**Abstract**

Intellectual property enables the transformation of knowledge in principle and the link between knowledge and the market. The right of exclusivity guaranteed by the patent refers to the right to interfere with other products and use and sell a patented invention. On the other hand, access to the public is made available on the knowledge of the essential points and as those that characterize a novelty does not exist. Patent registries, because they are available in open access databases, are great bases of technological knowledge, which can be used in research in several areas, among them smoke inhalation treatments. Inhalation injury is the leading cause of death in burn patients and is usually caused by the uninhibited absorption of smoke, which has an extremely toxic effect on the respiratory system. The physiopathology of inhalation injury covers multiple factors, and the injured respiratory system may present deterioration in a few hours. Respiratory distress is one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality in patients affected by fire incidents. The search for suitable treatments for inhalation injury is continuing, and the treatments used for smoke inhalation are discussed.

**Keywords:** patents, smoke inhalation, pulmonary injury, natural products, synthetic products

## **1. Introduction**

A patent is a public concession, granted by the State, which grants the holder the exclusive right to commercially exploit his creation. The exclusivity right secured by the patent refers to the right to prevent others from manufacturing, using, selling, offering, or importing such invention. In compensation, access is available to the public on the knowledge of key points and the claims that characterize the novelty in the invention [1].

Patent registrations, because they are available in open access databases, are a great base of technological knowledge, which can be used in researches across several areas, among them smoke inhalation treatments [1].

The pulmonary injury from smoke inhalation or combustion chemical products is the leading cause of death in burn patients, can be present in 2/3 of the population

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*Intellectual Property Rights - Patent*

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with skin burns exceeding 70% of body surface area, and is mainly caused by inhibited smoke inhalation, which has an extremely toxic effect in the respiratory system [2].

The physiopathology of an inhalation injury encompasses multiple factors, and the injured respiratory system can present deterioration in a few hours. If combined with cutaneous burns, the inhalation injury increases even more the incidence of pulmonary complications and the mortality. On average, the mortality from burns is less than 10%, but in the presence of an inhalation injury, this increases up to 25–43%. When complications develop, such as pneumonia and multiple organ dysfunction, this can increase up to 60–80% [2].

The prevalence of burns is significantly higher in developing countries than in developed. In the USA, nearly 2 million people are burned every year. Of these, about 100,000 have moderate to severe burns, requiring hospitalization, and 70% of fire victims who die within 12 h have an inhalation injury [3, 4]. In an epidemiological study conducted by Iqbal et al. [5], which evaluated 13,295 patients, it was found that men were the majority of the victims (56.43%); the mean age of adults was 33.63 ± 10.76 years and the children's age was 6.71 ± 3.47 years, the domestic environment being the most common (68%). The mean body surface area burned was 10.64 ± 11.45% in total. Smoke inhalation injury occurred in 149 of these patients (1.12%).

Although many products and techniques have been developed to control cutaneous thermal injury, few specific therapeutical options for diagnosis were found for patients with inhalation injury. Several factors explain the slower improvement progress in the treatment of patients with inhalation injury. Inhalation injury is a more complex clinical problem. The burned cutaneous tissue can be removed and replaced by skin grafts. The injured pulmonary tissue must be protected from a secondary injury due to resuscitation, mechanical ventilation, and infection, while the host's repair mechanisms receive proper support [2].

Many consequences of smoke inhalation result from an inflammatory response involving mediators whose number and functions still remain without a complete understanding, despite enhanced tools to process clinical material. Improvements in mortality by inhalation injury are mainly due widespread improvements in intensive care, instead of interventions focused in smoke inhalation. The search for proper inhalation treatments remains, and the treatments used for smoke inhalation are discussed in this chapter.
