Chemical Identification

Patent Infringement Investigation

An intellectual property firm working on a case of possible patent infringement provided “blind” samples of stucco to Alliance Technologies  for compositional analysis. They provided no guidance on the patent claims or composition, asking Alliance simply to conduct comprehensive analysis and comparison within a specified budget.  To resolve this IP case, Alliance:

• Reviewed typical stucco compositions to assess likely components & materials.
• Developed an analysis strategy to most efficiently yield the maximum possible compositional information.
• Employed XRD, GC, ICP, Microscopy (optical & SEM), and EDX techniques to compare stucco formulations.

Hazardous Contaminant Testing

Identification of contaminants is a common problem in a wide variety of industries and sample types.  When these contaminants affect occupational health or safety, Alliance Technologies should be your first call.  An importer of luggage for a luxury retailer reported an odor from packed luggage sets and asked Alliance Technologies to investigate.  The identity of the malodors was determined by headspace GC-MS and reported to the client for further action.  When a premium reusable water bottle supplier came to Alliance Technologies, concern over Bisphenol-A was not yet in the news.  Taking a proactive stance, our client asked Alliance to survey their water bottle line for leachable BPA as well as various competitors’ water bottles.  Testing revealed significant contamination on the part of several competitors, which provided a marketing and health advantage to this manufacturer.

Deformulation & Reverse Engineering

Deformulation of finished goods requires several analytical techniques as well as proficiency in chemical separation.  Alliance Technologies has deformulated a number of products, such as detergents & cleaners, cosmetics, beverages, and fragrance products to support market intelligence, assess patent infringement, or verify product composition.  With a wide variety of instrumental methods at our disposal, Alliance Technologies is your independent lab for deformulation projects.