Patents in fuel cells and hydrogen production

Intellectual property in the form of patents is an important component of the commercial development of high-technology industries like hydrogen production and fuel cells and provides a good indication of the competitiveness of different regions or companies. Therefore a patent analysis is being carried out to determine the competitiveness of Europe and its different member states (MS) compared to the other global competitors in the field of hydrogen production and fuel cells. After a short discussion of the pros and cons of using patent statistics, the patent analysis is described. The results and conclusions are then presented. Next to other forms of intellectual property rights like copyrights, trade marks and registered designs, patents play an extremely important role in the recognition and protection of an invention. Once an organization has secured the intellectual property rights to an invention in the form of a patent, it can exploit the technology itself, or license the technology to third parties. Among others, financial institutions investing in technology developers see patents as an important indicator of progress.