Fuel Cell Patent War Heats Up

http://www.fuelcellsworks.com/Supppage6996.html

After what one legal expert in fuel-cell patents calls an extended period of “patent passivity” in the auto industry, the number of patent filings is skyrocketing — fueled by auto makers and suppliers scrambling to protect advances in hydrogen fuel-cell technology.

Robert Fieseler, a registered patent attorney and shareholder at Chicago-based intellectual property and technology law firm McAndrews, Held & Malloy, has been studying trends in applications filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty related to fuel-cell developments.

He says the number of PCT filings began growing almost exponentially about seven years ago, with the leading filers between 2000 and 2002 being suppliers such as Siemens AG and Ballard Power Systems Inc.

By 2003, however, the majority of PCT applications shifted to OEMs, with Toyota Motor Corp. leading the way after barely being on the map in the 2000-2002 period.

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