The Nanowerk web site has an article with the title "NanoFermentation™?: A bioprocess for manufacturing inorganic nanomaterials". Note the "TM" in there, if it shows up. The ™ symbol appears throughout the article whenever they mention the word NanoFermentation, which also comes with that odd capitalisation.
An interesting point is that the source of the idea seems to have been the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Now, ORNL is one of those public labs in the USA funded by the Department of Energy. The lab's web site has a recent Story Tip on the idea, telling us that "NanoFermentation represents a fundamentally new approach for producing extremely fine, uniform and highly crystalline powders useful for magnetic media, ferrofluids, xerographic toner, catalysts, pigments, water treatment and coatings."
It makes sense to patent ideas like this. But can you really claim a trademark for what is actually more a combination of two common words? Is this the same phenomenon as the recent spat surrounding the use of the label "Web 2.0" and the argument over using the term to describe conferences? The people who invented the term think they have the exclusive rights to use it. Does the same apply to nanofermentation?
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