Clean Energy and Other Cleantech Research with Patent Database

Advanced Reading for the 2012 BlueTech Forum: Patent Landscape Analysis of M&A Activity in the Water Sector

Posted on May 25, 2012 by Lily Li

The BlueTech Forum in San Francisco next week will highlight innovative water technologies and serve as a networking platform for investors, CEOs, and policymakers in the water sector.

One of the features of the Forum will be a panel on M&A activity in the water sector. This is bound to be a topic of interest, given these three recent and major water deals:

Pentair’s acquisition of Norit CPT for an estimated $700M, and subsequent merger with Tyco Flow.
Ecolab’s acquisition of Nalco for $1.6Bn
Xylem’s spinoff from ITT Water & Wastewater group, and subsequent acquisition of Yellow Springs Instruments

The following patent landscape maps are an exercise to determine the justifications for each of these particular mergers and acquisitions. The patent landscape below provide a snapshot of each companies’ technological competencies, product development strategies, and patent holdings. From these overall trends, we can develop inferences as to where Pentair, Ecolab, or Xylem expect to increase market power or diversify product holdings through their M&A activities. For Xylem, in particular, we will also take a look at potential targets for future acquisitions.

Pentair/Norit/Tyco Flow

Pentair (green), Norit (red), and Tyco Flow’s (yellow) patent portfolios are on the map below. Almost immediately, we can see how these three companies’ technological strengths complement each other.

Patent landscape map of all patent publications by Pentair, Norit CPT, and Tyco Flow. Map powered by Thomson Reuters Aureka software.

Continue reading →

Patent Visualization Solutions? The Department of Energy’s New “Visual Patent Search” Based on PNNL IN-SPIRE Technology

Posted on May 16, 2012 by Lily Li

The Department of Energy (DOE) recently released a nifty patent visualization tool – the “Visual Patent Search.” The tool showcases all US patent applications and issued US patents created through DOE funding. Users can analyze patent documents by individual DOE labs or by patent status.

The software behind the Visual Patent Search is based out of two Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) innovations: IN-SPIRE™ visualization technology and the Scalable Reasoning System (SRS) text and data analytics platform. This technology is similar to the UC Berkeley Flare software incorporated into this BBC graphic on internet usage trends.

The Visual Patent Search categorizes DOE patents into broad technology groups, from energy and computer sciences to life sciences and infrastructure. The size of each square depends on the number of patents within each category, giving users an intuitive grasp of the broad trends in DOE funding. By clicking on any square, users can access a list of documents within the relevant category (methanol patents below): Continue reading →

IP Checkups in the News: Analytics Challenges Patent Complexity, by George Lawton

Posted on May 2, 2012 by Lily Li

Recently, IEEE featured an article by George Lawton on different patent-analytics systems.

An excerpt of the article is below:

The process of developing, applying for, analyzing, defending, and filing lawsuits over patents involves complicated concepts and complex relationships between concepts…

…IBM developed one of the early patent analysis systems, Patent Miner, about 15 years ago. Today, patent analytics is more effective in part because large amounts of patent data are widely available and practically free. Also, patent-analytics technologies have improved. For example, Breitzman said, “We can now do things with term and concept clustering that were difficult and expensive in the past.”

Term and concept clustering involve semantic analysis that finds patterns of documents that relate to individual ideas, such as companies, inventors, or types of technology connected with a specific patent. Some of the leading intelligent patent analysis platforms include Thompson Reuters’ Delphion, IPVision Advantage, and Ocean Tomo’s Patent Marking.

Companies such as 1790 Analytics, Incubic, and IP Checkups provide patent analysis as a service. Figure 1 shows IP Checkups’ patent-analysis process.

Figure 1. Service provider IP Checkups’ patent-analytics system filters a large number of patent documents to a smaller set for processing by advanced semantic-analysis algorithms. The system can discover competitors for patents, map patent concept relationships, and rank top patents. It can also identify a subset of documents worthy of more careful manual analysis.

For the complete article, see: “In the News,” IEEE Intelligent Systems, vol. 27, no. 1, pp. 6-11, Jan.-Feb. 2012, doi:10.1109/MIS.2012.17

Other articles by George Lawton are available on his blog at: http://www.glawton.com/

The Evolution of Cookies

Posted on April 27, 2012 by Kathryn Paisner

Cookies on the internet, or on your dessert plate?

Oh no! Cookie monster can't get his computer cookie. Image Credit: http://muppet.wikia.com

During an intriguing, late-night discussion with Daniel Wilcox, computer guru extraordinaire, IP Checkups’ Director of Research, Analytics & Business Development, Kathryn Paisner, started thinking about the patentability of baked goods–namely, cookies. Given the broad claims that are often granted on “fundamental” inventions, would it have been possible for Ruth Wakefield to patent the chocolate chip cookie? And, for that matter, do people even file patents on cookies?

As it turns out, the answer to both questions is unequivocally yes. The USPTO has a dedicated “Starch-Based Snack Products” cross-reference art collecti on, found within its “Food or Edible Material” patent classification category. (Low-calorie cookies are categorized in a separate cross-reference art collection.) Also, while most companies do not invest heavily in protecting cookie IP, various aspects of cookie production have been disclosed in over 3000 patent documents published worldwide, since 1980.

All baked goods aside, however, this research project uncovered a similarly interesting–albeit less delicious–insight, one which reflects the co-evolution (and interdependence) of language and technology. No longer simply the sweet morsels munched by immoderate blue monsters and children of all ages, cookies have, in the past 20 years, gained a second (though perhaps equally controversial) significance.

In the technical lexicon, cookies are small pieces of information stored as text files by a web browser. Cookies allow websites to store information on users’ computers, so that it can be retrieved (and used) at a later time. Common bits of information stored as cookies include passwords, visitor IDs, and user preferences.

Like their sugary counterparts, Internet cookies have been much-maligned by the media, in recent years. The Gadget Helpline reported that “cookie” is one of the most confusing technical words encountered by its users. Concerns about security and privacy abound. Continue reading →

Subsidiaries and Patent Assignment: A Data-Driven Dilemma

Posted on April 16, 2012 by Kathryn Paisner

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons, Tomwsulcer

Thanks to the sharp eyes of Lewis B. Goodman, Associate Director of Operations and Finance at the Cornell Center for Technology Enterprise and Commercialization, IP Checkups was able to recognize–and remedy–an error in data collection for its Ivy League Patenting Report.

Cornell University files patents in both its own name and the name of its wholly-owned subsidiary, the Cornell Research Foundation. Therefore, a search for patent documents owned by either “Cornell University” or “Cornell College” was insufficient to locate patent documents assigned to the Cornell Research Foundation. Consequently, IP Checkups’ original Ivy League Patenting Report omitted the majority of Cornell’s pre-2007 patent filings, as these were primarily assigned to the Cornell Research Foundation. We would like to extend our most sincere apologies to the innovative folks at Cornell–and our utmost gratitude to Mr. Goodman, who notified us of this mistake! Continue reading →

The Patent Portfolio Theory: How Aggregation and Synergy Increase Patent Portfolio Valuation

Posted on April 16, 2012 by Kalu Kalu

The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. A fibonacci word fractal. Image Credit: Prokofiev, Wikimedia Commons

The Patent Portfolio Theory, coined by Parchomovsky & Wagner of University of Pennsylvania Law School, attempts to reconcile what is known as the “Patent Paradox”; the recent phenomenon of rising patent applications, even as the expected value of each patent decreases. The patent portfolio theory resolves this paradox by arguing that the “whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” When making cost benefit analysis, firms that patent aggressively, like Qualcommn & Samsung, understand that “…the true value of patents lies not in their individual worth, but in their aggregation into a collection of related patents–a patent portfolio.”[1]

Patent Portfolios: Why is the whole greater than the sum of its parts?

Parchomovsky & Wagner claim the key advantages of patent portfolios over individual patents are scale and diversity. In regards to scale, a large body of closely related, yet distinct, patents acts as a “super-patent,” conveying rights of exclusion broader than the aggregate of individual patents would convey. Increasing the scale of a patent portfolio has advantages which are “more than merely additive” such as: easing in-house innovation, attracting related external innovations, avoiding costly litigation, improving bargaining position, enhancing efforts to attract capital, and increasing the firm’s political voice. Alternatively, similar to stock options, a diverse patent portfolio allows firms to hedge against the uncertainties regarding a product, future market conditions, future competitors, and possible changes in the Patent Law. Continue reading →

Report: Patenting Trends at Ivy League Universities, 1980-2010

Posted on April 3, 2012 by Kathryn Paisner

IP Checkups recently released a report on patenting trends at Ivy League universities, from 1980-2010. This report highlights technology trends, patent filing and issuance rates in the U.S. and Europe, and top inventors from Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, the University of Pennsylvania, and Yale.

KEY FINDINGS FROM THE REPORT INCLUDE:

After briefly losing ground to Columbia and Harvard, in 2007 and 2008, respectively, Cornell re-emerged as the top-filing Ivy League school in 2009.
The three top-filing Ivy League universities are Cornell, Harvard, and Columbia.
Patent issuance rates at Columbia, Cornell, and Princeton consistently exceed the USPTO average.
Dartmouth is the only Ivy League university to consistently achieve an issuance rate greater than 50%, in the European Patent Office.
Most Ivy League patents fall into one of four core technology areas: biotech, “other” (i.e., non-biotech) medical, electronics, and/or analytic methods.
Five (current or former) Ivy League inventors are listed on more than 100 patent documents, respectively: Stephen R. Forrest (Princeton), Héctor D. Abruña (Cornell), Charles M. Lieber (Harvard), Mark E. Thompson (Princeton), and James S. Im (Columbia).

Download the Ivy League Patenting Report

LanzaTech and ReVolt Technologies: Patent Portfolios and Competitor News

Posted on March 22, 2012 by Lily Li

Our world's renewable energy potential. Who'll be brave enough to take advantage of it? Image Credit: World Resources Institute.

The Cleantech Forum in San Francisco next week promises to be a unique collaborative space for corporations, investors, and entreprenuers. A highlight of the forum is the entrepreneur showcase. On Tuesday, March 27 twenty promising startups will present pitches across the gamut of cleantech industries, from renewable energy and energy storage, to water treatment and home IT solutions.

After perusing the patent portfolios of all twenty companies in our CleanTech PatentEdge database, two companies stood out from the rest: LanzaTech and ReVolt Technology.

LanzaTech is a growing company that produces commodity chemicals and biofuels from waste gases emitted by heavy manufacturing industries, forestry, and municipal wastes. Founded in New Zealand in 2005, this company now spans the globe with offices in China and the United States. Just this past January, LanzaTech raised over $55 million in financing in its third round of funding. Continue reading →

CleanTech PatentEdge Report: LED material sciences and phosphor trends 2009-2012

Posted on March 14, 2012 by Lily Li

CleanTech PatentEdge recently released a free report on 2009-2012 LED material sciences and phosphor trends.

This report highlights key technology trends, company patent portfolios, and top competitors and inventors in LED bonding, epitaxy, phosphors, and substrates.

KEY FINDINGS FROM THE REPORT INCLUDE:

All areas of LED materials technology have experienced rapid growth.
The LED material science sector is dominated by large Japanese and Korean conglomerates, except for phosphor innovations.
Top companies include Showa Denko, Samsung, Philips, and Toshiba.

On Gassy Cows and Catalytic Converters

Posted on March 12, 2012 by Kathryn Paisner

Cows have the right of way in Kolkata, India

What do you get when you cross a cow and a truck? A whole lot of gas!

On March 7th, Science magazine reported that curbing methane and black carbon (soot) emissions might provide a “quick fix” to some of the problems currently associated with global warming. Although the authors caution that simply reducing methane and soot emissions would not eradicate CO₂-related problems, such endeavors would likely provide a short-term buffer, giving us more time to reduce worldwide CO₂emissions.

Of the 400+ policy measures examined by the study’s authors, fourteen were found to “offer big benefits” in curbing methane and soot emissions. Some of these fourteen measures, such as replacing wood-burning stoves with more efficient alternatives, rely on improved distribution of established technologies. Other measures, such as reducing “output” from livestock and improving the emissions profile of diesel combustion engines, will require ongoing innovation, in order to achieve current climate goals.

To explore current innovation in these areas, IP Checkups mapped the patent landscape around methane- and soot-reducing technologies using Thomson Reuter’s Themescape software. In total, we found ~2600 patent documents (including both published applications and issued patents from the US, EP, WO, and JP patent offices) in this space. (Click on image below for a larger picture).

Continue reading →