Biomics

Natural rubber for a number of properties superior to synthetic rubber, so it remains to this day an indispensable natural raw material. In view of the vulnerability of the main source of rubber Hevea brasiliensis, it is urgent to search for alternative sources of this raw material. By the beginning of the XIX century, apart from H. brasiliensis, several other species of rubber plants were known, among them, for example, Ficus elastica, Castilla elastica and some others. Rubber from these plants on various scales was used both in the nascent rubber industry, and for experiments on improving the commercial qualities of rubber. The first patent for caoutchouc was issued as far back as 1791. And the patents for non-hevea rubber were issued for the first time in the USA in 1873 and concerned the extraction of rubber and its vulcanization from the Asclepias belonging to the Asclepiadaceae family. In the first half of the 20th century, most patents on non-hevea rubber sources were issued in the USA for the guayule Parthenium argentatum. Two patents of that period were devoted to rubber from plants of the Asteraceae family Chrysothamnus and Solidago leavenworthii. At the same time, patents were issued in the United States on the use of rubber Euphorbia pulcherrima from the Euphorbiaceae family, Crypostegia madagascariensis and C. grandiflora from the Apocynaceae family, Taraxacum kok-saghyz from the Asteraceae family. In the USSR, rubber-bearing plants began to be cultivated in the 1920s, and expeditions to search for rubber plants were undertaken in the 1930s. As a result, in the first half of the 20th century, a number of patents and author's certificates were issued in the USSR relating to the production of rubber from alternative sources such as guayule, Asclepias syriaca, Сhondrilla, Apocynum, Scorzonera tau-saghyz, T. kok-saghyz, Taraxacum hybernum and some other plants. In the second half of the XX century, worldwide interest in non-hevea natural rubber decreased, which was reflected, among other things, in the form of a decline in the number of US patents and USSR copyright certificates. In general, the depth of our patent search for non-hevea rubber and alternative rubber plants was almost two centuries. More than 160 patent documents were found in the form of patents, copyright certificates, and the lists of which is given in supplementary materials. Features of patenting in the Russian Empire, in the USSR and modern Russia are briefly considered.

caoutchouc, natural rubber, latex, polyisoprene, non-hevea rubber-bearing plants, Hevea brasiliensis, Castilla elastica, Parthenium argentatum, guayule, dandelion, Taraxacum kok-saghyz, Taraxacum hybernum, Scorzonera tau-saghyz, patent, copyright certificate

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