I’ve written before (e.g., here and here) about tech firms’ penchant for patent PR. Â Here are several recent contributions to the genre.
Phytonix Corporation, based in North Carolina, touts its new U.S. patent for biobutanol production technology in this press release.  The patent is U.S. Patent No. 8,735,651, entitled “Designer organisms for photobiological butanol production from carbon dioxide and water” (‘651 Patent).
The ‘651 Patent is directed to a biosafety-guarded photobiological butanol production technology based on designer transgenic plants, designer algae, designer blue-green algae (cyanobacteria and oxychlorobacteria), or designer plant cells.
But the company’s IP portfolio doesn’t end here; Phytonix wants you to know that it also has IP relating to its biosafety guarded technology that “uses redundant mechanisms to prevent the proliferation of our organisms outside of a chemicals & biofuels productions environment.”
Query whether Phytonix directly competes with  biobutanol industry leaders Butamax and Gevo, who have been embroiled in contentious patent litigation.
Meanwhile, Ion Power Group (IPG) has been busy patenting not only in the U.S. but also in Canada, China, Japan and Russia. Â The energy R&D company’s IP law firm announced that IPG’s “ground-breaking” ion power plant technology is the subject of “international patents.”
The press release does not contain the patent numbers, but specific patent info can be found on the company’s patents page.
New Jersey-based Proterro recently announced the grant of U.S. Patent No. 8,728,783, succinctly titled “Photobioreactor” (‘783 Patent).
The ‘783 Patent is directed to a photobioreactor for cultivating photosynthetic microorganisms comprising a non-gelatinous, solid cultivation support suitable for providing nutrients and moisture to photosynthetic microorganisms and a physical barrier covering at least a portion of the surface of the cultivation support.
The news was picked up by Biofuels Digest. Â The press release also mentions a new Mexican patent and a prior U.S. patent covering the company’s sucrose-producing cyanobacteria.
Of course, not all green patent PR pertains to patent grants. Â Some relates to tech transfer. Â In this vein, Innovative Environmental Technologies (IET) recently announces an exclusive licensing agreement with Provectus Environmental Products.
IET said the deal involves seven patents, including U.S. Patent No. 7,828,974, with the positively prolix title “The induction of reducing conditions and stimulating anaerobic process through the addition of dried micro-blue green algae and seaweed to accomplish accelerated dechlorinization of soil and groundwater contaminated with chlorinated solvents and heavy metals” and U.S. Patent No. 8,147,694, entitled “Method for the treatment of ground water and soils using mixtures of seaweed and kelp.”
The press release can be found here.
By the way, this breakdown of green patent PR subject matter – the majority being directed to patent prosecution events – is consistent with my findings on patent PR in the clean tech industry discussed here.
