The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Dec. 29, 2009
Filed:
Jun. 09, 2005
Rasmus B. Jensen, Hedehusene, DK;
Bradley R. Kelemen, Menlo Park, CA (US);
Donald E. Ward, Ii, Los Altos, CA (US);
Alfred E. Asato, Waipahu, HI (US);
Rasmus B. Jensen, Hedehusene, DK;
Bradley R. Kelemen, Menlo Park, CA (US);
Donald E. Ward, II, Los Altos, CA (US);
Alfred E. Asato, Waipahu, HI (US);
Genencor International, Inc., Palo Alto, CA (US);
Abstract
The present invention relates to a photochromic material comprising a proteorhodopsin apoprotein and a retinal analog. In one embodiment, the retinal analog is an azulenic retinoid compound. In another embodiment, the retinal analog is a compound that is structurally similarly to all-trans-retinal. The proteorhodopsin apoprotein and the retinal analog form a photochromic material having different spectral properties from those of a corresponding photochromic material formed by the same proteorhodopsin apoprotein and all-trans-retinal. In one embodiment of the application, the retinal analog-containing proteorhodopsin has an absorbance spectrum that does not overlap significantly with that of all-trans-retinal-containing proteorhodopsin. In another embodiment of the application, the retinal analog-containing proteorhodopsin yields a red-shifted visual chromophore compared with the all-trans-retinal-containing proteorhodopsin chromophore. The photochromic material of the present invention is useful as an optical data storage carrier, a fraud-proof optical data carrier, security ink, and in other optical applications.