 2011
US 6465709 76 Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies Exothermic bandage 1999
US 5260066 71 Srchem Incorporated Cryogel bandage containing therapeutic agent 1992
US 7901705 68 Tyco Healthcare Group anti-microbial releasing polymer 2006
US 8137268 54 Van Lue Veterinary Surgical Magnetic surgical reactor 2005
US 5487889 49 University of Akron Bandage for continuous biological application 1992
US 7703674 43 Patient Safety Technologies System for surgical counting 2005
US 5620786 40 Isolyser Co Inc Hot water soluble sponges and gauzes 1994
US 4161176 37 Frederick Earl Harris, II Color adoptable bandage 1977
46 J INTELLEC PROP RIGHTS, JANUARY 2015

Table 5b Top ten patents with most forward citations

Document ID Backward Assignee Subject matter Priority
citations year
US 3598123 833 Alza Corporation Bandage for administering drugs 1969
US 4275721 298 Landstingens Inkopscentral Lic, Ekonomisk Vein catheter bandage 1978
Forening
US 4733659 246 Seton Company Foam bandage 1986
US 3996934 216 Alza Corporation Medical bandage with backing member and a 1971
reservoir for drug
US 3739773 158 American Cynamide Co Polyglycolic acid as a gauze to treat burn 1963
US 3991766 147 American Cynamide Co controlled release of medicaments in the form of 1973
gauze
US 4641643 110 Leland H Greer Resealing skin bandage 1986
US 4398545 104 Cyclotechnical Medical Industries Pain blocking bandage 1979
US 5260066 90 Srchem Incorporated Cryogel bandage containing therapeutic agent 1992
US 3875937 37 American Cynamide Co Surgical dressing of absorbable polymers 1963

inventions of said patent holders lack novelty.
Additionally, the information may enlighten on the
nature of licenses. It may also inform about
cooperative R&D which is useful to mitigate the
difficulties generated by foreign intellectual property
system. More importantly, it might update about
knowledge acquisition. A French study observes a
relation between knowledge acquisition and backward
citations per patent, but this relation is affected by the
economical standard of a country.38
The study also lists top ten patent documents with
most forward citations in Table 5b. Even several
patent documents are issued in the name of big MNCs
such as Johnson & Johnson, Alcare Co Ltd., Ethicon,
Smith and Nephew, BSN Medical and Medical
Actions Industries, but mean forward citations of
neither of the key players exceeded 15 which
interprets that the inventions from major players are
not economically valuable than inventions from Alza
Corporations, Seton Company, or American
Cynamide Co.
IPC categorizes the fields of researches. A forward-
citation analysis with respect to the IPC was
performed to understand the quality of invention in
several fields of medical cotton technology. Although
A61F, A61L, B65D were the most favored fields
among the researchers, economically valuable
inventions are observed under A61K, C12N, A61L,
and G09B.
Patent Analysis with respect to Technology
Development of medicated absorption gauze,
detection of medical gauze during surgical operation,
easy insertion or removal of medical gauze from
wound-site, automatic counting of gauze, production
of sanitary napkin and pad, development of bandage
and its features, and the applications of bandage to
treat serious abnormalities are the main contents for
most of the patents. In this study, development of
medicated absorption gauze ranks first (33%)
followed by applications of bandages for serious
medical problems (27%), production of bandage and
its features (6%), sanitary napkin and pad (6%), easy
insertion and removal of surgical implements from
wound-site (2%), detection of medical gauze during
medical operation (1%), and automatic counting of
gauze (1%), respectively. Key inventions and
emergent technologies are discussed below.
The study found that medicated gauze had
contained aliantoin, a Centella asiatica extract as an
active ingredient. Aliantoin, promoted cell division,
encouraged the growth of connective tissue, bone,
cartilage and accelerated the healing of wounds39
whereas Centella asiaitica enthused the maturation of
by production of Type- I collagen.40 Generally gauze
or bandage would cover the wound site and absorbs
the secretions from wound-site. The absorbent
material were prepared from a group consisting of
fabrics, natural fibers, synthetic fibers, and cellulose
derivative or the combinations of thereof.41 The
hydrogel material stopped the wound-site from drying
out, therefore, several hydrogel gauze products such
as Kendall42, DermaGauze43, AQUASITE44 etc.
became available in the market. This study
documented that the aqueous mixture of hydrogel
material comprised of polyhydric alcohol (0%-90%
by weight), aliphatic diisocyanate terminated
prepolymer (6%-60% by weight), polyethylene oxide
based polyamine (4%-40% by weight), and sodium
chloride (0%-2% by weight). These constituents were
impregnated within absorbent layer to prepare
hydrogel gauze.41
 PANJA et al.: GLOBAL RESEARCH ON MEDICAL COTTON - PATENT LANDSCAPE STUDY
Bio-absorption is the property where the implant
material within the body is automatically absorbed.45
For rapid stoppage of bleeding and the bio-absorption,
an American company Lifescience Plus, Inc. (2008)
introduced a bio-absorbable hemostatic gauze which
mainly constituted of one or more species of chitosan
(85%-95% deacetylated decrystallized chitosan),
etherized cellulose, nonionic surfactant, water-soluble
polysaccharide hydrocolloid and/or gum.46 The
cellulose material mainly selected from hydroxy
propyl cellulose, methyl hydroxy cellulose, methyl
hydroxy ethyl cellulose, and mixtures thereof in the
approximate proportions of 1:2:1.5.46 HemoStyp47
and Celox48 are well-known bio-absorbable gauze
products in healthcare industry.
The insertion of gauze becomes easy by sewing
and fixing the gauze center wound into a roll with a
thread extending from the roll end is useful to prevent
misplacement or making the gauze taken out of the
body easy. It is sometimes problematic to detect
gauze whether left in wound-site after the medical
operation or enters to the internal organ. To avoid this
problem, a team of Japanese inventors (1998)
attached metallic materials with the plain gauze which
could be detected by an electronic metallic detector
without touching the gauze based on the principle of
eddy current. The above procedure became useful to
detect not only gauze, but also to check whether any
surgical instrument is left in wound-site.49
A European patent (2001) made a bandage which
included more than one absorbent layer. First
absorption layer which was arranged on the patient
skin, absorbed fluid. Second layer which was placed on
the first layer, had great propensity to absorb from first
layer. Third layer with same or less absorbency from
first layer placed over second layer and permitted the
skin to breathe.50 A new technology was documented
where the user would observe the thorough healing
process through the transparent portion of the
bandage.51 A couple of studies were performed on the
compressive force exerted by bandage on the wound-
site. Another new technology on bandage included a
rupturable strip having encapsulated fluid. The strip
was so arranged between the injured part and the outer
surface of the bandage that the bandage ruptured when
the bandage was applied tightly indicating the release
of fluid.52 Rolling of bandage after use, miniaturization
of bandage during the unused state, the packaging and
storing of gauze or bandage also were the subject
matters of invention.
47
In this study, the researchers found inventions on
polyester made injury recovery garments, radiation
protective garments, therapeutic support garments to
supply therapeutic heat or cold to female breasts,
garments to accommodate drainage apparatus or to
receive catheter, disposable sanitary pad, sanitary
napkin having three dimensionally shaped tube of
absorbent material, napkin having perfume bearing
release agents, and garments to prevent diaper rash
caused by fecal enzymes.
Making of cleansing pad from cotton wool was
also described as a content of an invention. A cotton
wool cleansing pad constituted a panel of
hydroentangled cotton material with dry weight of
50-400 g/m2 saturated with a cleansing liquid.53
Hydroentaglement54 is a method of entanglement of
loose fibers on a porous belt or moving perforated
screen for making sheet by feeding the fibers to
multiple rows of high-pressure jets of water. The
particular steps in hydroentanglement process are a)
precursor web formation, b) web entanglement, c)
water circulation; and d) web drying. Another
invention showed that the pad with absorption
capacity included water impermeable first layer, water
permeable second layer and an absorbing pad member
placed in between them. The absorbing pad
memberane was made up of cotton and super-
absorbing polymer fiber.55 The super-absorbent
polymers were developed from acrylic acid and a
crosslinker by a solution or a suspension
polymerization.56 Application of cotton for
manufacturing diaper was also observed. A wetness
sensor comprising an antenna and two electrodes is
attached with the diaper and a non-linear element.
When the resistance between two electrodes decrease
during wet condition, the coupling between non-linear
element and antenna increase resulting in the rise of
harmonics which is detected by receiver and the
receiver ultimately triggers the alarm.57
Several researches carried out on the medicines
which applied on the bandage surface. A medicine
was prepared from the mixture of (a) wax selected
from a group composed of paraffin and/or montan
wax, petroleum wax, Fischer-Tropisch wax,
polyolefine wax, petrolatum, wax alcohol, and
(b) at least, one kind of metal hydroxide which was
administered on the surface of bandage for treatment
of bone injury.58 Later, another invention from Japan
(2006) prepared an antiseptic material comprised of
synthetic elastomer fiber interwoven with an
48 J INTELLEC PROP RIGHTS, JANUARY 2015
absorptive fiber and at least one kind of antiseptic
agent.59 Present study recorded that bandages were
invented on the basis of locations of injuries of thumb
and finger, sarco-illiac joints, skin, veins, stomach,
protruding portion of the body, knee-ankle, elbow
and/or wrist, breast, eyeball, oral mucous membrane,
facial parts such as, nose, chin, and ears. Other works
were found on bandages for treating leg ulcers,
eczema, mastoiditis, lymphedemas, postoperative
hemostasis and hernia.
However, waist warming bandage, structure for
replacing bandage, multipurpose adhesive bandage,
magnetically triggered bandage, electrets medical
bandage formed by fluoroplastic electrets diaphragm
and medical gauze, piezoelectric sensor based
abdominal bandage, wound treatement system
comprising control unit connected to sensor and
actuator, and diaper with urine collector were found
as emergent technologies.
Strength and Weaknesses of Global Research
Strength
i) Global demand of gauze, bandage, diaper,
sanitary napkins, surgical garments,
medicated tapes;
ii) Cheap and easy manufacturing process;
iii) Wide scope of research- several IPCs
indicated its wide extent of research;
iv) Steady growth of research till 2010;
v) USA and Japan as the prolific countries- most
inventions were filed from these countries;
vi) Maximum interest shown by industrial
organization in invention; and
vii) Collaboration between individual investors
and industrial organization;
Weaknesses
i) Filing of just 2 patent documents in the last
year;
ii) No trace of research from African continents;
iii) Germany and Asian countries are not
specialized in medical cotton research;
iv) Low contributions from academic
organizations; and
v) Expiry of strong inventions Table 5b
documented that patents with higher forward
citations are already expired
White-Space Analysis and Future Research
It is a thorough analysis of patent documents
pertaining to particular domain of technology. It
shows the growth of technology and pinpoints
White-Space Area where further research is required
to achieve a competitive edge and to conduct an
incremental innovation for new product
development.60
Following areas are identified for further research:
i) Apparatus or hand tools for applying liquids or
fluent materials to a surface looms, woven
fabrics, method of weaving
ii) Shaping clay or other ceramic compound, slag
or mixture consisting of cemetitious materials
such as plaster
iii) Shaping or joining of plastics
iv) Mechanical methods or apparatus in preparing
of threads
v) Electrical data processing and counting
mechanism such as, counting of surgical
implement
vi) Appliances for teachings, models
vii) Packaging articles of materials
viii) Disposal of wastes such as, water soluble
gauzes or bandages
ix) Prevention of micro-organisms on cotton
materials or preparation of enzymatic bandage
x) Chemical or physical processes and apparatus
xi) Finishing, dressing, tendering or stretching
textile materials
xii) Paper making
xiii) Coating compositions and layered products
xiv) Therapy apparatus
Indias Effort on Medical Cotton
Development of medical field of a country does not
depend only on traditional knowledge, but on new
inventions. Therefore, an attempt was made to
analyze Indias endeavor on medical cotton
technology. Field search from WIPO database provide
three options such as inventors data, applicant
nationality and priority country. Additionally, Indias
official patent database IPIndia exhibited separate
options for each of granted patents and published
applications. Using these options and keywords
mentioned in the methodology, a total of 74 relevant
patent documents were ultimately retrieved. A
separate analysis on 74 relevant documents was
conducted to get primary evidence about the Indias
position to the medical cotton technology.
Most of the inventions worked on multi layered
gauze pads for dialysis. Other inventions documented
adhesive bandage having pressure sensitive adhesive
pad and a wound protecting pad, bandage with
 PANJA et al.: GLOBAL RESEARCH ON MEDICAL COTTON - PATENT LANDSCAPE STUDY
enhanced haemostatic effect, wound healing agents,
cellulose nanofibre for wound healing, ointment for
joining of broken bones, multi-layered bandage, flexible
U-shaped bandage for dental application, herbal crepe
bandage, novel textile for treatment of asthma, elastic
latex band made to support fractured limbs, and
antimicrobial ointment for bandage. Patent timeline
analysis exhibited that first-filing of patent application
relevant to medical cotton recorded in 1987 and
maximum filings (21%) were registered in 2005
whereas highest publications (15%) were found in both
of 2004 and 2009. After 1987, no such filing on relevant
technology was known till 2000 although a positive
trend was exhibited from 2003 to 2011. Unfortunately,
no evidence of recent filing was informed.
Most individual investors (37%) played as key
assignee. Apart from them, Amity University and
Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific
Research worked on relevant technologies. Big
industries like, Johnson & Johnson Limited, Panacea
Biotech Ltd, Arrow Coated Products Ltd. and Aquasol
Limited showed the interest for filing of patents in India.
Collaboration was observed between Aquasol Limited
and Arrow Coated Products Ltd. Several Indians were
found working abroad such as Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, BSN Medical Inc., Nobel Fiber
Technologies Llc, Dsm Ip Assets B V, University Of
Maryland, Dow Chemical, Cipla Limited, and Columbia
University. A report published by WIPO (2007)
indicates that few Indian universities encourage projects
within universities and most of the collaborations are
taken place in the form of consultancies although those
consultancies do not engage to large-scale projects. The
same study also remarks that Indian universities are not
fully aware of the importance of intellectual property
rights (IPR) thereby, rate of inventions are low in India.
University- Industry relation is needed to escalate the
rate of inventions.61
Conclusion
Although, the present study has unearthed
significant results, it has several limitations. Firstly,
different combinations of keywords were used to
retrieve the patent documents; other useful
combinations of keywords might be ignored. Besides,
some patent documents were observed where the
subject-matter was written in non-English languages
even machine translation did not provide proper
meaning. In our search strategy, duplicate patent
documents were generally avoided. But some
duplicate documents were found with minor
49
modifications of complete specifications, hence the
researchers encountered difficulties to avoid those
duplicate documents. Further, database such as PAJ
did not disclose entire complete specification except
bibliographic information and abstract which are not
adequate for proper understanding of an invention.
Acknowledgement
Authors are grateful to Goutam Laboratories- Imaging
and Research Centre, Kolkata for providing the
opportunity to conduct the research. Additionally, authors
also appreciate P Majumder and Associates, Kolkata for
supplying resources for a successful research.
References
1 Warrier R & Tripathi K K, Biology of Gossypium spp. (Cotton),
http://igmoris.nic.in/Files2%5CBiologyDocuments%5CBiology
_of_Cotton.pdf (accessed 19 May 2014).
2 Gayal S G, Absorbent cotton from non-splinable fibres by
eco-friendly means, http://www.cicr.org.in/research_notes/
Absorbent_cotton.pdf (accessed 19 May 2014).
3 Project report on surgical absorbent cotton, Ministry of Micro,
Small & Medium Enterprises, Government of India, 2010,
http://dcmsme.gov.in/reports/SurgicalAbsorbentCotton.pdf
(accessed 19 May 2014).
4 Kanamori H et al., Measurement of (1-3)--D-Glucan
derived from different gauze types, The Tohoku Journal of
Experimental Medicine, 217 (2) (2009) 117-121.
5 Shanmugasundaram O L & Gowda R V Mahendra,
Development and characterization of bamboo and organic
cotton fibre blended baby diaper, Indian Journal of Fibre &
Textile Research (IJFTR), 35 (3) (2010) 201-205.
6 Detailed feasibility analysis of gauze, bandages and
absorbent cotton for Ministry of Economic Affairs, Royal
Government of Bhutan, http://www.moea.gov.bt/documents/
files/pub9pd8630bc.pdf (accessed 19 May 2014).
7 Bandaging and splinting, Field Manual 8-50, Headquarters
Department of the Army-USA, 1957.
8 Hyun K H, Woman's sanitary napkin, USA, US Pat No
5383868 (Kwang H Hyun), 24 January 1995.
9 Lamb K A, Reusable multi-layered diaper with wicking
action, USA, US Pat No 4573987 (KW Marketing
Incorporated, Miami Lakes), 4 March 1986.
10 Holliday C S & Holliday D A, Washable for infant, USA, US
Pat No 4978345 (C S Holliday and D A Holliday, USA), 18
December 1990.
11 Kai K et al., Liquid sensor and body fluid leak sensing
device comprising the same, Japan, US Pat No 6433695
(Sanwa Newtech Co Ltd, Nipro Corporation, Japan), 13
August 2002.
12 Sastry K R, Rashmi H B & Rao N H, Nanotechnology
patents as R&D indicators for disease management strategies
in agriculture, Journal of Intellectual Property Rights, 15
(2010) 197-205.
13 Ganguli P, Intellectual property systems in scientifically
capable developing countries: Emerging options, Journal of
Intellectual Property Rights, 9 (2004) 24-33.
14 Yerger G V, Surgical apparatus for fractured or injured
ankles, USA, US Pat No 6214 A, 20 March 1849.
50 J INTELLEC PROP RIGHTS, JANUARY 2015
15 Hoffman F, Improved supporting-bandage, US Pat No 87932 A,
16 March 1869.
16 Goldsghmidt S, Improvement in surgical bandages, German,
US Pat No 222690, 16 December 1879.
17 Lubin L T J, Elastic bandage for varicose veins, USA, US Pat
No 366590 A, 12 July 1887.
18 Baughhman J S, Head-bandage, USA, US Pat No 649896 A,
22 May 1900.
19 Taylor J, The case of Sir J. Sambrooke ... Fairly ... Stated,
Containing a Full and Exact Account of the ... Disorder in
the Eye of this Gentleman, ... a Faithful Relation of ... His
Cure, Etc, London, 1743, p. 4-26.
20 White C & Lloyd G, An Account of a Remarkable Operation on
a Broken Arm; By Mr. Charles White, Surgeon at Manchester,
Communicated by George Lloyd, Esq; F. R. S., Philosophical
Transactions (1683-1775), Vol 51 (1759-1760) (1760) 657-660,
http://www.jstor.org/stable/105407 (accessed 21 May 2014).
21 Gamgee J S, The Plaster of Paris bandage, Assoc Med J,
2(91) (1854) 882-883.
22 Martin H A, The India-rubber bandage for ulcers and other
diseases of the legs, Br Med J, 2 (930) (1878) 624-626.
23 Burzotta F et al., Management and timing of access-site
vascular complications occurring after trans-radial
percutaneous coronary procedures, International Journal of
Cardiology, 167 (5) (2013) 1973-1978.
24 Uhl J-F et al., Where should stiffness be measured in vivo?
Veins and Lymphatics, 2 (2013) 13-15, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/
10.4081/vl.2013.e5.
25 Relative Specialization Index, http://www.ipo.gov.uk/
informatics-graphene-2013.pdf (accessed 7 June 2014).
26 http://www.jnjredcross.com/first-aid-cover-gauze (accessed
21 May 2014).
27 http://www.smith-nephew.com/new-zealand/healthcare/
products/product-types/bandages/compression-bandages/
(accessed 21 May 2014).
28 http://www.hsbwebsite.com/store/index.php/wound-care/ gauze-
sponges-bandages-drapes/hsb-339.html (accessed 21 May 2014).
29 http://www.bsnmedical.co.uk/products/category-product-search.
html (accessed 21 May 2014).
30 http://www.alcare.co.jp/e/medical/product/pdf/Surgical%20T
ape_EN.pdf (accessed 22 May 2014).
31 http://www.medical-action.com/catalog/businessline.asp?id=4
(accessed 22 May 2014).
32 Thier D, More than $20 Billion Spent on Patent Litigation in
Two Years, 2012 http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidthier/
2012/10/08/in-two-years-the-smartphone-industry-has-
spent-more-than-20-billion-spent-on-patent-litigation/
(accessed 22 May 2014).
33 International Patent Classification (IPC), WIPO,
http://www.wipo.int/classifications/ipc/en/ (accessed 7 June 2014).
34 Patent families, Espacenet, http://www.epo.org/searching/
essentials/patent-families.html (accessed 7 June 2014).
35 Martinez C, Patent families: When do different definitions
really matter?, Scientometrics, 86 (1) (2011) 39-63.
36 Czarnitzki D et al., Why Challenge the Ivory tower? New
Evidence on the Basicness of academic patents, Discussion
Paper No. 09-029, 2009, ftp://ftp.zew.de/pub/zew-
docs/dp/dp09029.pdf (accessed 7 June 2014).
37 Lewin J S, http://www.appropriations.senate.gov/sites/default/
files/hearings/Academy%20of%20Radiology%20Research%
20-%20OWT.pdf (accessed 7 June 2014).
38 Duget E & MacGarvie M, How well do patent citations
measure flows of technology? Evidence from French
innovation surveys, Cahiers de la MSE EUREQua, 49
(2003) 3-30.
39 Barbakadze V et al., Allantoin and Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids-
Free wound healing compositions from Symphytum asperum,
Bulletin of the Georgian National Academy of Sciences, 3 (1)
(2009) 159-164.
40 Widgerow A D et al., New innovations in scar management,
Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, 24 (3) (2000) 227-234.
41 Cartmel J V et al., Hydrogel gauze, USA, EP Pat No
0567704 (New Dimensions In Medicine, USA), 4 july 1995.
42 http://www.kendallpatientcare.com/pageBuilder.aspx?topicID=69
492&breadcrumbs=154342:0,155065:0 (accessed 27 May 2014).
43 http://www.dermarite.com/woundcare/dermagauze (accessed
27 May 2014).
44 http://www.dermasciences.com/aquasite-hydrogel/aquasite-
impregnated-gauze-sterile/ (accessed 27 May 2014).
45 Bioabsorption, wikitionary, http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/
bioabsorption (accessed 7 June 2014).
46 Feng V et al., Bioabsorbable hemostatic gauze, USA,
US Pat Appl No 20070104769A1 (LifeScience Plus
Inc,USA), 10 May 2007.
47 http://www.unitedhealthproductsinc.com/FAQ.html
(accessed 27 May 2014).
48 https://www.macgill.com/ProductDetail/14113-Celox-Gauze
-Roll-5-x-3 (accessed 27 May 2014).
49 Takenaka M et al., Gauze for medical operation, Japan, JP
Pat No 10277082 A (Unitika Ltd, Japan).
50 Bennett P & Cracknell I D, Bandage, EP Pat No 1154743 A1
(Neopress Limited).
51 Pope R A, Transparent bandage, USA, US Pat No 3425412 A
(Pope RA, USA), 4 February 1969.
52 Simjian L G, Bandage, USA, US Pat No 4776331 A
(Command Automation Inc, USA), 11 October 1988.
53 Mccloskey E, A cleansing pad, WO Pat Appl No 2005009191
A1 (Edmark Ltd and E Mckloskey), 3 February 2005.
54 Kamath M G, Dahiya A & Hegde R R, SPUNLACE
(HYDROENTANGLEMENT), http://www.engr.utk.edu/mse/
Textiles/Spunlace.htm (accessed 28 May 2014).
55 Conio G & Mantovani G, Matrix-construction padded
absorbing article and making method therefore, Italy, EP Pat
Appl No 2377501 A3 (Corman S P A), 22 February 2012.
56 Pytlik E, Molino D & Moritz J, Superabsorbent polymers,
http://www.eng.buffalo.edu/Courses/ce435/Diapers/Diapers.
html (accessed 28 May 2014).
57 Mahgerefteh N & Schleicher I D, Remote sensor wetness for
diapers, Israel, US Pat No 5570082 (N Mahgerefteh , and I D
Schleicher, Israel), 29 October 1996.
58 Muehlbauer W & Raine L, Mixture for injury bandage,
JP Pat No 11226112A (Ernst Muehlbauer KG).
59 Downs S A & Hoang M Q, Antiseptic compressive bandage,
JP Pat No 2008036387 A (Becton Dickinson Co).
60 White-space or Technology Gap Research,
IPCalculus, http://www.ipcalculus.com/white_space.html
(accessed 7 June 2014).
61 Technology transfer, intellectual property and effective
university-industry partnerships, WIPO, 2007,
http://www.wipo.int/freepublications/en/intproperty/928/wip
o_pub_928.pdf (accessed 7 June 2014).