Taking a Monthly Look at NIST’s Amazing Patents

The Technology Partnerships Office (TPO) at NIST plays many roles in the overall support of the federal technology transfer (T2) mission, which involves building and sustaining technology partnering activities between NIST laboratories and NIST stakeholders, to include industry, academia, and other governmental agencies. By doing this, TPO is able to promote U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness across state, local and federal government through efforts by NIST and the Department of Commerce. The T2 professionals working at TPO come from a wide variety of backgrounds and expertise, allowing them to bring their knowledge and experience to help drive forward the federal T2 mission.

A major focal point for TPO is working with NIST researchers to see what innovations are patentable. TPO is fortunate to have subject matter experts in the world of patents to help NIST scientists and engineers by advising the researchers who have innovations to patent, as well as managing NIST's patent portfolio. The TPO staff in charge of this brings together years of experience to be able to best advise their colleagues and set them up for success. Those NIST researchers who get through the process of conceptualizing an idea, discovering an innovation, and then filing for and being granted a patent, deserve to be recognized for their achievement.

This is why, to shine a light on the great minds in the NIST labs and to further promote their achievements, TPO has created a “Patent-of-the-Month” section for their website. This series will call greater attention to the hard work of those who tirelessly research to bring new ideas to fruition. To get an innovation patented can be a long, arduous process, but the patent experts at TPO are here to help by providing guidance and a multitude of resources. For NIST researchers interested in getting their inventions patented, TPO is always there to assist through a cohesive effort to drive the NIST mission forward to try to help propel the U.S. economy. 

The patent of the month for September is “Superconformal Nickel Deposition for Hole Filling;” patent number: 10,508,358. Daniel Josell and Thomas Moffat are the researchers behind this invention.