HP Awarded Key Molecular Electronics Patent... Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HWP) announced it has been awarded a key patent that could remove a major obstacle to making molecular-scale computing a reality.. "We have a strategy to reinvent the integrated circuit with molecular rather than semiconductor components," said HP Fellow Williams, director of quantum science research, HP Labs. "We've received two key patents and have several more pending that we believe will eventually enable computers to be millions of times more efficient than they are today."