How “POSINT” ran an international patent search for a self-healing textile made from living mycelium

Story:

The initial idea was to create a living textile material that retains metabolic activity, is able to repair damage after wetting, and can acquire additional functions: biological pigmentation and protection from ultraviolet radiation.

Before preparing materials for patenting, it was necessary to understand how well-known such a combination already was from the prior art.

1. “POSINT” formed the features of the development
The service structured the original description and identified 15 essential search features.
These included:
living mycelium Cordyceps militaris;
pellet structure of the mycelial framework;
melanized hyphae of Aspergillus niger;
Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells for biopigmentation;
chitosan and a tannin modifier;
riboflavin and β-carotene;
specific ranges of humidity, pH and component content.
In this way, the original idea was transformed into a set of technical features that can already be used to search for patent documents and compare the development with existing solutions.

2. A patent search was carried out
POSINT carried out a patent search across Russian and foreign sources and formed a sample of 44 documents.
Among the closest solutions, the service identified:
CN116874840A;
CN107286602A;
US2025382734A1;
IN202411067906A;
DE102005031362A1.
Such an international patent search made it possible to check not only the general idea of mycelial textile, but also individual components and their combinations.

3. Patent analytics revealed that patenting is not possible
The closest was document CN116874840A. The analysis found that it matches 15 of 15 search features.
Therefore, the patentability check showed that it is not possible to protect the development in its original form. The general features of living mycelial textile, biopigmentation, chitosan and UV protection are already present in the prior art.
At the same time, “POSINT” identified features that are found much less often in developments in this field: the use of finely dispersed chitosan; a tannin modifier; a combination of riboflavin and β-carotene, and others.
It is around such combinations that the project can continue to be developed and unique solutions can later be patented.

4. “POSINT” proposed other strategies for developing the project for further patenting
After the search, the service identified several potential directions:
mycelium-yeast composition with programmable biopigmentation and natural UV protection;
self-healing material with a reproducible UV-shielding structure;
mycelial composition with increased interphase adhesion and preservation of metabolic activity.
POSINT showed the inventor that his development has a patented analogue. At the same time, the service proposed new research directions in which the chance of patenting is high.

Result
As a result of working with “POSINT”, the user saved the time and money that he could have lost on patenting without a preliminary check of the patentability of his idea. The service did not simply deny the possibility of patenting, but also highlighted promising directions in this field. When choosing the further path of developing the idea, the service will run the patent search again and help refine the object until it is patentable.

Do you want to check your development before filing an application?
Upload a description of the technology to “POSINT” to run a patent search, find the closest analogues, assess patentability and determine which features should be included in the application for an invention.