Patenting Strategies Of Clean Technology Enterprises

A Green New Deal is regarded a way for many countries to pull them back fromeconomic and environmental meltdown. Cleantech is considered to be the most potentialtechnology of the21st century which will bring us a rapid environmental improvementand economic development. With more and more enterprises entering into this field, thecompetition is heating up. In fact, competition in Cleantech industry is competition oftechnological innovation. Patent strategies are powerful tools for enterprises to obtain andmaintain sustainable competitiveness and sometimes it is the key to success. Based on thebackground of green patent policies and initiatives, this study researches the patentstrategies of Cleantech enterprises according to the inherent characteristics of Cleantech.Moreover, the study adopts the theories of patent strategy and green patent, applies themethods of theoretical research, comparative research, case study and empirical research.First of all, based on the theories of patent and patent strategy, the study focuses onthe general pattern and key points of patent strategy used by Cleantech enterprises. Strictlyspeaking, Cleantech does not appear to be a unified industry but spans many industryverticals. Many of today’s Cleantech derive from technical advancements from otherindustries. Cleantech closely links with climate issues and some kinds of Cleantech arevery complexity. These are the inner characteristics of Cleantech which differentiate themfrom any other industries and determine the deployment of patent strategies of Cleantechenterprises directly, while the backgrounds composed of policies and initiatives of climate,legal and economic have an important impact on patent strategies. The study concludes ageneral pattern and key points of patent strategies used by Cleantech enterprises. Theycomposed of four aspects, namely the strategies of searching patent information, obtainingpatent rights, building patent portfolios and patent licensing.Secondly, the study focuses on the policies and initiatives in the external system,especially green patent policies and initiatives. Beginning with the international debateover green patent system, Chapter4makes an analysis on the main policies and initiativesover the world, for example, building green patent database and program to acceleratepatent examination for green patent. The theoretical and empirical researches on the abovepolicies and initiatives show that they contribute to popularizing the concept of greeninnovation and commercializing clean technology. In the long run it will also bring green brand effect for cleantech enterprises.Finally, the study deeply analyzes four aspects of the pattern of strategy. Patentinformation plays a very important role in developing patent strategy. Green patent data isvery difficult to be obtained accurately due to their dispersibility characteristics.Combined with the terms frequency analysis from bibliometric study and the IPC analysisused by some patent offices over the world recently, Chapter5drew a useful patent searchstrategy to obtain the green patent data more accurately. Moreover，an empirical study ofsolar PV proves its applicability and effectiveness. For Cleantech enterprises, obtainingpatent right is not only a way to protect their innovation, but also the first step to deploytheir patent strategy. Chapter6mainly researches the strategies to obtain green patent right.Because many of today’s Cleantech derives from and builds upon technical advancementsfrom other industries, the study discusses how patent law in China and USA attemps todetermine through statutes and case law regarding new uses of known processes. A greenpatenting case study provides an illustration of the suggested strategies to overcome thedoctrines of inherent anticipation and obviousness. Patent portfolio strategy is animportant tool for clean technology companies to obtain and maintain a sustainablecompetitive. After analyzing the formation mechanism of patent portfolio strategy,Chapter7makes an empirical study of the field of carbon capture or sequestration usingthe method of patent portfolio analysis. Moreover, some cases from different field ofCleantech are studied to explore how to establish patent portfolio according to theinnovation features and business targets. Patent licensing strategy is the last aspects of thepatent strategy pattern of cleantech enterprises. Case study in Chapter8shows patentlicensing not only can bring the Cleantech enterprise rational revenue, but also can helpthem to eliminate barriers to market entry and provide access to establish distribution andcustomer networks. Moreover, Chapter8also studies the open patent licensing model suchas Eco-patent Commons and GreenXchange established by some Cleantech enterprisesbased on social responsibility, and argues they facilitate green patent transfer and benefitto mitigating climate issues.