One of a kind
Tanya Weaver talks to a patent attorney about the increasing work he is doing in the renewable energy sector
There is no doubt that the renewable energy sector is ripe for innovation and many companies, start-ups, university spinouts and lone inventors are working on developing new innovative technologies and designs. All of them would at some stage have come in contact with patent attorneys however, filing for a patent is only half of the story. According to Matt Dixon, a chartered patent attorney at intellectual property firm Harrison Goddard Foote (HGF), anybody developing new technology has to see their intellectual property strategy as part of their business strategy. In other words, the investment made into new technology has to make sense from a business point of view. “If we are to get good, green technology out there then it has to have a good business behind it,” he explains.
Although HGF assists universities and businesses in a wide range of areas, the renewable energy sector is by far its fastest growing area. “If there is one sector where we are seeing a lot of new clients it is in renewables,” confirms Dixon. From solar and wind technology through to recycling, power management, bio fuels and fuel cells, HGF is assisting companies in all areas of renewables. “I think that the green sector at the minute is very interesting because people are wanting to invest as it is seen as a big growth area,” he adds.
Someone within this area that Dixon has been working with for a number of years is Anthony Fenwick-Wilson, chairman of Cross-Flow Energy Company (C-fec). The company was formed in 2007 and, in consultation with Swansea University, the largest R&D centre in Europe focussed on computational engineering, are developing a new ‘green energy’ invention - the Cross-Flow Energy Generator (C-feg), a vertical-axis turbine. Initially developed as a wind turbine, the C-feg also has the potential to be a generator of electrical energy from both rivers and oceans.
Fenwick-Wilson soon realised that without intellectual property protection his invention for a major form of renewable energy generation could be commercially worthless. “I have had experience with patent agents for over 30 years, having already had other patents granted. Because of the potential worth of the C-feg invention, I wanted a rather special patent agent, one who understood the physics as well as the patent law. After having a ‘beauty contest’ with several agencies, I was fortunate in finding Matt Dixon, not only a qualified UK and European patent attorney but also an Imperial College physicist,” he explains. “He has been involved since the beginning of our major R&D programme, not simply as a reactive observer and agent, but as a proactive guide during this development programme.”
Designs
Helped with funding from the Welsh Assembly Government, the R&D programme was carried out at Swansea University’s School of Engineering. Using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) Fenwick-Wilson and his team modelled different designs for the C-feg in order to determine which would be most efficient. And whilst he was using the computers to calculate and optimise the designs, Dixon was looking at what designs already existed. “So, we were checking what was already known and what would give us a strong patent position. We could also identify previous designs, see how they worked and then optimise the C-feg design to make it different to those,” explains Dixon. “In combination with the University of Swansea we have been able to work together and develop a really good design of a wind turbine that we think is very ‘protect-able’ and that makes for good business.”
In order to give them empirical proof of the accuracy of the CFD modelling and computer simulations a prototype is under construction and is due to be completed, on schedule, by May 2010. At this stage the fully protected prototype will be delivered. Thereafter the company will be in a position to sell exclusive licences to fully exploit the C-feg technology for the wind-driven C-feg, whilst developing the water-driven technology. Fenwick-Wilson feels that the C-feg will be one of the most profitable technologies in the renewable energy market. As to the future of this technology, he says: “The CBI has stated that, worldwide, the low-carbon business is now worth more than defence and aerospace combined. We are proving at Swansea that this new British technology has the potential to be one of the most profitable businesses in this field. However, without intellectual property protection it is worthless; which is why we place such an emphasis on developing the most robust intellectual property possible.”
Invention
Fenwick-Wilson was also given a boost in the development of C-feg through a new ‘Green Channel’ for patent applications that came into force last May. According to the Intellectual Property Office, under this service applicants will be able to request fast track processing of their application if the invention relates to a ‘green’ or environmentally-friendly technology. “For C-fec, it helped with acceleration of their patent application in the UK on the basis that it is green technology,” comments Dixon. With this green patents initiative, it will be easier and faster for new products to reach the market and could mean only nine months to get a patent granted, compared with the current average time of two to three years. “In giving prevalence to green technology, people can get patents quicker and this will help them in being able to get investment,” says Dixon. “However what is really interesting is that the US have just started a pilot scheme doing the same sort of thing and I saw recently that Israel are also doing this. So, it seems like the UK is leading the way.”
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