GREEN PATENTS GROWING IMPORTANCE
IP AND ENERGY: GOING GREEN’S
‘Green’ is a buzzword that gets applied liberally to describe everything from architecture to politicians, from disposable plates to energy. But how does that translate when it comes to intellectual property, asks Susan Gorman.
Te theme underlying the use of the word ‘green’ revolves around environmental issues: ‘green’ structures that are resource-efficient, ‘green’ political figures or organisations that support environmentalism, ‘green’ serving ware that is biodegradable and compostable, and ‘green’ energy that reduces our dependence on traditional energy sources, such as petroleum, coal and natural gas. Yet while many of today’s ‘green’ products may simply be exploiting the cachet of being green and will not have staying power (Kermit the Frog® notwithstanding), green energy seems to be one area that will not be disappearing any time soon.
Green energy is a catchphrase for energy produced from many types of alternative and
renewable or sustainable sources such as the action of biological organisms, solar, wind, hydroelectric, geothermal, wave power and tidal power. Each of these technological categories has undergone remarkable growth in the last decade and shows no sign of slowing down.
For example, in 2002 only a handful of companies were
geared towards generating
biofuels or products used in the production of biofuels. Biofuels Digest’s Advanced Biofuels & Chemicals Project Database, version 2.0, reports that in 2009 there were 41 companies actively producing biofuels, in 2012 there were 113, and within the next four years 130 companies are expected to be producing. Tese figures do not include the small, entrepreneurial companies
38 World Intellectual Property Review July/August 2012
that are springing up to take advantage of this new frontier. In San Diego alone, there are about 30 companies involved in some aspect of biofuels R&D or production, only five of which are listed in the Biofuels Digest report.
Intellectual property is especially important for all these green energy companies. Because the field of green energy is so new, the patent landscape is fairly wide open for innovations in these technologies and, in many cases, there are no compulsory reagents or processes. Tis means that many of the innovations around which these companies are built have the potential to become industry standards. In such cases, strong patent claims with broad scope make it far more likely that a company will be able to make a profit from
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