Patenting Metamaterials

Metamaterials are artificial materials that have been engineered to exhibit properties that do not occur naturally in their material constituents. Their properties come from engineered features such as the geometry, shape, size or arrangement the material. Every metamaterial is made up of engineered meta-atoms, whose collective effect is to provide these enhanced properties.

Metamaterials inherently push materials properties to the next frontier. They have huge potential in many areas of technology, and it is unsurpising that innovation in this field is gathering pace. Like all areas of innovation, there is potential for patent protection for new ideas. In fact, because of the nature of these inventions, innovation in this particular field can be particularly appropriate for patent protection. These materials rely on a synergistic combination of underlying chemistry and physical structure, and new metamaterials inherently require creative new combintations.