Tissue engineering of bone and cartilage: a view through the patent literature

Background: Tissue engineering takes on many approaches. It is mostly followed by those in the field through scientific literature. However, there is a virtually untapped resource in patent literature.

Objective: This review focuses on patents through the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). This source is used only because the author is most familiar with this resource. This article is not intended to be instructional regarding patents, patent law, or how to apply for patents, nor is it intended to be all inclusive of the patent literature. However, the reader might see the value of following the patent literature as a source of ideas, technologies, methodologies, and knowledge with respect to tissue engineering.