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 second quarter of 2015 reveal the CEPGI to have a value of 899 granted U.S. patents, which is up 48 over the first quarter and down 41 compared to a year prior. The quarterly Clean Energy Patent crown again belonged to Toyota - the winner of the first quarter and annual winner for 2014 - by a mere two patents edging out General Motors. Solar patents led all other technology sectors in the second quarter for the ninth quarter in a row. Runner up Fuel Cells trailed by 60 patents.
(Downloadable copy of this post)
The granting of patents by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) is often cited as a measure of the inventive activity and evidence of the effectiveness of research & development investments. Patents are considered to be such an indicator, because to be awarded a patent, it requires not only the efforts of inventors to develop new and non-obvious innovations but also successful handling by patent counsel to shepherd a patent application through the PTO. Thus, the granting of a patent 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 CEPGI (shown below quarterly) tracks the granting of U.S. patents for the following sub-components: Solar, Wind, Hybrid/Electric Vehicles, Fuel Cells, Hydroelectric, Tidal/Wave, Geothermal, Biomass/Biofuels and Other Clean Renewable Energy.
Solar patents (284) dropped 18 relative to the first quarter after a drop of about twice that the quarter before. The leading technology sector was down 22 versus a year prior. Patents in Fuel Cell (224) technologies jumped four patents after falling two the quarter before. Fuel Cell patents were 8 lower than the second quarter of 2014. Hybrid/Electric Vehicle patents (164) led Wind patents by 12 in the second quarter. Patents in the Wind sector jumped 32 in the second quarter while those in the HEV sector were 47 more than the first quarter to top the charts as far as increases are concerned. Relative to the second quarter of last year, Wind patents fell 14 while HEV patents were up 22.
(click the image for a larger version)
Tidal patents were the same as the second quarter of 2014 but down 9 compared to the first quarter of this year. Biofuel/Biomass patents fell 11 compared to the first quarter and 24 compared to a year prior. Hydroelectric patents (4) were down four returning to the level of the fourth quarter of last year, and Geothermal patents (5) stayed flat compared to the first quarter and with the year before.
Toyota (41) retained the quarterly Clean Energy Patent crown, edging out GM by two patents, and jumping four patents over the first quarter. Toyota led the field in Hybrid/electric Vehicle patents (24) while also being granted Fuel Cell patents (16), and one Solar patent. GM had more Fuel Cell patents (32) than any other while also receiving seven Hybrid/Electric Vehicle patents. Honda took the second spot in Fuel Cell patents while totaling 27 granted clean energy patents. Hyundai tied Honda’s 27 patents with nine Fuel Cell and 17 HEV patents, along with one patent in Solar technologies.
Vestas had more Wind patents at 25 than any other and took fifth place overall in the second quarter. GE scored in multiple categories with 16 Wind patents, two HEV patents, along with two in Biomass/Biofuel technologies and two in Other renewable energy technologies. Ford had 21 granted clean energy patents with 18 in Hybrid/Electric Vehicle tech, two in Fuel Cells and one in Solar tech.
LG led all others in Solar patents granted in the second quarter with 15 while also having six granted in Fuel Cells. Siemens tied GE in Wind patents (16) and had one in Solar technologies. Samsung rounded out the top ten clean energy patent owners with Fuel Cell (10), Solar (4) and HEV (1) patents.
Among the top ten clean energy patent holders, Fuel Cell patents (92) dominated the other technologies while Solar patents (23) trailed. Of course, this is a contradiction to the total result of all clean energy patent holders, where there were more Solar patents than any other in the second quarter.
Geographically, Japan led non-U.S. holders of U.S. Clean Energy patents and individual U.S. states, as depicted below in the geographic charts, to take the quarterly geographical Clean Energy patent crown with 173 granted clean energy patents. The Asian patent powerhouse dropped 12 patents compared to the first quarter and was down 10 versus the year before. Korea (95) took second place, up 11 over the first quarter and five over a year prior, while still trailing Japan by nearly 80 patents. California (93) slipped to third place and was down five versus a year prior, yet the western state did jump up seven over the first quarter. Germany (82) jumped nine over the first quarter of 2015 but was down 10 over the second quarter of last year.
Taking the fifth spot among US states and its international competitors was Michigan (71) which was up 16 in granted clean energy patents relative to both the quarter before and the second quarter of 2014. Denmark (40) nearly doubled its totals over the first quarter and was up 10 compared to a year prior. New York was third among US states and seventh overall with 33. The home of the Yankees was up 12 and two compared the previous period and the relevant quarter the year before. China followed with 18 patents, up seven from the first quarter and up eight from the second quarter of a year ago.
France, Taiwan and Texas took the final spots of the top ten, all with 16. France beat its total of the previous quarter by three but fell from that of the second quarter of last year by 8. Taiwan dropped 13 from the first quarter and a full 22 patents from a year prior. Other top finishers included Ohio (14), Massachusetts (12), Illinois (11), and Canada (11).
Of the Clean Energy patents granted in the first quarter, 377 were owned by US entities (up almost 50) while 522 were owned by those outside the US. The US gained some ground while a total of all foreign entities dropped one patent compared to the quarter before.
(click the image for a larger version)
(click the image for a larger version)
(click the image for a larger version)
(click the image for a larger version)
(click the image for a larger version)
(click the image for a larger version)
(click the image for a larger version)
(click the image for a larger version)
Trend lines by quarter through the first quarter of 2015 for the CEPGI and for each of the CEPGI components are depicted below:
(click the image for a larger version)
(click the image for a larger version)
(click the image for a larger version)
(click the image for a larger version)
(click the image for a larger version)
(click the image for a larger version)
(click the image for a larger version)
(click the image for a larger version)
(click the image for a larger version)
(click the image for a larger version)
CEPGI yearly totals through 2014 are depicted below:
(click the image for a larger version)
The CEPGI is updated quarterly and is occasionally supplemented with related articles posted on www.cleanenergypatentgrowthindex.com or http://www.cepgi.com/
Please contact us at [email protected] if you have any questions or would like us to email you when we have updated this page or the CEPGI.
CLEAN ENERGY PATENT GROWTH INDEX.COM
Heslin Rothenberg Farley & Mesiti P.C.
cleantechintellectualproperty.com
© 2015 Heslin Rothenberg Farley & Mesiti P.C.