OPINION: IP FOR GREEN TECHNOLOGY Although technologies such as solar
energy conversion clearly fall within the environmentally friendly requirement, the UK IPO specifically recognises that ‘inventions which have an environmental benefit can arise in any area of technology’. They also state that ‘we would accept an acceleration request for a manufacturing process which uses less energy, in the same way as we would accept an acceleration request for a wind turbine or a recycling process.’ The range of eligible technologies may therefore be much wider than perhaps immediately apparent. The UK IPO provides an online database4 that lists published applications and granted patents, which have been accelerated via the Green Channel and can give an indication of scope of eligible technologies. An illustration of the breadth of the eligibility requirement is supplied by a case in which a client within our photonics practice recently announced the grant of a first UK patent in relation to their wireless lighting technology. In this case, the primary focus of the application was network security in the emerging ‘Internet of Things’ technology area. In particular,
it concerned a method for commissioning wireless nodes in a network for securely joining wireless devices of different types to the network. Despite this invention initially appearing quite distinct from conventional green technology, the UK IPO accepted a request to accelerate the application under the Green Channel on the basis that the invention found application in the applicant’s wireless eco-lighting technology. Our client was therefore able to benefit from obtaining a granted patent in a significantly reduced time period in another rapidly growing photonics technology sector. The Green Channel is, however, just one
route through which applicants may request accelerated proceedings. Both the UK IPO and European Patent Office (EPO) provide schemes for accelerating the prosecution of applications in any technology area. The Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) supplies means of accelerating examination of a patent application, if examination work has already been carried out at another participating patent office. Similarly, the UK IPO offers accelerated search and/or examination if adequate reasons are presented, whereas the
EPO offers accelerated prosecution under its PACE programme without requiring any reasoning to be provided. The future for the photonics industry looks bright with further growth and market development forecast over the coming years. With this continued pace of development, accelerated proceedings can offer an important option as one element of an IP strategy capable of adapting to changing market conditions and allowing applicants to reap the full benefit of their innovation. l
Gill Jennings & Every is a specialist intellectual property law firm based in London. The firm’s patent and trade mark attorneys provide commercially focused advice on legal protection for innovations and brands to companies ranging from start-ups to multinationals. It has a team of patent attorneys, with backgrounds in physics and engineering, who specialise in advising clients in the photonics sector.
References 1
Mercom Capital Group, 2016. Solar Quarterly Market Update – China, United States and Japan to lead Global Solar Installations in 2016. Mercom Capital Group
2 3
www.wipo.int/wipo_magazine/en/2013/03/ article_0002.html
Dechezleprêtre, A., 2013. Fast-tracking Green Patent Applications: An Empirical Analysis. Geneva: ICTSD Programme on Innovation, Technology and Intellectual Property. Issue no. 37
4
www.ipo.gov.uk/p-gcp.html
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