A Chinese rubber company’s battle to be known as the producer of the world’s thinnest condom may be under threat thanks to Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.
China’s Guangzhou Daming United Rubber Products is currently suing Okamoto Industries after the Japanese company claimed on its website that it is the manufacturer of the world’s thinnest latex condoms.
Okamoto’s thinnest condom comes in at just 0.038 millimeters, but Guangzhou Daming’s Aoni ultrathin 001 is is even thinner at just 0.036 millimeters, as confirmed by Guinness World Records.
Guangzhou Daming is seeking a public apology from Okamoto for misleading consumers and just one yuan (US$0.16) in nominal damages.
However, the lawsuit could become moot as Bill Gates, the world’s second richest man, has offered inventors start-up grants to develop a “next-generation” of super-sheath condoms through the charitable foundation he started with his wife.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has given a grant of US$100,000 to the University of Manchester to research a condom made from a super-light conducive material known as graphene. Another US$100,000 grant went to the University of Oregon to create a polyurethane condom that would be less than half the thickness of the best condoms available now, creating what scientists call a “barely-there” feel.
The Seattle-based foundation said that it could provide further funding of up to US$1 million to develop a condom that would “enhance the pleasure so as to increase uptake,” adding that the aim is to encourage more couples to use condoms to prevent unwanted pregnancies and curb the spread of sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV.
First world investors have little interest in developing medicines to combat illnesses such as malaria and tuberculosis as they are not prevalent in wealthy countries, but “there could be a market for this (thin condom) among well-off nations, which doesn’t happen with a lot of innovations,” Gates said.
The Times of India reported that the Gates-funded super-thin condoms could be available on the market as early as next year.