[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 115 (Monday, June 16, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34323-34324]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-14037]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

National Institutes of Health


Prospective Grant of Exclusive License for: Silica-Coated 
Fluorescent Nanodiamond Probes and Devices and Systems for Imaging 
Fluorescent Nanodiamonds

AGENCY: National Institutes of Health, HHS.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This is notice, in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 209 and 37 CFR 
part 404, that the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Department of 
Health and Human Services, is contemplating the grant of an exclusive 
worldwide license to practice the inventions embodied in: HHS Ref. No. 
E-175-2012/0 ``Method for Preparing Silica-Coated Nanodiamonds;'' US 
Provisional Patent Application 61/672,996 filed July 18, 2012; 
International Patent Application PCT/US2013/050779 filed July 17, 2013, 
and HHS Ref. No. E-261-2012 ``Background-Free Imaging By Selective 
Modulation of Nanodiamond Fluorescence Using A Magnetic Field;'' US 
Provisional Patent Application 61/711,702 filed October 9, 2012 and 
U.S. Non-Provisional Patent Application 14/049,096 filed October 8, 
2013 to Bikanta Corporation, a Delaware Corporation, having a principal 
place of business at 6694 Cedar Boulevard, Newark CA 94560.
    The United States of America is an assignee of the patent rights 
pertaining to these inventions.
    The contemplated exclusive license may be in fields of use directed 
to:
    (a) Devices and systems for imaging magnetically-modulated 
nanodiamond probes, and
    (b) Sales of silica-coated nanodiamond probes for non-clinical uses 
for a term not to exceed five (5) years.

DATES: Only written comments and/or applications for a license that are 
received by the NIH Office of Technology Transfer on or before July 16, 
2014 will be considered.

ADDRESSES: Requests for a copy of the patent application, inquiries, 
comments and other materials relating to the contemplated license 
should be directed to: Michael Shmilovich, Esq, CLP, Senior Licensing 
and Patent Manager, Office of Technology Transfer, National Institutes 
of Health, 6011 Executive Boulevard, Suite 325, Rockville, MD 20852-
3804; Telephone: (301) 435-5019; Facsimile: (301) 402-0220; Email: 
[email protected]. A signed confidential disclosure agreement may 
be required to receive copies of the patent application assuming it has 
not already been published under either the publication rules of either 
the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office or the World Intellectual Property 
Organization.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

E-175-2012/0

    The invention pertains to a robust and easily implemented method of 
synthesizing silica-coated nanodiamonds for imaging and therapeutic 
applications. The method generally includes coating nanodiamonds with a 
silica precursor, e.g, tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS), inside 
liposomes. The liposomes are then removed to yield a final product that 
is stable, monodisperse, and easy to functionalize.

E-261-2012/0

    The technology pertains to a method of imaging a biological 
specimen (e.g., human tissue) using fluorescent nanodiamonds implanted 
into the subject of interest, applying a magnetic field to said subject 
and producing a resultant image by a net juxtaposition of a second 
acquired image. This process suppresses the background and permits 
selective imaging of the nanodiamonds in the presence of background 
fluorescence that exceeds the signal from the nanodiamonds. Another 
aspect of the invention provides an imaging

[[Page 34324]]

method in which the resulting image is acquired by applying time-
varying magnetic fields using one or more secondary image averaged 
against the first. The technique relies on imposing a small (~100 
Gauss) magnetic field on the sample of interest during optical imaging 
combined with post-processing of the acquired images to remove the 
background. This technology can readily be added onto any commercial 
optical imaging platform to achieve background-free images of the 
nanodiamonds in a biological specimen.
    The prospective exclusive license will be royalty-bearing and 
comply with the terms and conditions of 35 U.S.C. 209 and 37 CFR part 
404. The prospective exclusive license may be granted unless, within 
thirty (30) days from the date of this published notice, NIH receives 
written evidence and argument that establishes that the grant of the 
license would not be consistent with the requirements of 35 U.S.C. 209 
and 37 CFR part 404.
    Properly filed competing applications for a license filed in 
response to this notice will be treated as objections to the 
contemplated license. Comments and objections submitted in response to 
this notice will not be made available for public inspection, and, to 
the extent permitted by law, will not be released under the Freedom of 
Information Act, 5 U.S.C. 552.

    Dated: June 11, 2014.
Richard U. Rodriguez,
Director, Division of Technology Development and Transfer, Office of 
Technology Transfer, National Institutes of Health.
[FR Doc. 2014-14037 Filed 6-13-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-P