THE ICFAI UNIVERSITY, DEHRADUN

ICFAI LAW SCHOOL

ASSIGNMENT-1
ON
DIAMOND BATTERY

SUBMITTED TO- ASSIT. PROFESSOR SAMRIDHI SINGH

LAW OF PATENT

SUBMITTED BY
AMAN JAIN
ENROLLMENT NO- 17FLICDDN01018

SUBMITTED DATE – 8/03/2021

 DIAMOND BATTERY

A company from California, NDB,developed a self-powered battery made from nuclear

waste that can last 28,000 years, perfect for your future electric vehicle or iPhone 1.6 x 104.
Producing its own charge—rather than storing energy created elsewhere—the battery is made
from two types of nano-diamonds, rendering it essentially crash-proof if used in cars or other
moving objects. The company also says its battery is safe, emitting less radiation than the
human body. Converting nuclear waste into a battery that generates power in a very safe
manner. Once this battery is used – and it can have a very long-life span – it becomes a very
safe by product that's of no harm to the environment.

IS IT POSSIBLE FOR A BATTERY TO HAVE 28000 YEARS OF LIFE WITHOUT

RECHARGING?

It depends on the type of radioisotope you're using, and for every application the lifetime is
different. But what we can say is that the battery would operate for the lifetime of the
application itself, for sure. For some applications, much higher.

So, if you're talking about

electric vehicles, our battery could run for around 90 years without the requirement of
recharging. When it comes to something like consumer electronics, it'd be more like 9 years.
In some small sensor applications, it can go for up to 28,000 years.

AS WE KNOW THE BATTERY IS MADE FROM NUCLEAR WASTE, IS IT SAFE FOR

A HUMAN BODY TO USE IT?

Basically, we can generate a high amount of cover from the radioactive substance. We're
using a combination of technologies within our structure that can make it very safe to users.
Mainly it comes down to the fact that we're using diamond structures.

Diamond itself has different interesting properties. It's one of the best heats sinks available at
the moment, for example. That on its own covers thermal safety. When it comes to
mechanical safety, diamond is one of the strongest materials in the world. 11.5 times stronger
than steel. So again, that itself makes the battery tamper-proof and safe.

In addition to that, we have a combination of other technologies, including the implantation

of the radioisotopes within the diamond structure, which stops the spread of the radioisotopes
even if the structure is broken down – which is kind of impossible without access to specific
tools like lasers and others. So, in general I can say it's a combination of technologies that
we've either innovated or invented that create a very safe structure as a battery. I'd like to add
to that, that using radioisotopes as a source for energy is not new. We have nuclear medicine,
where patients are treated with controlled equipment, which has always given effective
results. Similarly, we have had nuclear-powered submarines and aircraft carriers. Of course,
that's a completely different process, but it's been able to successfully and safely deliver
power and energy without safety issues. The choice of diamond as a material is one of the
strongest natural materials, and it acts as a powerful shielding and protection mechanism.
PROTECTION OF THE PRODUCT IN TERMS OF IP?

Right now, we have patents pending around our technology. I think we're quite ahead of the
competition that exists in the market, we started much earlier than the others and our
technology is more advanced.

IS THERE ANY REGULATION WHICH YOU NEED TO WORRY ABOUT, AS IT

INVOLVE THE HANDLING OF HAZARDOUS MATERIAL?

Fortunately, there are other devices already on the market that use radioisotopes and
radioactive material inside them. Some are in the medical industry, like pacemakers. There
are already different types of regulations in place. So, the matter here would be our design
complying to those regulations, and we've been doing that over time.

IS IT COST EFFICIENT?

we've done financial modelling around this. A lot of applications have been considered. What
we can say is it'll depend on the application, but it should be at a good competition level with
current lithium-ion batteries. In some cases, you're a little bit higher in price for production,
and in others, when it goes to scale, we're a cheaper solution. Let me give you an example.
Take the battery for a Tesla car, it costs somewhere in the region of US$9-10K. Our battery
will cost something in the region of US$7-8K. But it's different in different applications.

QUANTITY OF WASTE WHICH IS REQUIRED AS A RAW MATERIAL?

we're covering two different kinds of nuclear waste. One is intermediate, and the other is high
level. So, there will be a time where we have recycled the entire amount of nuclear waste, and
we'll need new solutions for the raw material. But as I mentioned, we'll be able to produce
this raw material through other methods, including transmutation.

That's a process that's currently being used, and not something we've invented ourselves. It
was invented by MIT, and it involves a centrifuge to separate out the isotopes. The main
ingredient is nitrogen, which is the major component of air, so it's a very cheap solution.

SIZE OF THE BATTERY?

The size of the battery is going to be similar with a phone battery like a iPhone battery but it
can charge your phone 5 times a day.

WHEN IT IS GOINT TO BE LAUNCH IN MARKET?

We're in the prototyping stage at the moment. We've completed the proof of concept, and
we're about to start the commercial prototype. However, the pandemic has happened, and the
lab has been shut down for some time.
But basically, once the laboratories are open, we do require around 6-9 months to complete
our commercial prototype, and following that to go through the regulatory process, to bring
the first few applications for the battery into the market in less than two years' time.
BIBLIOGRAPHY

https://newatlas.com/energy/nano-diamond-battery-interview-ndb/

https://bigthink.com/technology-innovation/nano-diamond-battery
 THE ICFAI UNIVERSITY, DEHRADUN

ICFAI LAW SCHOOL

ASSIGNMENT-II

SUBMITTED TO- ASSIT. PROFESSOR SAMRIDHI SINGH

LAW OF PATENT

SUBMITTED BY
AMAN JAIN
ENROLLMENT NO- 17FLICDDN01018

SUBMITTED DATE – 8/03/2021

QUESTION- 1 WHAT IS PCT AND CONVENTION APPLICATION?
ANSWER – Convention application is an application for patent filed in the Patent Office,
claiming a priority date based on the same or substantially similar application filed in one or
more of the convention countries, is called a convention application. In order to get
convention status, an applicant should file the application in the Indian Patent Office within
12 months from the date of first filing of a similar application in the convention country.
Whereas, Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) makes it possible to seek patent protection for an
invention simultaneously in each of a large number of countries by filing an "international"
patent application. Such an application may be filed by anyone who is a national or resident
of a PCT Contracting State. It may generally be filed with the national patent office of the
Contracting State of which the applicant is a national or resident or, at the applicant's option
with the International Bureau of WIPO in Geneva. 

QUESTION-2 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PCT AND CONVENTION

APPLICATION
ANSWER - PCT application has high filing fee as a comparison to Convention filing and
with the same amount applicant cane file more than two to three Convention applications. So,
when an applicant has a tight budget and wants to secure patent protection in only a few
countries, then it is better to go with Convention Application.

In comparison with Convention Application, PCT application takes time in grant so when an
applicant wants to protect his/her invention in very less time than it is better to go for
Convention Application.

The need for filing Convention Application arises when an applicant wants to secure his/her
rights in non-PCT member countries like in Argentina, Pakistan, Taiwan, Kuwait, Jordan,
Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, Eritrea then can go only with direct filing.

So filing of Convention Application or PCT Application depends upon business strategies,

and for fulfilling business strategies applicant generally adopt both filing options as per their
need, so it all depend on, where applicant want to protect his/her rights. PCT provides a
platform where with a single application applicant can file his/her application in all PCT
member countries.

It is often seen that filing strategies are a very complex task so; it is better to consult with the
patent attorney and try to communicate about commercial and business planning so that
better protection can be made.
QUESTION-3 DIFFERNCE BETWEEN FILING DATE AND PRIORITY
DATE?

ANSWER- The filing date of a patent is the date the documents get filed at the respective
patent office. So, it's exactly what one would think. The patent term is normally 20 years
from the date of filing.

Priority date is essentially means that one files a second patent after a first patent. The first
patent has a first filing date, while the second patent has a second filing date. But the second
patent, if it claims priority to the first patent can get the priority date that is the filing date of
the first patent. In this case, the priority date is used to assess novelty, inventive step and first-
to-file-priority. Still the filing date of the second patent triggers the 20-year patent term,
effectively allowing 21 years of protection.

Then there are divisional and continuations. Those don't exactly claim priority of an earlier
patent, they claim the earlier patents filing date, which effectively changes the patent term to
less than 20 years from the date of filing the divisional/continuation.