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The urgency of addressing climate change has caused a remarkable uptick in the development and adoption of clean technologies. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is making strides to simplify securing IP protection and commercializing cleantech through initiatives such as the Climate Change Mitigation Pilot Program, which expedites patent examination, and events such as the Green Energy Innovation Expo, aimed at facilitating partnerships between innovators and stakeholders in the public and private spheres.
Alongside this surgent of interest from government organizations, investment in clean technologies has skyrocketed over the last couple of decades. In fact, global investment in clean energy technologies was estimated to have hit $1.7 trillion in 2023, outpacing investment in conventional fossil fuels by nearly 2x.
Electric vehicles (EVs), an emerging technology representing the shift towards clean transportation, stand out as an exemplary cleantech solution that is designed to reduce carbon emissions and dependence on fossil fuels. Unlike traditional vehicles that burn fossil fuels to generate energy, EVs are reliant on batteries and, as such, produce zero tail-pipe gas emissions. The transport sector represents about 37% of emissions worldwide, hence EVs can aid in the reduction of overall emissions.
Due to these environmental benefits, there has been a large push by various government bodies towards electric vehicles. For example, the Canadian government has committed that by 2030, new carbon-emitting cars will no longer be available for sale in Canada. Additionally, in the United States, the federal government has set a national goal to ensure that by 2030, half of all new vehicles sold in the US will be zero-emissions vehicles, further committing to build 500,000 chargers to help make EVs more accessible. With governments pushing for EVs more than ever, reliable EVs are poised to dominate the car industry, making protecting the intellectual property behind these technologies of utmost importance to EV innovators.
Patents grant the rights holder the exclusive right to make, use or sell the patented invention. The principle of “first to file” governs patent protection, ensuring the earliest applicant secures patent rights. Patents can be sold or licensed, and are often a criteria to attract funding from investors. One’s invention must be new, useful, and non-obvious over everything else that has come before it. So where do you start? Usually with a search to determine the aforementioned requirements are met. However, navigating the vast landscape of patents can be challenging, given the outdated methods used to analyze vast amounts of complex patent data. Historically, patent searching was extremely tedious and time consuming because of the large volume of data and the specialized language that patents are written in, which may be difficult to interpret, especially for non-patent professionals.
In contrast, AI-based search platforms, such as NLPatent, offer users an accessible way to search patents by allowing for a natural language description of the invention, eliminating the need for keyword-matching and the laborious practice of coming up with endless synonyms. As with many emerging technologies, terms of art change rapidly, and understanding the prior art is crucial in not only recognizing the scope of what’s patentable, but also ensuring you’re free to operate your invention and in protecting your invention from potential infringers. Moreover, patents are not only a mechanism to drive profit; they also can be a metric to reflect the trends in technology - again requiring a comprehensive and effective review of the prior art. Therefore, AI-based tools, like NLPatent, will be crucial to support the EV industry as it continues to expand.
Some of the leading companies patenting EV-related technologies are Toyota Motor Corporation, Honda Motor Corporation Ltd., and Ford Motor Co, with patents ranging from functional aspects of the invention like battery technology, charging systems, and electric motors to design aspects of the invention, like the vehicle’s exterior and interior design. EV patent filings are growing rapidly, worldwide, as indicated by a 59% increase between 2016 and 2021. In contrast, the number of fossil fuel-powered vehicle patents have declined by 19% in that same period. These trends are likely driven by governmental initiatives and growing consumer consciousness.
Specifically, within Canada alone, there has been an 11% increase in patent filings for electric vehicles between 2014-2018. The data from NLPatent demonstrates an 87% growth in Canada in granted patents relating to electric vehicles over the last decade, from 2014 to 2024, when compared with the decade prior.
The growing number of patent filings in cleantech highlights the innovative partners’ serious commitment to addressing climate challenges. Patents serve as a metric for a global trend, reflecting the steadfast commitment of corporations and researchers towards fostering environmentally sustainable solutions. Recognizing the symbiotic relationship between patents and clean technology is crucial - patents not only safeguard innovations from copycats, but also propel the trajectory toward a greener, more sustainable economy and future. However, as noted previously, the increase of patent filings in this field, and the growing complexity and diversity of subject matter contained therein, contribute significantly to the challenge associated with searching, analyzing, and understanding critical information buried in patent data. As a result, patent professionals and innovators alike may struggle to get a holistic overview of the patents being filed in this industry. Intelligent tools like NLPatent empower patent professionals, engineers, and anyone interested in exploring patent data to effectively capture nuanced and evolving language without undue burden. AI is an incredibly useful tool to conceptually understand the scope of any invention, yielding far more accurate results, faster; enabling researchers and innovators to stay ahead in rapidly evolving fields, such as cleantech.
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