POWER MARKET DEVELOPMENTS | IP AND INVESTMENT


number of patent applications filed. China and the US have a negative RSI, indicating that they file relatively fewer nuclear technology patents than would be expected. Despite this seeming lack of specialisation in China,


Above: China is responsible for the vast majority of nuclear reactor patent filings Photo credit: BeeBright/ Shutterstock.com


that there will be an increase in the generation of


intellectual property. Recent changes to European patent law include the


introduction of Unitary Patents and a Unitary Patent Court. It is still early days and the system remains untested with a significant proportion of existing patent right holders deciding to opt-out of the unitary patent system. Given that the nuclear industry is rather conservative, it is likely that most companies in the nuclear sector will decide to stay with the existing European patent system and opt-out of the unitary patent system, in line with other sectors. If more European countries grow their nuclear industries, the unitary patent system will be more attractive to innovators in the nuclear sector, but this is not currently the case. The USA’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) aims to


reindustrialise the USA and also create new jobs and investment via the transition to clean energy. The subsidies include US$369 bn for deployment of clean energy projects. The IRA provides Investment Tax Credit (ITC) and Production Tax Credit (PTC), which allow firms to deduct a percentage of the cost of renewable energy systems from their federal taxes. The nature of the project will determine eligibility for either ITC or PTC. It is not clear whether subsidies or some kind of carbon pricing are the optimal means of encouraging innovation, and a mixture of carrot and stick encouragements is most likely to spur innovation. The USA is one of the largest filers of patent applications in the world and USA-based innovators are more likely to seek patent protection outside of the USA. As with Europe, the IRA will almost certainly increase the amount of research and development investment being made annually, which will inevitably lead to a growth in green technology inventions coming out of the USA. Both the IRA and GDIP include geographical restrictions on manufacture of green technologies. Companies based in the US, China, and EU are more likely to file patent applications to protect their valuable intellectual property and prevent loss of market share, as they will be forced to manufacture products in these markets and so it is more important than ever for them to protect their IP in the places where they will be operating.


Patents analysis Looking at patent filing data comparing China, France, the UK, and the USA, both the UK and France have a Relative Specialisation Index (RSI) with regards to nuclear technology that is positive. This indicates that the UK and France file relatively more patents concerning nuclear technology that would be expected based on the total


28 | June 2023 | www.neimagazine.com


a search for patent applications with the term “nuclear reactor” in the title or abstract reveals that of the 100 most recently published applications, 99 were first filed in China, with the other single case being filed in South Korea. Expanding this to the 600 most recently published patent applications, the situation is largely unchanged, with four first filed in Poland, two first filed in Japan, one first filed in the UK, one first filed in South Korea, and the remaining 592 first filed in China. Whilst this is not a definitive search as there may be nuclear-related applications which do not include the wording “nuclear reactor”, it is certainly an indication of how much innovation is happening in China as compared to the rest of the world. Historically, most Chinese patent applications are not extended outside of China, but even if only a small proportion of these applications are extended outside of China, it is clear that China will dominate the intellectual property landscape in the nuclear sector. The UK Intellectual Property Office (UK IPO) is the


government body which examines and grants patents in the UK. In May 2009, the UK IPO introduced the Green Channel system, which allows applicants to request accelerated processing of a patent application if the invention has an environmental benefit. As of the time of writing, there were 3347 published Green Channel patent applications, of which six include “nuclear” in the title and 16 include “reactor” (with three overlapping cases which include both words). The benefit of the Green Channel is that applicants can get an earlier understanding of whether their application is likely to lead to a granted patent and they can also obtain a granted patent more quickly for the purpose of investment or enforcement. Whilst the Green Channel is useful in certain


circumstances, its existence is not a deciding factor in driving innovation or encouraging applicants to seek a patent in order to protect their investment in research and development. Furthermore, whilst there is no worldwide equivalent to the Green Channel, this is also unlikely to impact on the fundamental rate at which research and development takes place. What is more important to innovators is the knowledge that a sophisticated, thorough, and fair patent system exists through which companies can protect their research and development investments and prevent third parties from stealing technology. Despite longstanding misconceptions about third parties being able to avoid infringement by making irrelevant changes to a technology and about certain countries being biased against foreign applicants, this is not a true reflection of what happens nowadays.


Driving innovation forward The recent introduction of the USA’s Inflation Reduction Act and the EU’s Green Deal Industrial Plan are already having an impact on nuclear R&D investment, and this will only grow with time. There is expected to be a large increase in the generation of intellectual property and patent applications as a result of these programmes. Increased competition, pledges to reach net zero, and new technology from China will spur innovation over the coming decades and will all contribute to the energy transition. ■


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