{"id":3039,"date":"2021-08-23T17:03:10","date_gmt":"2021-08-23T15:03:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/verkor.com\/?p=3039"},"modified":"2022-03-18T10:05:54","modified_gmt":"2022-03-18T09:05:54","slug":"hurdle-or-springboard-access-to-technology-and-battery-manufacturing-in-europe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/verkor.com\/en\/hurdle-or-springboard-access-to-technology-and-battery-manufacturing-in-europe\/","title":{"rendered":"Hurdle or springboard? Access to technology and battery manufacturing in Europe"},"content":{"rendered":"

Could European battery manufacturers be held up by access to technology?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Intellectual<\/span><\/p>\n

There is no denying t<\/span>hat when it comes to Li-ion battery cells Asia is the dominant market, with lead m<\/span>anufacturers hailing from China, Japan, and South Korea. But change is afoot as battery production in Europe steadies for exponential growth in the next few years.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Will new European manufacturer<\/span>s like Verko<\/span>r have the room they need to take on the Asian giants?\u00a0Can\u00a0they\u00a0truly of<\/span>fer industrial-scale technol<\/span>ogy when Asia holds most of the expertise and <\/span>intellectual property? In this piece we take a closer look at the concept of intellectual property\u00a0in relation\u00a0to Li-ion battery cell production.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Top<\/p>\n

What is intellectual property?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There are two main branches <\/span>of intellectual property: industrial property, covering patents and expertise, and literary and artistic property. Much of battery manufacturing falls under industrial property, although aspects of literary property may apply in the area of digitalisation (software and database rights).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Given\u00a0where things currently stand,\u00a0is it possible to produce Li-ion batteries in Europe? How do European manufacturers plan to tackle these issues?\u00a0<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start by considering the strategies companies use to fully exploit their intellectual property. <\/span>First case in point: an R&D team in a beverage company develops a new soft-drink recipe as well as a new method for carbonating the formula. This new and innovative system can be patented.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Next case in point:\u00a0an R&D team develops a new prototype for a tent that pops up in just two seconds. The invention is based on a new and innovative arrangement of arches, and anyone who buys the product will be able to build their own by reproducing the model.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the first case, the innovation is an in-house recipe which, if patented, will reveal a company secret. In the second case, the innovation is visible and therefore easy to replicate.\u00a0Different strategies will\u00a0therefore\u00a0be used to leverage these two ideas. The second example is a better candidate for a patent.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Before embarking on a strategy to\u00a0optimise an invention, the individual\u00a0situation needs to be analysed.\u00a0For instance, not every aspect of\u00a0Li-ion cell manufacturing\u00a0has been patented, as some manufacturers\u00a0want to\u00a0keep\u00a0certain\u00a0methods confidential. This means that a future manufacturer can develop its own in-house expertise by studying in detail the state of the art (or prior art) and the list of pending patents on European territory.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What is a patent?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A patent is a negative right, or\u00a0the right to prevent a third part from using the content of the patent held by its owner.\u00a0It is not an authorisation for the inventor to commercialise the invention.\u00a0To clarify,\u00a0let\u2019s say Company X holds a patent for [A+B]. Company Y, proves that [A+B+C] is more effective. Since [A+B] is protected by a patent, Company Y will have to negotiate the use of [A+B] in order to implement [A+B+C].\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Note, however, that a patent filed does\u00a0not\u00a0necessarily mean a patent granted. A number of patentability criteria\u00a0\u2014\u00a0including novelty, inventorship, and industrial applicability\u00a0\u2014\u00a0need to be met.\u00a0The last letter of a patent\u2019s reference number\u00a0generally\u00a0indicates whether or not a patent has been granted:\u00a0in most countries,\u00a0\u201cA\u201d means the patent has been filed, and \u201cB\u201d means the patent has been granted. While a patent is often only granted several years after it was filed, it is protected as of the filing date.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A patent comprises a de<\/span>scription and \u201crequirements\u201d. These \u201crequirements\u201d define what needs to be protected. With respect to batteries,\u00a0many\u00a0kinds of patents\u00a0exist, and\u00a0are subdivided into families with distinct codes. Class H01M4\/366 covers inventions relating to\u00a0the composition of a material for Li+ ion storage. Class H01M4\/131 covers methods for obtaining electrodes containing said material. While the first class\u00a0lies\u00a0upstream of cell manufacturers (which are supplied by the chemical companies that produce the material), the electrode production method is well within manufacturers\u2019 scope of activity.\u00a0For example,\u00a0any cells manufactured using counterfeit material are by definition\u00a0considered\u00a0counterfeit as well! There is a multitude of sub-categories covering all the battery’s base technological components, including their manufacture and use.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Patents are vastly complex, with tens of thousands of them worldwide applying to battery manufacturing alone. So, how can European Li-ion battery manufactures\u00a0identify which\u00a0of these present a hurdle to their commercialisation efforts?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Geographic regions and term of patent\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

An important concept\u00a0here\u00a0is geographic scope. Every patent has a defined scope by which it\u00a0is\u00a0applied\u00a0to a given territory \u2014 mostly national. Thousands of patents are only valid in China, for example. It is therefore essential to look at\u00a0what regions apply. Then there is the fact that companies sometimes\u00a0lapse on their fee payments, stripping the patent of its restriction rights.\u00a0And while this is less often the case with strategic patents, the patent \u201clifespan\u201d of 20 years adds an additional layer of complexity.\u00a0For 20 years the applicant will pay fees to keep the patent on line, after which it falls into the public domain.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To conclude, new market players will need to closely scrutinise historical manufacturers. A critical part of this exercise will be to clearly map out the pending patents in the territory, and pinpoint their subject matter in order to determine to what extent\u00a0it\u00a0can be used. Strategic partnerships and patent licence agreements are also\u00a0an\u00a0option. Clearly, there is\u00a0ample\u00a0room for European manufacturers to develop their own Li-ion battery technology.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Verkor<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Could European battery manufacturers be held up by access to technology?\u00a0 There is no denying that when it comes to Li-ion battery cells Asia is the dominant market, with lead manufacturers hailing from China, Japan, and South Korea. But change is afoot as battery production in Europe steadies for exponential growth in the next few […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/verkor.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3039","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/verkor.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/verkor.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/verkor.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/verkor.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3039"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/verkor.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3039\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/verkor.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/verkor.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/verkor.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}