Invented Here! 2020
Tenth Anniversary Event
By Kristine Ferrigno, Hamilton Brook Smith Reynolds
This was a very special year for the Invented Here! program. The BPLA event honoring New England’s newest and most innovative technologies celebrated its Tenth Anniversary! Annually, over the last decade, the BPLA’s Invented Here! program has honored hundreds of inventors, showcasing their inventions and educating the public about how the patent system advances science and technology. The BPLA’s Invented Here! program also provides an educational opportunity for the public to meet fascinating innovators and innovations.
So, on Tuesday evening, November 17, 2020, the BPLA presented its annual Invented Here! Awards Ceremony. Due to current circumstances, the event this time was in a virtual format, showcased on a video-based platform called Remo, which allowed participants to have an opportunity to network at virtual tables, located on 2 different floors. Each Honoree had his or her own table and was visited by attendees stopping by to chat via video and learn about the specific invention. The Remo platform allowed the attendees to learn details about the innovations in which they had a special interest, while it also gave the innovators a chance to speak about their creations. This fulfilled the BPLA’s mission of education, service, and community, and attendees learned how the inventions are intended to improve or are already improving the human condition.
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Mark Solomon holding Governor Baker’s Proclamation for Massachusetts Inventors Day, November 17, 2020
A great many hours are spent each year by many people to get this event off the ground. The driving force behind the event are the Invented Here! Co-Chairs: Mark Solomon – Hamilton Brook Smith Reynolds; Aaron Connor – Eli Lilly; and George Jakobsche – Sunstein LLP. The Invented Here! Selection Committee, with the assistance of volunteer judges, had a very difficult task of selecting eighteen patents to recognize at the event of the 78 nominated patents, and then four of those eighteen to be this year’s Featured Honorees. This year’s judges included Aaron Connor; Ariana Harris, David Blau, David Habib, Jill Sloper, Yale Robinson, and Taylor Han. Constance Brennan is an invaluable help as the BPLA website administrator, as well as Judy White, Coreen Cordeiro, and Kristine Ferrigno of Hamilton Brook Smith Reynolds and Kati Ferrante of Sunstein LLP, who handle the logistical issues of planning the Awards Ceremony and supporting it during the evening. Matthew Perkins of Remo supported the Committee’s planning with Remo and provided technical support during the Awards Ceremony. Many thanks go to all.
The Networking portion of the evening was followed by the Welcome Ceremony, which included a few Opening Remarks by Invented Here! co-chair Mark Solomon. Next up was George Jakobsche, Invented Here! co-chair, who, along with Mark Solomon, conducted a roll call of the inventors. When called, each innovator had the opportunity to say a few words about their innovation to the audience.
This segment was followed by the highlight of the evening — an interview session of the four Featured Honorees. Carey Goldberg, host of WBUR’s CommonHealth Section, led a “Fireside Chat” with the four Featured Honorees, asking them to speak in detail about their respective fascinating inventions. These included personal stories about their innovative spirit and the origin and motivation for their inventions. The Audience was encouraged to pose questions to the Featured Honorees, helping to create even more excitement for these amazing inventions.
Carey Goldberg; Christopher Loose; Dr. Hugh Herr; Dr. Steven Spector; Dr. Vasudha Shivamoggi
The 2020 Featured Honorees were:
- Christopher Loose; who represented the Inventors from MIT, Dr. Jeff Karp and Dr. Robert Langer et al., and represented the Licensee (Frequency Therapeutics)
- Dr. Hugh M. Herr; MIT Media Lab
- Dr. Steven J. Spector; The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc.
- Dr. Vasudha Shivamoggi, Rapid7, Inc.
- Sunstein LLP
- Robins Kaplan LLP
- Northeastern University – Center for Research Innovation
- Greenberg Traurig, LLP
- McCarter & English, LLP
- Hamilton Brook Smith Reynolds
2020 Invented Here! Honorees
Patent
Title
Applicant(s)/ Assignee(s)
Inventor(s)
9,474,634 *
Peripheral Neural Interface Via Nerve Regeneration To Distal Tissues
Patent Date: October 25, 2016
MIT Medial Lab
Hugh M. Herr, Ronald R. Riso, Katherine W. Song, Richard J. Casler, Jr., Matthew J. Carty
9,514,573
Diminished reality
Patent Date: December 6, 2016
Dassault Systèmes
Jean-Jacques Grimaud
9,812,152
Systems and Methods for Identifying a Sound Event
Patent Date: November 7, 2017
OtoSense, Inc. (Analog Devices)
Sebastien J. V. Christian
10,036,728
Ultrasensitive Ion Detector Using Carbon Nanotubes or Graphene
Patent Date: July 31, 2018
Northeastern University
Bo Li, Ji Hao, Hyun Young Jung, Yung Joon Jung, Swastik Kar
10,073,099
Methods and Diagnostics for Cancer Detection and Treatment Monitoring
Patent Date: September 11, 2018
University of New England
Srinidi Mohan
10,173,738
Vehicle Having Stabilization System
Patent Date: January 8, 2019
Piaggio Fast Forward, Inc.
Jeffrey Schnapp, Gregory Lynn, Joshua Eldred Elvander, Sasha Priya Hoffman, Suhas Subhaschandra Malghan, Nazareth Ekmekjian, Rossitza Dimitrova Kotelova, Bethanne Altringer, Jamar Bromley
10,324,152 B2
Apparatus for Improving Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Patent Date: June 18, 2019
Trustees of Boston University
Xin Zhang, Stephan Andereson, Guangwu Duan, Xiaoguang Zhao
10,367,254
Space-based Tethered Communication Antenna Array
Patent Date: July 30, 2019
The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc.
Adam J. Greenbaum, Bradley A. Moran,
Robert D. Tingley
10,368,947
Augmented Reality Guidance Systems for Superimposing Virtual Implant Components Onto the Physical Joint of a Patient
Patent Date: August 6, 2019
Philipp K. Lang
Philipp K. Lang
10,401,352
Device and Method for Chemical Analysis
Patent Date: September 3, 2019
Rite Taste, LLC DBA Graphene Dx
Mohammad Taslim, Mohammed Fotouhi, Mehdi Abedi, Reza Mollaaghababa, Bahram Fotouhi, Kashayar Javaherian, Edward Alvin Greenfield
10,405,997
Passive Artificial Knee
Patent Date: September 10, 2019
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Venkata Narayana Murthy Arelekatti, Amos G. Winter, Daniel Scott Dorsch
10,441,755
Catheter with Vessel Lining and Methods for Using Same
Patent Date: October 15, 2019
Cruzar Medsystems, Inc.
Albert K. Chin, Thomas Kramer
10,452,876
Systems and Methods for Asymmetric Backscatter Communications; and Systems and Methods for Backscatter Communication
Patent Date: October 22, 2019
University of Massachusetts
Deepak Ganesan, Pan Hu, Pengyu Zhang
10,470,818
Treatment Devices and Methods
Patent Date: November 12, 2019
Innoblative Designs, Inc.
Robert F. Rioux, Michelle Hasse, Tyler Wanke
10,472,389 B2
Methods of Increasing Protein Purity Using Protein A Based Chromatography
Patent Date: November 12, 2019
EMD Millipore Corporation
Nanying Bian, Melissa Holstein
10,547,629 *
Detecting Malicious Network Activity Using Time Series Payload Data
Patent Date: January 28, 2020
Rapid7, Inc.
Vasudha Shivamoggi, Oliver Keyes
10,568,883 *
Compositions, Systems, And Methods For Generating Inner Ear Hair Cells For Treatment Of Hearing Loss
Patent Date: February 25, 2020
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Jeffrey M. Karp, Robert S. Langer, Xiaolei Yin, Nitin Joshi
10,636,918 *
Single Electron Transistor Triggered by Photovoltaic Diode
Patent Date: April 28, 2020
The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc.
Steven J. Spector, Robin Mark Adrian Dawson, Michael G. Moebius, Benjamin F. Lane
*Featured Honoree