Page 52 - EE Times Europe Magazine – November 2023

52 EE|Times EUROPE

OPINION | GREENER ELECTRONICS | HYDROGEN

Filing Patents Is one. They assume it just represents a cost
that they don’t need to incur. This is under-
Important for Green standable. Patents should be filed before the
invention is disclosed to the public, so the
decision whether to file must be made early in
Energy Development development when the future is unclear. But
patents can last for 21 years from their earli-
est filing date; no one can accurately predict
that far into the future.
By Laurence Brown and Tim Belcher, EIP
PATENTS ARE BUSINESS ASSETS
Any company undertaking R&D creates
The International Energy Agency’s know-how for the company. Patents allow
(IEA’s) 2023 update of its Net Zero this know-how to be captured as an asset for
Roadmap gives an upbeat assessment the company and a signal of its innovation.
1
of progress on solar photovoltaic and Intellectual property can be valued in the
electric-vehicle uptake. However, much company’s accounts as an intangible asset,
more work is needed to ramp up other typically at cost, so that expenditure on
technologies and sources of renewable protecting IP constitutes an investment in the
energy, especially wind and hydrogen. company’s assets that can be recorded on the
We are facing a critical point in the cli- balance sheet.
mate emergency. Innovation can deliver urgently needed solutions, both in terms of “blue sky” For a company seeking external invest-
ideas and commercializing and scaling up proven concepts. This article will explore how patents ment, investors will often look to its patents
can play a vital role in the development of green technologies. for insight into both the level and the quality
Patents are perhaps one of the most widely misunderstood business assets. Many people’s of its innovation. Well-written patents can
only experience of patents are news reports of large companies battling in the courts. Big patent give investors confidence in a company’s
disputes between large companies make good headlines. The recent worldwide patent dispute technology. A broad patent scope, granted
between Siemens Gamesa and GE, relating to offshore wind technology, is just one example. following the independent examination by a
But you would be wrong to assume that the value of patent protection lies squarely in the patent office as part of the application pro-
realm of big business and multimillion litigation. Patent protection can play an important cess, is a great indicator that the research is
business role and drive a company’s growth, whatever its size. Patent applications and granted new and represents an inventive step.
patents are assets: They can be valued in the accounts, influence investors, enable more effec- What’s more, patents are property and
tive collaboration and unlock preferential tax breaks. can be licensed to others, sold and even
Many companies don’t consider patent protection because they would not want to sue any- mortgaged.

IMAGE: SHUTTERSTOCK

NOVEMBER 2023 | www.eetimes.eu