Technological Potential of Avocado Oil: Prospective Study Based on Patent Documents

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 304-315
Author(s):  
Valente Chaves Gabriela ◽  
Nery Tatiana Barreto Rocha ◽  
Barreto Gabriele de Abreu ◽  
Reis João Henrique de Oliveira ◽  
Cerqueira Jamile Costa ◽  
...  

Background: Avocado (Persea Americana, Mill.), belonging to the Lauraceae family, is considered a tropical fruit originating in Central America, with Mexico being the largest producer in the world. The fruit stands out for its economic potential and high nutritional value and its oil has good commercial value, however, its production is still incipient, being mainly used by the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. Despite producing a significant amount of oil, the avocado seed is still considered a by-product of fruit processing. Methods: Thus, the objective of this work was to evaluate the technological potential of the oil obtained from the avocado and avocado seed through the research and analysis of patent documents available worldwide, in order to identify the main countries that have the technology researched as well as, the main areas of application. We revised all the patents related to acquisition, application and the use of avocado oil. For this, a search was carried out for the database of the Derwent Innovation Index (DII), which compiles the collection of documents published around the world. Results: A total of 144 patent documents were identified, which were evaluated for the country of origin of thepublisher, the type of thepublisher, inventors, rate of publication over time and areas of application. There has been an increase in the number of patents producded as of 2011, which proves it to be a current and interesting technology. The main countries were the United States and the European Union. Conclusion: The documents identified referred to different processes applied to obtain oil, as well as the application for the development of new food, cosmetic and veterinary products. In this way, although incipient, the researched technology proved to be a promising area of research to be explored by universities and companies in view of the characteristics and potential of the product.

Author(s):  
Euzelia Lima de Souza ◽  
Ingrid Lessa Leal ◽  
Marcelo Andres Umsza-Guez ◽  
Bruna Aparecida Souza Machado

Background: Grape (Vitis viniferaL.) is consumed by old world populations in its natural form and is used to produce wine or juice. Currently, China is the largest grape producer in the world. The red grapes stand out because of their phytochemical composition, more specifically their high resveratrol levels. Resveratrol is a compound that has a number of different beneficial effects on health and is mainly used in the food and cosmetic industries. Grape peel is a waste product and new strategies based on nanotechnology can minimize its environmental impact and add value to this residue. Objectives: The first objective of this study was to evaluate the technological potential of utilizing grape peel by researching and analyzing information extracted from patent documents filed worldwide in order to identify the main countries that hold the research technology, the main depositors and inventors, and the main areas of application. The second aim was to research and investigate grape peel products that have been created using nanotechnology. Methods: An analysis of all patented documents related to grape peel processes, products, or different industrial applications that may use nanotechnology was carried out. This was achieved by undertaking a Derwent Innovation Index (DII) database search. Results: A total of 752 patent documents were identified in the surveyed area. These were assessed for depositor country of origin, type of depositor, inventors, evolution of deposits over time, and areas of application. Only 6% of the total represented products and processes in the nanotechnology area. There was a growth in the number of patent filings from 2015, which showed that the researched area is a current and developing technology with new application possibilities. The main depositing countries were China, the United States, and Japan, which dominate the researched technology. The identified documents discussed using grape peel to develop new food, medical and dental products. Conclusion: Over the last few years, different approaches have been suggested for the production of nanoproducts based on grape peel. The results from this study showed that although incipient, nanotechnology is a promising area of research that can be explored by universities and companies because the products could have significant positive characteristics and, even though they are made out of a byproduct, have great application potential.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastian Biba

Abstract As the Sino-American Great Power competition continues to intensify, newly-elected US President Joe Biden's administration now seeks to enlist the support of its allies and partners around the world. As Europe's largest economy and a, if not the, leading voice within the European Union, Germany represents an important puzzle-piece for Biden. But Germany, at least under outgoing chancellor Angela Merkel, has been reluctant to take sides. It is against this backdrop that this article looks into Germany's past and present trilateral relationships with the US and China through the theoretical lens of the so-called strategic triangle approach. Applying this approach, the article seeks to trace and explain German behaviour, as well as to elucidate the opportunities and pitfalls that have come with it. The article demonstrates that Germany's recently gained position as a ‘pivot’ (two positive bilateral relationships) between the US and Chinese ‘wings’ (positive bilateral relations with Germany and negative bilateral relations with each other) is desirable from the perspective of the strategic triangle. At the same time, being pivot is also challenging and hard to maintain. Alternative options, such as entering a US–German ‘marriage’ directed against China, are also problematic. The article therefore concludes that Germany has tough decisions to take going forward.


Author(s):  
Aneta Ejsmont

Building own business is a long-term and laborious process. A person who leads a startup tries to start with building own business by taking first steps toward financial independence. Analyzing conditions in Poland, on average every second startup sells its services abroad, admittedly it is good news, although half of them do not export at all. Half of the startups which export their services and goods generates more than 50% of their revenues outside Poland. Very interesting is the fact that 60% of exporters have conducted their foreign sale since the moment of establishing their business. On which markets do they sell their services? It turns out that the most popular are markets in the European Union (54%), including the United Kingdom 14% and Germany 9%. Only about 25% of Polish startups exports their products and services to the United States. Taking the United States into consideration, in 2008 the USA lost their leading position in the number of startups which are newly created and achieving success in business. Currently in terms of the number of new startups the USA is on a quite distant place after Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Hungary, New Zealand, Israel or Italy. In short, more companies were closed than created, so it was, as a matter of fact, like in Poland. Therefore, the condition to improve the development of startups both from Poland and other countries all the world is to increase cooperation and coopetition.


2021 ◽  
pp. 82-95
Author(s):  
Giancarlo Frosio

This chapter discusses intellectual property (IP) and extra-contractual liability by highlighting general comparative analysis issues within civil and common law systems, with some consideration given also to major theoretical clusters that might influence the different legal regimes. The chapter focuses on emerging issues of extra-contractual liability for intellectual property infringement in the platform economy, with special emphasis on copyright and trademark infringement, seeking to co-ordinate miscellaneous approaches from the United States (US), the European Union (EU), and selected European countries’ experiences. In doing so, this chapter highlights research and methodological issues related to limited harmonization at a regional level in secondary and extra-contractual liability doctrines when applied to IP. Finally, this chapter describes the World Intermediary Liability Maps (WILMap) as an attempt to provide consistency within a fragmented research framework while also presenting other miscellaneous endeavours seeking the same goal.


Equilibrium ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elżbieta Czarny ◽  
Paweł Folfas

We analyse potential consequences of the forthcoming Trade and Investment Partnership between the European Union and the United States (TTIP) for trade orientation of both partners. We do it so with along with the short analysis of the characteristics of the third wave of regionalism and the TTIP position in this process as well as the dominant role of the EU and the U.S. in the world economy – especially – in the world trade. Next, we study trade orientation of the hypothetical region created in result of TTIP. We use regional trade introversion index (RTII) to analyze trade between the EU and the U.S. that has taken place until now to get familiar with the potential changes caused by liberalization of trade between both partners. We analyze RTII for mutual trade of the EU and the U.S. Then, we apply disaggregated data to analyze and compare selected partial RTII (e.g. for trade in final and intermediate goods as well as goods produced in the main sectors of economy like agriculture or manufacturing). The analysis of the TTIP region’s orientation of trade based on the historical data from the period 1999-2012 revealed several conclusions. Nowadays, the trade between the EU and the U.S. is constrained by the protection applied by both partners. Trade liberalization constituting one necessary part of TTIP will surely help to intensify this trade. The factor of special concern is trade of agricultural products which is most constrained and will hardly be fully liberalized even within a framework of TTIP. Simultaneously, both parties are even now trading relatively intensively with intermediaries, which are often less protected than the average of the economy for the sake of development of final goods’ production. The manufactured goods are traded relatively often as well, mainly in consequence of their poor protection after many successful liberalization steps in the framework of GATT/WTO. Consequently, we point out that in many respects the TTIP will be important not only for its participants, but for the whole world economy as well. TTIP appears to be an economic and political project with serious consequences for the world economy and politics.


2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
Saad Khalaf ◽  
Abdul Rahman Abdul Ridha ◽  
Hussein Habeeb

After 2008, a new term appeared on monetary policies after the direct monetary policies failed to reach a solution to the economic deficit that occurred in the economies of many countries, especially after the mortgage crisis that plagued the financial markets in most countries of the world, as these countries tried to reduce the interest rate to Zero or close to it in order to move the economy, but it did not respond despite the fact that the interest rate is the main tool and is considered the control stick in direct monetary policies.  Thus, it became imperative for those countries to use new tools in order to get out of that crisis. Japan is considered the first to use these new policies and solutions before that period, and he is the first to call them indirect monetary policies. These tools were called by many names, including quantitative easing, credit facilitation and others. Many names, but it was the best solution by monetary policy makers for many countries, including the United States of America, the United Kingdom of Britain and the European Union, which represent the most powerful economies in the world,


Author(s):  
Vardan Mkrttchian ◽  
Serge V. Chernyshenko ◽  
Mikhail Ivanov

Technology transfer is considered as one of the most important instruments of national and regional economic growth in such countries as world leaders such as the United States, Japan, the European Union, China, and others. The importance of developing this direction is not in doubt. It invests a lot of money, is supported at the legislative level. The activity of technology transfer centers is aimed at commercialization of the results obtained in different organizations of the world, ensuring the acceleration of solving technical problems of enterprises, improving the quality and reducing the cost of their products, and developing new types of products. The main goal of the Center is to facilitate the transfer of the Internet intellectual innovative technologies and blockchain technologies developed both in the Republic of Armenia and in the Armenian Diaspora to ensure sustainable growth of the economy, increase the competitiveness of industry, agriculture, science and education, tourism and business attractiveness Republic of Armenia and Artsakh Republic.


Author(s):  
Carson H. Varner ◽  
Katrin C. Varner

This paper examines developing issues and attitudes that unite and divide the United States and the European Union as the discussion and regulation of agriculture evolves. While some terms, such as “organic,” are defined in law in both the United States and European Union, the increasingly used “sustainability” is an evolving concept. The main sustainability issue is how to provide food and fiber for a rapidly growing world population. In this context, the role of biotechnology is questioned. Americans tend to favor what are sometimes called genetically modified crops, while Europeans remain cautious. Europeans lean more toward organic farming, while Americans assert that much of the world will starve if organic methods are required. This paper reviews the directions that the discussion of these issues is taking and will show areas of agreement and where the two sides diverge.


Author(s):  
Peter O’Connor

The Web provides unprecedented opportunities for Web site operators to implicitly and explicitly gather highly detailed personal data about site visitors, resulting in a real and pressing threat to privacy. Approaches to protecting such personal data differ greatly throughout the world. To generalize greatly, most countries follow one of two diametrically opposed philosophies—the self-regulation approach epitomized by the United States, or the comprehensive omnibus legislative approach mandated by the European Union. In practice, of course, the situation is not so black and white as most countries utilize elements of both approaches. This chapter explains the background and importance of protecting the privacy of personal data, contrasts the two major philosophical approaches to protection mentioned above, performs a comparative analysis of the current situation throughout the world, and highlights how the legislative approach is being adopted as the de facto standard throughout the world. The use of trust marks as an alternative to the self-regulation or legislative approach is also discussed, while the effectiveness of each of these efforts is also examined.


2004 ◽  
Vol 5 (9) ◽  
pp. 1095-1106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannah L. Buxbaum

In its most recent term, the United States Supreme Court heard a case arising out of the activities of a price-fixing cartel in the vitamins market. The defendants were a number of major international pharmaceuticals companies, including F. Hoffman-LaRoche, Rhone-Poulenc, Daiichi Pharmaceutical, and BASF, that had fixed prices for bulk vitamins and vitamin pre-mixes in markets around the world. The cartel, which has been described as “probably the most economically damaging cartel ever prosecuted under U.S. antitrust law,” is estimated to have affected over $5 billion of commerce worldwide. Previous proceedings against the participants in the cartel, initiated in Australia, Canada and the European Union as well as in the United States, included administrative investigations and criminal prosecutions of individual executives. In these various proceedings, the cartel participants were found to have violated antitrust laws in the United States and elsewhere, and were subjected to heavy – indeed, record – fines in many countries. By all accounts, the countries engaged in investigating and then prosecuting the cartel participants did so in full cooperation with each other. In particular, they made use of the mutual assistance and information sharing agreements that have become an important component of coordinated international antitrust enforcement.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document