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Q&As since 1989


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Must new Ligands or chelates be registered?

I am doing research on a company for investment purposes. They use a chelating agent, but will not disclose it's name. Is it possible that this ligand can be a new discovery? and is the company required to register and/or name it for any government agency?

dbeck
1999

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It is possible that this ligand could be a new discovery. If a company wants to protect their legal rights to an idea, they must get a patent from the U.S. Patent Office and the patent office of every other country that they want legal protection in. To get a patent, the company would have to write a paper describing the whole idea that they are protecting. Many times, it is not in the company's interest to publish "how they did it" to the world. So, instead of filing a patent for the world to see, they keep it a trade secret. They simply do not tell anyone about it but do not claim any legal protection of their idea.

If they were to keep it as a trade secret, they would still need to create a Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS). This sheet explains the hazards of working with this substance to anyone working with it. This sheet may list some of the major chemicals in it, but does not have to disclose proprietary information. I don't know of any other governmental requirements.

It might be difficult to judge the worth of this chelating agent. It may actually turn out that everyone has their own secret ligand and that there is nothing special at all about this one. Or, it may turn out to be the greatest thing since sliced bread. Just don't assume it's worth millions just because they don't want to disclose what it is.

That is all I know. I am new to the finishing industry and don't know much about chelating agents or ligands. If anyone else knows more, please feel free to share it with us.

Tim Neveau
Rochester Hills, Michigan
1999