Clean Energy Patent Growth Index: Clean Energy Patent Growth Index Ed. 1

Presented by: ^THE CLEANTECH GROUP

December 14, 2007

The CLEAN ENERGY PATENT GROWTH INDEX (CEPGI) is published quarterly by the Cleantech Group at Heslin Rothenberg Farley & Mesiti P.C. The CEPGI provides a relative indication of the effort (e.g., Research & Development) put into, and success of, Clean Energy innovation.

The CEPGI tracks the granting of U.S. patents via the following sub-components which together make up the CEPGI:

Solar

Wind

Hybrid/electric vehicles

Fuel Cells

Hydroelectric

Tidal/wave

Geothermal

Biomass/biofuels

Other clean renewable energy

The granting of patents by the United States Patent and Trademark (PTO) is an often cited measure of the outcome of inventive activity and the resources invested in developing innovations, such as research & development funding. The successful granting of a patent requires that efforts be made by inventors to develop innovations and by patent counsel to shepherd a patent application through the PTO. A patent thus is an indicator that efforts at innovation have been successful and that an innovation had enough perceived value to justify the time and expense in procuring the patent.

The Clean Energy Patent Growth Index (CEPGI) provides an indication of the trend of innovative activity for the last five years in the U.S., along with quarterly results. The value for the CEPGI for the third quarter of 2007 is 211 which is down slightly from 228 in the second quarter. From 2002 through the second quarter of 2007, the number of clean energy patents has ranged from a low of 105 in the first quarter of 2002 to a high in early 2005 of 254. A generally upward trend for the entire period was also found as depicted below

As indicated in the quarterly composite graph of the CEPGI components depicted below, fuel cell innovations provide the largest absolute number of clean energy patents and drive the CEPGI trends to a degree. Solar and wind energy along with hybrid/electric vehicles provide the other significant part of the CEPGI with the remaining components contributing to a lesser degree.

Wind energy innovation is on an upward trend while solar energy innovation appears to be heading in the opposite direction.

The patents included in the CEPGI and its sub-components have been vetted by the Cleantech Group at Heslin Rothenberg Farley & Mesiti P.C. to ensure that each patent is properly included in the appropriate sub-component and that the technology disclosed therein relates to the generation of energy for consumption by a device other than itself.

The CEPGI itself is a cumulation of the sub-components and has been corrected to avoid the duplicate inclusion of any patents when a patent relates to more than one clean energy technology (i.e., a patent is included in more than one sub-component)

Each of the CEPGI components is depicted below: