homepage
SGK Last Update:
25 January 2012History
The Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung has a long tradition in transferring the results of basic research in chemistry into industrial applications. In the 1920’s the Fischer-Tropsch process for the synthesis of benzene from coal had been developed. In order to better exploit the associated patents the "Studien- und Verwertungsgesellschaft mbH" was founded in 1925. At that time the shareholders of that company - from the coal mining industry of the Ruhrgebiet – were intended to participate in the income from licensing of patents. Later on, however, it was decided to dedicate also this part of the income to the financing of the Institute.
After the discovery of the Ziegler catalysts for the production of polyethylene and polypropylene in 1953/54 the name of the company was changed to Studiengesellschaft Kohle mbH, accompanied by changes of its bylaws: since then the furtherance of the aims of the Institute through acting as trustee for the Institute is its sole objective. All income of the company is dedicated to the funding of the institute.
In exploiting the research results of the Institute, especially in the area of Ziegler catalysts and to some extent also for the decaffeination process of coffee beans by supercritical carbon dioxide, a large number of licenses had been granted by the Studiengesellschaft. As a side-effect of this commercial success many infringers, especially in the USA, had to be prosecuted, with some of these law suits surviving even the patents. These inventions led to almost four decades of economical independance for the Institute. The history of the exploitation of the Ziegler catalysts is described in the book by Heinz Martin, "Polymere und Patente", Wiley –VCH, 2002.
homepage
SGK Last Update:
25 January 2012