HRFM Today

Industry Focus: Cleantech: Apple e-Car?

Rumors about Apple competing in the Electric vehicle space appear to multiply by the day.  The latest evidence of a coming Apple Car is the registration of  the domain names  apple.cars, apple.car and apple.auto.   However, a review of pending trademark applications and registrations owned by the Cupertino electronics company doesn't reveal anything yet filed for anything auto related.  Similarly, a quick search for pending patent applications with the words vehicle, battery, auto or car reveal patent applications that relate to Apple's in car entertainment system "CarPlay", but nothing that appears to relate to an actual electric Apple Car.

That being said, patent applications are not made public for at least 18 months after filing and Apple has a reputation for secrecy that would make it unlikely to reveal its hand before absolutely necessary.  Apple also has a reputation for not worrying too much about others' trademarks when it does not suit them so it could be that Apple is just not that worried about trademark protection at this point. 

Others including the Chairman of Daimler and Elon Musk of Tesla  believe that Apple is moving ahead on this vehicle with Musk indicating it being obvious due to Apple hiring 1000 engineers to work  on it.   Given that Apple has not been afraid to enforce its intellectual property, particularly in multiple lawsuits versus Samsung over the look of the iPHONE, the lack of actual IP protection being pursued (i.e., no real patent or trademark applications filed) other than a few domain names that may be just as easily utilized for CARPLAY, is curious but  this may just be keeping the world guessing....which going back to the days of Steve Jobs is exactly what Apple likes to do...

By Victor Cardona

Industry Focus: Cleantech: Polaris Buys E-cycle Business of Brammo - Gains Patents

Polaris has bought the E-motorcycle business of Brammo.  Brammo was one of the electric cycle pioneers starting down that road in 2007.  Polaris is known for its off road vehicles, such as snowmobiles, and also produces its own gas powered motorcycles under the Indian and Victory Brands.  Polaris was a long time investor of Brammo and the cash infusion by Polaris should enable the company to focus on its electric drivetrain development while allowing Polaris to enter the electric motorcycle market and compete with the likes of Harley Davidson.  On the R&D front, both companies had done some work in the hybrid/electric vehicle realm according to  the Clean Energy Patent Growth Index.  Brammo not surprisingly has two patents in the HEV space, both relating to throttle control mechanisms.  Less obviously, Polaris has three patents in this space, all of which relate to charging aspects of electric vehicles.  All five patents have been granted since 2012 leading one to believe that there are more to come over the next few years from these companies, particularly if they continue to work together on their respective strengths.  It is envisioned that 55 million e-bikes will be sold within the next decade so there should be plenty of wheels for Brammo to drive and cycle batteries for Polaris to charge with these technologies if they can incorporate them into e-cycles on dealers' lots.

By Victor Cardona    

Photo credit: Brammo (brammo.com)

Industry Focus:Cleantech: New York named tops in Solar, near top in Solar innovation

New York is tops in solar.  As reported previously, the Empire State is among the leaders in this technology but at least one publication has it at the absolute peak.  Solar Power Rocks has ranked New York at Numero Uno and five of the  top 10 states ranked by this publication are in the Northeast.  

New York's incentives to install solar along with an Renewable Portfolio Standard that is as tough as any in the country put it at the top.  Massachusetts and Connecticut were right behind followed by Oregon at number four.  New Jersey rounded out the top five. Colorado and Maryland follow.  Minnesota is in the eighth spot while Vermont and New Mexico round out the top 10.

 

Looking at innovation in the solar sector,  Solar patents dominated all others in 2013  beating all other technologies in patents, as reported by the Clean Energy Patent growth Index (CEPGI).  Four of the CEPGI's top U.S. States  solar in 2013 match that of Solar Power Rocks.  New York was second to Cleantech King, California, which fell 16 patents to 195 compared to 2012 yet topped New York by over four times even with the Empire State adding 6 patents compared to the year before.  Colorado was in third ( a few spots above the ranking by Solar Power Rocks) chasing New York with 38 patents up 13, while Massachusetts (29) jumped from fifth place to fourth pushing Delaware (23) back to sixth place. Texas (29) sat in a tie with Massachusetts above Delaware while Illinois had one less than Delaware's 23 granted U.S. Solar patents in 2013. Pennsylvania (19), Michigan (18), and Ohio (17) descended one by one in the number of Solar patents to round out the top ten U.S. states for granted Solar Patents in 2013.

 

The sun is clearly rising on solar initiatives in New York with New York's Sun initiative promoting the installation of solar photovoltaic and solar thermal panels, along with ever more frequent announcements of solar R&D and manufacturing, such as a ground breaking for Solar City's Gigafactory in Buffalo, the Photovoltaic Manufacturing Consortium's work with various companies-a recent one being Solopower, a solar test lab in Cortland, and the list goes on...Victor Cardona

Industry Focus: Cleantech: New York a hot bed of energy storage

The Business Review has done a special issue on the energy storage industry in New York.   The highlights range from the NY BEST Commercialization Center  to GE's new Fuel Cell plant.   The technology sectors in the state range from batteries, such as Bess Technologies and Nohms, to ultracapitors such as Paper Battery and Ioxus, among many others.  These companes are start ups and companies that have been around a bit longer, such as Plug Power which hosted a visit from Governor Cuomo just the other day.

 These companies are busy creating the next generation of products to power our cell phones and electric vehicles and the patents to protect their innovations are starting to pile up.  As indicated in a recent study New York is third in the nation in entrepreneurship.

In just the last three years, 41 Fuel Cell and 28 Hybrid/electric vehicle (HEV)patents have been granted to New York entities according  the Clean Energy Patent Growth Index.  New York's fuel cell patent owners include a range of companies and academic institutions from across the state including GE, BAE, Solid Cell, Corning, Brookhaven, Plug Power and the University of Rochester among others.   HEV patents since 2011 were granted to a less diverse group that includes.GE, IBM, and Leviton. 

A look at US clean energy patents since 2002 gives context to these numbers for Fuel Cells depicted in blue and HEV in pink, among other clean energy sectors, such as solar in yellow and wind in blue:

 

A look at New York's place among the top clean energy patent states in 2013 put it behind California which has a diverse cleantech scene and Michigan which is the home of the US auto industry.  New York's position has historically been largely fortified by GE, and primarily its wind business, with assists from IBM, and many others.  The mix of contributors to New York's innovative mix appears poised to grow, particularly in the energy storage sector.    

  

 A look at US patents using "battery" in the title, although not a very detailed analysis, revealed 158 patents for New York entities since 2011.  These patents were also heavily weighted toward the big boys, GE and IBM, but also included appearances by the Raymond Corporation, Great Batch, Bren-tronics, BAE, Electrochem, Symbol Technologies and Plug Power, among others.  

According to William Acker,  of New York Battery and Energy Storage Technology Consortium as reported by the Business review, energy storage (e.g, batteries, capacitors) is poised to grow driven by new factors, such as distributed energy generation. and in particular solar energy.  This source of energy will soon reach, if it has not already, a level where we it can not be used efficiently at the time it is produced, and thus it is necessary to move to a model where it can be stored and discharged when it is most beneficial.   Elon Musk of Solarcity just announced a plan for more people to own their own solar panels which can only accelerate the transition described by Acker.  The innovators in New York will likely have a hand in how this plays out which should make for an interesting ride for them and those of us wondering what comes next.  Victor Cardona

 

 

PTO's AFP Extended - Useful or Another Acronym to Remember?

The US patent office has extended its After Final Pilot (AFP)  program for another year. This program is designed to facilitate communication between patent applicants and Patent Office Examiners.  Among the veritable alphabet soup of programs the Patent Office has implemented over the past few years in an attempt to overcome a backlog of patent applications, this program serves a useful purpose even if not quite yet living up to its promise.

Industry Focus:Cleantech: Solar leads cleantech but who are top solar states and companies, and tops in what?

Solar is said to be dominating new US cleantech jobs while solar manufacturers are set for record shipments in the second quarter.  Solar patents are off the charts.

According to Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2) the number of new cleantech jobs doubled in the second quarter as compared to the first quarter.  The jump in clean energy jobs is said to be based on market certainty and a confidence in the future of clean energy. The EPA's new Clean Power Plan, which is designed to cut carbon pollution, along with greenhouse gas reductions in California, are cited as being prime factors in this industry confidence.

Leading solar states - Arizona, California, New York and Massachusetts - are set to see significant hiring in the solar sector. These states along with Michigan, Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, and North Carolina make up the top 10 in Clean energy and Clean transport jobs according to E2. These states differ slightly from those with the most installed solar electric per capita

Industry Focus: Cleantech: GE start up works with HVCC to train workers for future Fuel Cell plant.

As reported previously, GE plans to start producing solid oxide fuel cells at a new plant in Saratoga county in 2017. A pilot plant for GE's new start up  is located near Hudson Valley Community College's (HVCC's) Tec Smart campus in Malta adjacent to Global Foundries' computer chip manufacturing  factory.   GE will help HVCC develp a program for future workers of its fuel cell plant.

The  HVCC Tec Smart Campus also offers programs in solar and wind energy technologies as well as computer chip manufacturing. It is starting to look Iike GE is serious about Fuel Cells which will be a strong complement to its wind turbine business, Durathon batteries and solar research activities.  GE is styling this new business as a start up with its own board of directors and backing from GE ventures.   Both the batteries and fuel cells can be viewed as ways of storing energy for when the sun doesn't shine and wind doesn't blow. GE has indicated that it sees its fuel cells as using natural gas as a fuel for more efficient utilization than conventional natural gas power plants. [updated]  Victor Cardona

 

 

 

Industry Focus: Cleantech: Solar Cells just need to be layered like a cake?

Thin film solar cells, old-fashioned standby silicon solar cells, CIGS, CadTel (see First Solar), multi-junction cells....the list goes on as solar cell materials get more exotic. There was the circle of solar cells known to the world as Solyndra.  Prism Solar divided light up into different wave lengths and Solaria uses advanced optics with strips of Silicon such that less Silicon is necessary while throwing sun trackers in the mix.  Many technologies going after the same goals of reduced cost and increased efficiency.

Industry Focus:Cleantech:Tesla trademark problems over in China?

 In an off again, on again, off again story, Tesla appears to have finally settled its dispute in China over its flagship trademark.

Tesla's troubles  had appeared to be over before but this time Tesla has said that it is buying up the domain names owned by this individual and he has said he is giving up his rights. Only time will tell...Victor Cardona

CLEAN ENERGY PATENT GROWTH INDEX 1st Quarter 2014: Solar Leads; GM retakes Quarterly Crown

As published on HRFM's CEPGI blog, 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 previous quarter 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.   


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