DuPont marks milestone

Wilmington, Del. – The Department of Commerce’s United States Patent and Trademark Office has awarded U.S. Patent 7,000,000 to DuPont senior researcher John P. O’Brien for inventing polysaccharide fibers.

Polysaccharide fibers are “cotton-like” fibers derived from biologically based renewable resources. They are biodegradable and suitable for use in textiles. The patent issued for polysaccharide fibers is the 33,801st U.S. patent awarded to DuPont since company founder E.I. du Pont was granted U.S. Patent No. 590 in 1804 for a “machine for granulating gunpowder.” DuPont and its affiliates ranked second worldwide with the most biotechnology patents approved by the USPTO in 2004, according to the publication Nature Biotechnology.

O’Brien, 54, has been a polymer chemist with DuPont since 1978. He holds 15 patents for his research in the areas of advanced composites; high-performance fibers, including developmental work on DuPont Kevlar; and bio-based materials.

“The realm of materials science is as exciting today as it was during the fibers revolution,” O’Brien says. “USP 7,000,000 embodies many of the elements of an exciting new frontier, one that is at the interface between biological science and materials science.”

Polysaccharide fibers, like Bio-PDO – the key ingredient in the new DuPont Sorona polymer, can be made from renewable resources such as corn. The manufacture of Bio-PDO is done using a new biological process that requires over 40 percent less total energy than alternative petrochemical-based processes. Bio-PDO and Sorona will be commercially available later this year.

“Protection of intellectual property via our patent system is key to maintaining the competitiveness of U.S. industry,” says senior vice president and chief science and technology officer Thomas M. Connelly, Jr. “We are honored to receive this milestone patent today, which recognizes our efforts to use renewable resources and biology to create innovative products that are sustainable and can begin to reduce the world’s reliance on fossil fuels. This is another notable recognition of DuPont’s state-of-the-art efforts in developing the field of industrial biotechnology.”