Clean Energy Patent Growth Index

CLEAN ENERGY PATENT GROWTH INDEX (CEPGI) - 2015 Year in Review

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 from 2002 to the present. The CEPGI also ranks the leaders among Clean Energy Patent Owners, along with the countries and the U.S. states which receive the most Clean Energy patents.    

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.

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CLEAN ENERGY PATENT GROWTH INDEX 2nd Quarter 2015

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.

CLEAN ENERGY PATENT GROWTH INDEX 1st Quarter 2015

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 first quarter of 2015 reveal the CEPGI to have a value of 851 granted U.S. patents, which is the fifth highest total for any quarter on record with the other top four all occurring within the prior year and a half. The first quarter was down 88 compared to the fourth quarter and up 161 versus the same quarter the year before. The quarterly Clean Energy Patent crown again belonged to Toyota, the annual winner for 2014. Solar patents led all other technology sectors in the first quarter for the eighth quarter in a row. Runner up Fuel Cells trailed by over 80 patents.

CLEAN ENERGY PATENT GROWTH INDEX 2014 Year in Review

U.S. patents for Clean Energy technologies in 2014 were again at an all time high of 3609, which was 434 more than 2013. GM retained control of the annual Clean Energy Patent crown over Toyota and all other challengers. Solar patents gained even more ground on other sectors with 1238 Solar patents - a record year for any sector. The United States led all other countries in the number of granted U.S. clean energy patents followed by Japan and then a number of others including Germany, South Korea and Taiwan. California again led U.S. States while Michigan and New York fell further behind.

CLEAN ENERGY PATENT GROWTH INDEX 3rd Quarter 2014

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 third quarter of 2014 reveal the CEPGI to have a value of 1040 granted U.S. patents, which is the highest total for any quarter on record, breaking the 1000 barrier and being 100 more than the second quarter of this year. The third quarter was also 283 more than the same quarter the year before. The clean energy patent crown stayed in the same hands for the first time in several quarters as Toyota retained Top Dog status. Solar patents were again on top, leading the other technology sectors in the third quarter for the sixth quarter in a row. Runner up Fuel Cells trailed by over 70 patents.

(Downloadable copy of this post)

CLEAN ENERGY PATENT GROWTH INDEX 1st Quarter 2014

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 first quarter of 2014 reveal the CEPGI to have a value of 690 granted U.S. patents which is 225 lower than the fourth quarter of 2013 (which was the highest quarterly total on record) and 48 lower than one year prior. GM was granted the highest number of Clean Energy patents for the first quarter, taking the quarterly crown back from Toyota, leader for the fourth quarter of 2013, after GM won the annual crown for 2013. Solar patents again led the other technology sectors in the first quarter for the fourth quarter in a row - topping Fuel Cell patents by about ninety patents with Fuel Cells having dropped over 100 from the previous quarter.

Mercedes Competes with Tesla in EV's While Tesla Competes with Itself . . . Fuel Cell Cars Coming, Patents All Around

Mercedes has a new EV that could compete with Tesla, but the problem for Tesla is that Mercedes is using Tesla technology to compete against it ... sounds like a tough sales pitch for Telsa to make  "buy my car not that other really nice car using my stuff."

Meanwhile Toyota turns away from EV's, has ended its own technology deal with Telsa and is working on a fuel cell car ... and Hyundai will soon sells its Tucson CUV in California powered by Hydrogen. Tesla continues with its plans for a "Gigafactory" with Panasonic apparently anxious to be Tesla's one and only.  Ohh ... and eight big coastal states are pushing for more EV's in case anyone is listening. Sounds like things are a bit scrambled in the non-gas powered auto world...

 

CLEAN ENERGY PATENT GROWTH INDEX 2013 Year in Review

U.S. patents for Clean Energy technologies in 2013 were at an all time high of 3175, which was 114 more than 2012.  GM took the annual Clean Energy Patent crown back from Toyota after lending it to the Japanese automaker last year and GE the year before.  Solar patents led all other technologies for the first time, ending the long reign of Fuel Cell technologies back to 2002.  The United States led all other countries in the number of granted U.S. clean energy patents followed by Japan and then a slew of others.  California again led U.S. States while Michigan jumped and New York fell, swapping the second and third spots from 2012. 

 

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 from 2002 to the present. The CEPGI also ranks the leaders among Clean Energy Patent Owners, along with the Countries and the U.S. States which receive the most clean energy 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 annually) 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.

 

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U.S. patents for Clean Energy technologies in 2013 were at an all time high of 3175, which was 114 more than 2012, which although bringing Clean Energy patents into record territory was the smallest year-to-year increase since the 2007 to 2008 bump of 32.

CLEAN ENERGY PATENT GROWTH INDEX 3rd Quarter 2013

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 from 2002 to the present. Results from the third quarter of 2013 reveal the CEPGI to have a value of 757 granted U.S. patents which is 8 lower than the previous quarter and 41 lower than one year prior. GM was granted the highest number of clean energy patents for the third quarter, taking the quarterly lead back from Toyota. Solar patents again led the other technology sectors for the second quarter in a row after topping Fuel Cell patents for the first time the previous quarter.

Michigan - Fueling Clean Energy Patents - Auto Companies Drive Trend

While California led the states in most clean energy patents in 2012, Michigan was not too far behind. According to the Clean Energy Patent Growth Index (CEPGI), California was the leader in clean energy patents per state in 2012 with 346 patents, but in third place was the Great Lakes State with 202 patents. Michigan’s 202 patents were just enough to make it the leader in clean energy patents overall in the US over the last decade. The 202 patents were also 100 more than Texas who came in at fourth place in 2012. Other top Clean Energy patent states:

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