**6. The challenges of processes and patents aimed at pulmonary injury by smoke inhalation**

Intellectual property, one of the subdivisions of business law, is nothing more than the legislative norm that regulates innovations and is now gaining considerable space in the most varied academic discussions. Patent, one of the intellectual property entities, is the guarantee of ownership of the creation offered to its inventors, a fact that has been discussed since it ends up limiting its application and effectiveness [34].

The expression of intellectual property is criticized because of its ambiguity. Richard Stallman wrote an essay on this subject to enlighten this problem and fight, among other things, against other things, against the meaning of the expression, because it is a reminiscence of physical property, whose laws are very different. For him, the term unites a set of heterogeneous concepts with objectives and operation too diverging (or even opposed) to be considered as a whole, such as copyrights, related to patents and trademarks. He advocates a separate consideration of each of these areas and the abandonment of the term intellectual property (especially in the name of the World Intellectual Property Organization) [1, 34]. Actually, part of the free software community rejects this expression and follows Stallman's point of view.

As previously explained, patenting a product guarantees its inventor time to explore its invention safely, but there are a number of limitations in this action [35, 36]. One of the biggest challenges in the patent process in some countries is the delay in the patenting process and the low investment in this area, which does not generate incentives for research, studies, and creations of new products. The cost of a patent goes beyond the process to deposit it into a database; there is still a high investment to keep it active, which discourages some inventors who have low investment in their research.

Once a patent is deposited in a database, the entire population has access to the methodology of the invention as well as its advantages and disadvantages. Analyzing database patents, besides the analysis in the literature, is an important tool in the strategic planning of a research, because approximately 70% of the technological information is described in the patents, according to WIPO. Therefore, a thorough evaluation of patents is essential for a good development of projects and avoids potential wasted resources, in case any other researcher has already reached the expected goal.

Currently, there are several databases for patent deposits. These banks are extremely affordable and consistent, but they have some limitations. A great difficulty encountered is the duplication of patents during a search, which occurs because the same inventor ends up depositing his patent in several databases. In

**67**

*The Patenting of Products and Processes Used for the Treatment of Smoke Inhalation*

the reviews of patents carried out by our group, we find a considerable number of patents in duplicity, which makes the research more laborious and time-consuming. In addition, some inventors are rather short, brief, and unspecific when carrying out the explanation of their patent. At other times, they are prolix and not objective, which end up generating difficulties in the process of searching and analyzing the

Another limitation is the difficulty of finding a specific patent. Due to various encodings and numberings given to patents, the search for something specific ends up taking more time. The lack of research in clinical trials is, also, another limiting factor. Most inventors carry out the patent filing process with an experimental trial, which can be justified by the interest of patenting their invention more quickly and not running the risk of another inventor developing their research. In the patent review conducted by our research group on inhalation injury 2 years ago, only three

Regarding patents aimed at treatment for lung injury induced by smoke inhalation, specifically, we can observe an increasing amount of deposits in the last years. However, morbidity and mortality remain high, probably due to its extremely complicated pathophysiology. Besides the damages of the toxic and harmful gas, the oxidative stress, the interaction between cytokines and inflammatory mediators, and the activation of the NF-κB signaling pathway contribute to a greater difficulty in the treatment and control of this condition, making it difficult to standardize the

In the patent review conducted by our research group, which aimed to evaluate the development and patenting of natural and synthetic products for the treatment of smoke inhalation, a low number of patents deposited (18 in total) can be observed for this purpose. In addition, a great variety of both the mechanisms of action of the formulations and the form of administration of the formulations were observed [24]. Most new therapies are still at the stage of animal experimentation. Early treatment remains the key to reducing mortality and improving prognosis. The inconsistent effects of certain therapies may be due to the diverse dose, mechanism of action, therapeutic duration, severity of the patients, and complementary

Developing better treatment strategies for this intractable disease still requires research, and the intellectual property enables the transformation of knowledge in principle and the link between knowledge and the market. However, currently, there is no particularly effective treatment for acute lung injury induced by inhalation of smoke; therefore, the search for suitable treatments for inhalation injury is

continuing, and the treatments used for smoke inhalation are discussed.

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.88408*

patents were found in clinical trials.

research of new patents for strategies of treatment [9].

most desired patents.

interventions [37].

**7. Conclusion**

#### *The Patenting of Products and Processes Used for the Treatment of Smoke Inhalation DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.88408*

the reviews of patents carried out by our group, we find a considerable number of patents in duplicity, which makes the research more laborious and time-consuming. In addition, some inventors are rather short, brief, and unspecific when carrying out the explanation of their patent. At other times, they are prolix and not objective, which end up generating difficulties in the process of searching and analyzing the most desired patents.

Another limitation is the difficulty of finding a specific patent. Due to various encodings and numberings given to patents, the search for something specific ends up taking more time. The lack of research in clinical trials is, also, another limiting factor. Most inventors carry out the patent filing process with an experimental trial, which can be justified by the interest of patenting their invention more quickly and not running the risk of another inventor developing their research. In the patent review conducted by our research group on inhalation injury 2 years ago, only three patents were found in clinical trials.

Regarding patents aimed at treatment for lung injury induced by smoke inhalation, specifically, we can observe an increasing amount of deposits in the last years. However, morbidity and mortality remain high, probably due to its extremely complicated pathophysiology. Besides the damages of the toxic and harmful gas, the oxidative stress, the interaction between cytokines and inflammatory mediators, and the activation of the NF-κB signaling pathway contribute to a greater difficulty in the treatment and control of this condition, making it difficult to standardize the research of new patents for strategies of treatment [9].

In the patent review conducted by our research group, which aimed to evaluate the development and patenting of natural and synthetic products for the treatment of smoke inhalation, a low number of patents deposited (18 in total) can be observed for this purpose. In addition, a great variety of both the mechanisms of action of the formulations and the form of administration of the formulations were observed [24]. Most new therapies are still at the stage of animal experimentation.

Early treatment remains the key to reducing mortality and improving prognosis. The inconsistent effects of certain therapies may be due to the diverse dose, mechanism of action, therapeutic duration, severity of the patients, and complementary interventions [37].

## **7. Conclusion**

*Intellectual Property Rights - Patent*

**by smoke inhalation**

effectiveness [34].

Stallman's point of view.

ment in their research.

the expected goal.

decrease the lesions of endothelial cells.

potential to be successful in treatment of smoke inhalation.

anti-L-selectin antibody significantly alleviated airway obstruction. The neutrophil treatment with anti-L-selectin antibody reduces neutrophil capacity of adherence to the endothelium. It is also probable that chemokines such as IL-8 and others direct the neutrophil movement from the vasculature [33]. According to this patent, the effects on vascular permeability may point that both anti-IL-8 and anti-L-selectin

These data help highlight the different means of treatment of injuries caused by smoke inhalation and the drugs being studied to control such injury. We presented the significant progress achieved in the field, demonstrating the growing interest of scholars and pharmaceutical companies in the development of products with the

**6. The challenges of processes and patents aimed at pulmonary injury** 

Intellectual property, one of the subdivisions of business law, is nothing more than the legislative norm that regulates innovations and is now gaining considerable space in the most varied academic discussions. Patent, one of the intellectual property entities, is the guarantee of ownership of the creation offered to its inventors, a fact that has been discussed since it ends up limiting its application and

The expression of intellectual property is criticized because of its ambiguity. Richard Stallman wrote an essay on this subject to enlighten this problem and fight, among other things, against other things, against the meaning of the expression, because it is a reminiscence of physical property, whose laws are very different. For him, the term unites a set of heterogeneous concepts with objectives and operation too diverging (or even opposed) to be considered as a whole, such as copyrights, related to patents and trademarks. He advocates a separate consideration of each of these areas and the abandonment of the term intellectual property (especially in the name of the World Intellectual Property Organization) [1, 34]. Actually, part of the free software community rejects this expression and follows

As previously explained, patenting a product guarantees its inventor time to explore its invention safely, but there are a number of limitations in this action [35, 36]. One of the biggest challenges in the patent process in some countries is the delay in the patenting process and the low investment in this area, which does not generate incentives for research, studies, and creations of new products. The cost of a patent goes beyond the process to deposit it into a database; there is still a high investment to keep it active, which discourages some inventors who have low invest-

Once a patent is deposited in a database, the entire population has access to the methodology of the invention as well as its advantages and disadvantages. Analyzing database patents, besides the analysis in the literature, is an important tool in the strategic planning of a research, because approximately 70% of the technological information is described in the patents, according to WIPO. Therefore, a thorough evaluation of patents is essential for a good development of projects and avoids potential wasted resources, in case any other researcher has already reached

Currently, there are several databases for patent deposits. These banks are extremely affordable and consistent, but they have some limitations. A great difficulty encountered is the duplication of patents during a search, which occurs because the same inventor ends up depositing his patent in several databases. In

**66**

Developing better treatment strategies for this intractable disease still requires research, and the intellectual property enables the transformation of knowledge in principle and the link between knowledge and the market. However, currently, there is no particularly effective treatment for acute lung injury induced by inhalation of smoke; therefore, the search for suitable treatments for inhalation injury is continuing, and the treatments used for smoke inhalation are discussed.

*Intellectual Property Rights - Patent*
