Estudo da tecnologia sol-gel e avaliação do seu processo de patenteamento

Abstract

The sol-gel technology has been widely used to obtain ceramic materials whose chemical, electrical, mechanical, thermal properties among others can be obtained through the control of their structure and porosity. The advantages of these chemical routes product of high purity, low processing temperature, reduced operational costs in comparison with the conventional ones fragile product, high processing temperature, high operational costs - have provided a great number of publications in specialized journals which have as a consequence, lead to investments by the industry anxious to obtain and maintain their market share. In developed countries such as the United States the financial investments applied to sol-gel method have been accompanied by the deposit of patents, which keep the monopoly during years without the interference of its competitors. In Brazil, however, the high number of publications in specialized journals in sol-gel technology is not followed by patents whose number is very small. Therefore, the aim of this work is review the situation of sol-gel technology concerning the industrial property in Brazil and the United States, and, besides that, study the publications from Laboratório de Materiais Cerâmicos of the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais that are able to be patentable.