Remebering Dr. Robert Curl

In my recent fullerene patent post, I mentioned writing a future related entry about Dr. Robert Curl’s patented inventions with Rice. A fellow librarian recommended contacting Dr. Curl directly; I immediately emailed him hoping to ask questions about his patents and inventions. I was truly excited about the opportunity to talk with such an incredible scientist! A post with actual quotations given to me, by THE Dr. Curl—my head was almost spinning.

A few days later, I heard the news of his passing.

Rice University has lost one of its scientific giants.

"Dr. Robert Curl, Jr., Rice University." (1980) Rice University: https://hdl.handle.net/1911/93898.

Among Fondren’s staff, Dr. Curl is remembered for his incredible kindness. Debra Kolah, who suggested reaching out to Dr. Curl, remembers “he was unfailingly kind” and an avid supporter of Fondren who “contributed so much useful feedback for the library over the years.” When the library was making decisions about what to move to the new Library Service Center, “he was engaged, and had fantastic ideas about how to balance the needs of researchers, with the need for creating space for new collection growth.”

Robert Sabin, Fondren’s Science and Engineering Librarian, remembers Dr. Curl’s attention to detail, “even noticing minute cataloging errors in the online catalog.” Sabin reflected fondly on these instances, saying “[l]eave it to Dr. Curl to find these minuscule errors”.

Many at Rice remember Dr. Curl riding his bicycle on campus. Read about his request for a new rack from the president here.

Though Dr. Curl is most famous for his role in the discovery of carbon fullerenes, which earned the 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, he continued to contribute to the advancement of science elsewhere while at Rice. Most of Dr. Curl’s work concerned spectra and spectroscopy, which is reflected in his patents.

"Dr. Robert Curl with model buckyball." (1996) Rice University: https://hdl.handle.net/1911/71433.

During the 2000s, Dr. Curl worked with three teams to obtain a total of five patents (I still don’t know why he wasn’t listed as an inventor on any of the early fullerene process patents; I had hoped to learn about it from him). The first patent awarded to him and three Baylor College of Medicine scientists was US 6995841, Pulsed-Multiline Excitation for Color-Blind Fluorescence Detection. It encompassed two later iterations, US 7511811 and US 8089628. The technology invented, Pulse-Multiline Excitation (PME), was associated with using spectroscopy in genetic analysis.

In 2010, Dr. Curl, Rice engineering professor Dr. Frank Tittel, and Princeton’s Dr. Gerard Wysocki were granted US patent 7733924, Piezo Activated Mode Tracking System for Widely Tunable Mode-hop-free External Cavity Mid-IR Semiconductor Lasers. The research was supported NASA.

The next year, Dr. Curl and Anatoliy Kosterev obtained US patent 8009293, Modulation Cancellation Method in Laser Spectroscopy.

Of these five patents, the innovations of four would influence or form the basis for dozens of future US patents. 6995841 alone is cited in 44, 7511811 is cited by six, 8089628 by four and 7733924 three (with some overlap). Those patents were filed by teams across the world—China, England, South Korea, Germany, Japan—and owned by entities varying from Princeton University to Fujifilm to Samsung to Ricoh, to name a few.

Dr. Curl has impacted how we watch TV, how we print paper copies, and how we diagnose diseases. He was also “a true friend” to Robert Sabin, and admired colleague of many at Rice.

Why Fullerenes Aren't Patented

If you’re familiar with Rice’s high-profile scientific contributions, you are likely aware that the efficient production method of fullerene, or a “Buckyball”, was discovered by our Richard Smalley and Robert Curl, and Harold Kroto of the University of Sussex. The method is important because it essentially allowed them to discover the C60 form and other uses of fullerenes.

"Dr. Richard E. Smalley and Dr. Robert Curl, posing with a Buckyball." (2000) Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library, Rice University: https://hdl.handle.net/1911/37139.

 

The three of them were awarded the 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their discovery. 

"Richard Smalley receives Nobel Prize." (1996) Rice University: https://hdl.handle.net/1911/71843.

After the team discovered fullerenes, Dr. Smalley proceeded to help Rice University obtain numerous patents throughout the rest of his career. My search listed a total of 79! 

Search results in Patent Public Search for Dr. Smalley and Rice

The first patent for Dr. Smalley and Rice was in 1993, US 5227038A, “Electric Arc Process for Making Fullerenes”; see it here. This, along with the next three (granted in 1994, 1996, and 1997), are all for fullerene-making processes. The rest are focused on carbon nanotubes, which stem from fullerene’s discovery. The last patent granted listing Dr. Smalley as an inventor was granted posthumously, in 2013: US 8562935, “Amplification of Carbon Nanotubes via Seeded-Growth Methods”.

But why wasn't there a patent for the fullerene, the famous Buckyball, itself?

It took me a few minutes to work it out.

Anyone familiar with the rules for patentability—or what can and cannot be patented—probably already guessed (and if not, visit the Research Guide here for more explanation by clicking on the “Patentability” tab).

According to the USPTO and the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP) chapter 2100, natural phenomena cannot be patented. Fullerenes are natural phenomena, and therefore un-patentable.

However, patentability does allow processes, so many of Dr. Smalley and Rice’s patents are for fullerene-related processes.

Collected papers from Richard Smalley’s career with Rice, from the 1970s to his death in 2005, are maintained by the Woodson Research Center. Most of the materials are from 1990 - 2005, the era when his fullerene research was making major waves.

That’s one patent mystery easily solved.

But…

You know what is really curious? Robert Curl isn’t listed as an inventor on any Rice-owned patents related to fullerene work that also list Dr. Smalley. Drs. Curl and Smalley worked together on the team that discovered fullerene production; the eponymous Smalley-Curl Institute combines their names. And Dr. Curl appears in a large number of prior art references within these patents. Did they work together once and then call it quits?

Dr. Curl and Rice have their own patents, let me know if you want to see a future post about them!