The CLEAN ENERGY PATENT GROWTH INDEX (CEPGI), published quarterly by the Cleantech Group at Heslin Rothenberg Farley & Mesiti P.C, provides an indication of the trend of innovative activity in the Clean Energy sector. Results from the fourth quarter of 2007 reveal the CEPGI to have a value of 227 granted U.S. patents which is up from the third quarter of 2007 and down from the fourth quarter of 2006. As depicted below, the CEPGI total for 2007 was down relative to 2006 and up over the five year period (click on graph for larger version):
Solar and wind patents both trended upwardly in third and fourth quarters as depicted below:
The five year trends for the components of the CEPGI show Fuel Cells dominating and wind increasing. Granted Solar and hybrid vehicle patents have decreased and reached a plateau of sorts as depicted below:
We have added patent owner information as listed on the granted patents and geographic information based on the information listed on the patents. The Leading Clean Energy patent owners for over the last five years (2002-2007) include Honda, General Motors, United Technologies, Ballard, Toyota and Ford as depicted:
If automotive companies are excluded, the top 10 is dominated by fuel cell companies such as Plug Power, Ballard and UTC, and is rounded out by Canon and GE.
Top patent owners in the Solar energy area include Canon, Sharp, Boeing, and Kanegafuchi Chemical Industries.
Aloys Wobben of Enercon GmbH tops the wind list followed by GE while Honda, GM, Ballard, United Technologies, and Plug Power lead in fuel cells. Hybrid/electric vehicles are dominated by Honda and Ford with Toyota, GM and Nissan trailing.
Geographically, U.S. patent owners and inventors tie the rest of the world in the number of US patents in the Clean Energy field over the period 2002-2007 with fifty percent of the granted U.S. patents. Patent applicants from Japan (29 percent) and Germany (8 percent) were issued the second and third largest number of U.S. patents.
The U.S. states with the largest number of U.S. patent owners and inventors were Michigan (13 percent), California (7 percent), New York (6 percent) and Connecticut (4 percent).
The U.S. (46 percent), Germany (20 percent), Denmark (8 percent) and Japan (6 percent) were tops in the world in wind with New York (13 percent), California (9 percent) and Texas (3 percent) leading the U.S.
The U.S. (44 percent), Japan (35 percent) and Germany (6 percent) lead in Solar energy patents over the period from 2002-2007. California (14 percent) leads the U.S. in Solar energy patents followed by a second tier of Illinois (4 percent) New York(3 percent), Massachusetts (3 percent) and New Jersey (2 percent).
The U.S. (53 percent), Japan (28 percent) and Germany (8 percent) again were the top patent grantees in Fuel Cell technology while Michigan with 15 percent dominated the U.S. rankings followed by New York and Connecticut with 7 percent and California with 5 percent of the total patents granted to U.S. patentees.
Although not depicted, Biomass/Biofuel patents were distributed over ninety one owners for the five year period from 2002-2007 with the Research Foundation of the State of New York having the most granted patents at five followed by Manufacturing and Technology Conversion International, Inc. at three. Ocean Power Technologies, Inc. had the most patents (8) in the tidal/wave energy technology area. Kalex, LLC had the largest number of geothermal patents at eight. Herbert L. Williams had three patents in the hydroelectric area while the following had two: Aloys Wobben, Kabushiki Kaisha Sankyo Seiki Seisakusho, New World Generation Inc., and Hydro Resource Solution LLC.
Trend lines by quarter through the fourth quarter of 2007 for the CEPGI and for each of the CEPGI components are depicted below:
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